۞ Sweet Interruptions ۞176

((((((Lisa)))))) Losing a beloved pet is never easy. You'll always have Mia in your heart.
Crissy, I'm sure Tiga has many more years left. Cats can live up to 20 years. Take comfort in that.

The sales haul wasn't much to brag on. Didn't hit WM as all 3 WMs' parking lots are full. But spent some time at Michael's and Kel's favorite electronic store. Somehow all the good sales were off the shelves by noon!
When we got home, we spent a quiet evening.....unlike Susan (hope the evening went well) :D
Baked another ham and watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and college football after that.

Good night... LK~~Susan~~Cindy~~Bonnie~~Marion~~Pegi ~~ Trisha~~Donna~~ Laura ~~Synda~~ Janice~~ Barb~~ Linda~~ Cookie~~ Crissy ~~ Kim ~~ Judy & Deborah ~~ Lisa ~~
...and whoever's lurking.

Sleep well..

Isn't this the most beautiful pic of Jesus...............

My step dad wanted a pic of Jesus for on the wall and knows that I'm the pic goddess so who else would he come to???????.....LOL ~~ I looked and looked and found this one and made him an 8x10.I think I'll print one out for myself also.

The lilttle girl on his lap looks exactly like my momma when she was a little girl,hair and all !

This message was edited Dec 27, 2009 12:44 AM

I do like that picture. Hope you're feeling better today.

That's a great picture Synda... "Except ye become as little children, ye will not enter the. Kingdom of Heaven" - Matthew 18:3

Good night Synda.. .Julie ^_^

Morning everyone. Cool here this morning, about 37 here, but must have been colder, cause there is a light frost on the windshields!
Coffee is on, and french toast will be done soon!

Thank you for breakfast LK!!! It is 39 here and we are expecting a freeze Tues am. When it warms up a bit I will try to get more plants into the GHs and cover the rest. Right now I have a case of the "lazies"! Plus my back is sore.

Going to do some house cleaning this am though! Next weekend have to take down all the Christmas decor!

Enjoy your day everyone.

The sun is shining and making us believe it is warm outside.....BRRRRRRRRR.....but at least the sun is shining! That means.........SPRING is somewhere on it's way! hahahahahaha

Here's to a great day!

God Bless

Julie

Good morning everyone ^_^
The sun is shining, but I don't trust the rays... not enough to warm up the atmosphere outside :( Yah, Julie...Spring is in our future, but make it NOW!!

Take care of that back Linda. We're not Bionic women!

Lisa, this will be hard on you, since like me, you don't have any kids, and only the furbabies to fill the void of motherhood.
Time will heal you, surely.

Thanks for coffee, LK. Been a long time since I had French toasts, you think it would be perfect for an upset tummy?
Will be missing both church services today as I have the sniffles and yes Susan, I'm taking the vitamin supplements everyday :(
So.. just gonna stay home.. watch football and maybe brave the cold to get some furbabies some food. If not, ham will do for them today.

Have a warm day sistahs!

morning everyone. sis jaye, i took care of what we discussed

Jaye, I hope you start feeling better soon. It is bad enough to be stuck in the house because of the weather but to be stuck inside and feeling under the weather really sux....here's a hot cocoa and some warm sugar cookies right out of the oven, a fuzzy warm blankie, and a hug for just because. And did I say thanks for the Christmas card? It was an unexpected but very pleasant surprise. Thank you.

(((((LISA)))))

Jaye sorry you aren't feeling well....
23* here when I woke up this morning.... after walking the dog Bill said I did not have to go on the bike ride today...guess that saved an argument because I am not going riding in this weather.

Besides that I have to start taking down the tree and a lot of Christmas things... the Snowmen and Snowflakes stay up through January.... mostly it is because I need the space as we will have around 40 people here New Years Day for the Bike ride and Buffet. Have to work on the menu then spend the week cooking and cleaning all over again...

Any buffet ideas for 40 people ? I can sure use some ideas!

Everyone stay warm, will check in later.

Hi Trisha, short of riding to the hospital for an emergency c-section, I wouldn't ride in this weather either...and since I can no longer have kids, well that solves that! lol Have you tried things like home made subway? Just take a loaf of French or Italian bread...make a super duper sub and slice into individual servings. Or how about super nachos with a crock pot full of chili and one full of cheese dip...serve with tortilla chips, salsa, and sour cream...let them create their own. More formal things include hollowing out breads and making shrimp dip....1 can salad shrimp mixed with cream cheese, chives, and a touch of garlic. Top the mixture with cocktail sauce and serve with crackers. Another tidbit is mixing cream cheese and shredded cheddar cheese and forming balls with a green olive in the middle. Roll in chopped nuts...serve with a tray of crackers.
Just some suggestions....

Had just Clementine oranges and diet Pepsi for lunch! That will settle the stomach issue and the sniffles are gone. Think it might be the extra Vitamin C?

Errr... sis Kathy.... I'm glad you did so... your health comes first ;) Don't want you 'squirting' around!! Lol!!
Just remind me when they play please. I don't want to miss the game.

Yes you had Julie. We are really glad you're here! If you find any of us heading towards some emotional disaster, don't be afraid to post your opinion. You're now a sistah!

Trisha, the only lights I will have to dismantle will be the one above Ali's grave... around the bare Louisiana Cypress. No other Christmas display.
40 lucky folks...so that means something easy and not too much time in the kitchen. Depends on how many dishes, I guess finger food, you want to serve.
Julie has the right ideas. Darn that shrimp dip sounds good. Once at my old office party, I had the cafeteria do a giant sub and just cut them into manageable pieces.
Or build your own 4 Cs---- cold cuts, crudites, crackers and cheese.
You could also serve quiches... a 9 inch pie will serve at least 8.
Then you may get those precooked hot wings.. just heat and serve.

Darn! I'm hungry... got to find some meat :D

Boy am I stuffed!!!
I ignore the stomach issues and browned some potatoes, cubed, in butter.
Opened 2 cans of Campbell's Roadhouse Chilli (Only for those lazy days), pour over the potatoes and add some cumin.
E-Z and so goooooooooooood!!! One pan meal!
Yummm. That's gonna be a quick fix more often around here!
Hope you all had a great day.

See what happens when you only eat Clemantine oranges and diet Pepsi for lunch!.....did you ever add cheese to that potato chili? "round here they make chili cheese fries and it's the same thing only with fries...and topped with chili...


Ok, off to write some more....new venture and I hope it pays off.

Have a good night all...may drop in later tonight....

(((((((HUGS))))))) to all

Mercy me!!! Thank God there's no cheese in the fridge, if not----- Kel's toot will be in the Guinness Book or propel me to space!!!
Psst. Julie... Sonic's have the bestest chilli cheese tots ;)

And good luck to your writing.

Well, I'm off to bed.. So, I'll bid you all a good night.

Good night Jaye....

Oh, I am miserable.... We had a small steak, with rice-a-roni and Kale for dinner. I made Spice Cakemix cookies with nuts and raisins for dessert.... Bill says I have to give them away immediately! He is afraid we are going to sit here and eat the entire thing tonight...they sure are good!!!

Going to sit back with some felting wool and a needle and watch Tom Selleck.

Popping in to say hello before bed.. Im so tired and am headed back to work tomorrow for 3 days then off for 4 again.. The good thing is Im getting alot done...
Colored my hair, started winter sewing for the first time, have Maxs lil brother here...

Christmas went very well and the kids have been very busy playing with new goodies..

Im sorry I havent been around much.. Huggs to you all
Donna

Chinook I am sorry you had to put your dog to sleep at this Holiday time. did that some time ago and it always comes back at Christmas.

As most of you know, I lost my Shaow this July and searched for quite a while to find another dog. When I couldn't find a rescue of the breed I wanted I decided to get a puppy, against all of my friends advice. WHY DIDN'T I LISTEN!
Black Pepper is 4 months old and reminds me of having another baby. Last night she had me up 5 x's during the night to go out. She went, played in the snow, chased something in the yard and came in full of pep and vinegar. At 3:30 I was not amused.
Now, of course, she is sleeping like an angel at my feet having talked me into a hard game of fetch.
Don't get me wrong, I love her to death and she certainly keeps me from getting bored but the only time I sleep is when she does. I think we have our days and night mixed up!

What a great picture, Janice! Such a cutie pie!

I too have survived. Hope you all had a wonderful Merry Christmas and I'm hoping that ALL OF US have a better 2010!

Janice she is a beauty....sounds like the typical "Black Dog"...ours tried that for awhile. We finally started taking her out on lead last thing at night...made sure she did her business, no playing allowed. Then we made her go to her bed for the night...it only took a few times. She has done well these past 13 years. Still does as long as she gets her final trip out before we turn in for the night....if not she will wake us up about four a.m. to go out. If she does go out last thing at night she is good until ten or eleven in the morning if necessary.

I am puppied out....if any of you want one, they are free for the taking......my dog wound up pregnant and gave birth to 5...4 survided....not three weeks later, my oldest daughter, who is staying here right now, had her dog give birth.......she had 9 pups..8 survived.................so 12 puppies, 4 dogs, 5 cats, 3 rabbits, and 6 kids later.................can I just go to bed and wake up in April??? lol......the bad thing is we are getting attached to all of them....not good.

and a partridge in a pear tree♪♫♪ ^_^

exactly Joycet!

and after all that I never did say what I wanted to..............Janice, that is one beautiful dog.

Darn it all, Trisha, I just spent an hour writing about how I feed crowds even larger than 40 - and it refused to load and erased everything!

OK - going to do it smaller this time, in chunks:

Here in south Ham, black eyed peas are the good luck dishes for New Years Day. I don't do black eyed peas (had too many forced down me as kid) so someone else has to help you there.

For cold weather and a large crowd, I'd start today with a whole ham cooked according to package directions - that's usually on a rack in a roasting pan in a slow oven for several hours. A spiral sliced ham is more expensive, but takes less time to cook and less work to slice up.
(and I add one sliced up onion and a few squirts of lemon to the liquid in the roaster - adds flavor and cuts the salty-ness)

After cooking, when cool enough to handle easily, slice into serving sized pieces and layer into a container that can be reheated. For crowds I like to use those 3" deep foil pans, or the foil pans on cheap chaffing dishes you can buy at the party stores. Pour the drippings (if not used elsewhere) back over top, with enough canned chicken broth to just barely reach the top layer of meat. Keeps it moist for days. cover with foil and pop in frig until needed.

Potatoes for a crowd - easy - your favorite fast fixing potato casserole, or:

day before - wash and grease with shortening yams, sweet potatoes or russet potatoes, and the wrap in foil (shiny side inward) enough potatoes to feed your crowd. I estimate (for healthy living crowds) 1/2 a large potato per person-do not cut them now. These need not be refrigerated, but you can place them on a strong, sturdy cookie sheet for easy transport.

Day of - about two hours or so before the meal, put the potatoes on the upper rack in a cold oven (with enough room below for your pans of ham). Heat oven to 400 degrees and cook 15 mins, then drop oven temp to 350, put the ham in below, and continue cooking for one hour or so. (take ham out when it's hotter than serving temp) When you remove the potatoes just at serving time, quickly cut each in half and place on a platter.

set out on a "potato bar" - I like to do this on a separate table, like a card table, away from the buffet so as to not slow down the serving line. Anything you can think to put on top can be cooked, sliced, etc ahead: , soft butter, shredded cheese, sour cream, diced scallions or spring onions, chives, bacon bits, chopped broccoli, sliced mushrooms. For sweet potatoes and yams: soft butter, cinnamon and brown sugar.

I love serving crowds soup in cold weather. all you need is a large crockpot, plastic spoons and disposable "coffee" cups.

For a healthy crowd, veggie soup is perfect. all you need for homemade veggie soup is to bring to boil cut up whole chickens in enough water to cover, carrot chucks, onion chunks, and celery sticks (minimum cutting) with a little poultry seasoning and salt and pepper (white pepper and sea salt if you have it). Once rolling boil, drop heat to simmer for 70 mins or so. I use 1 med onion, 2 celery stalks (leaf too)and 4 carrots per chicken. Strain everything out and you have chicken broth. Now you can debone the chicken and serve in another recipe, or with simple sauce or gravy as an alternative to ham for your kosher types.

Or use canned chicken broth. I'm guessing you'd need at least 3 qts., maybe a gal. of broth. To this add sliced celery, be sure to use all the leaves you can, sliced carrots, small chunks of onion, and potatoes in about 1/2" cubes. Seasonings are pretty much the same as for the broth, if you need more. Simmer for 20 mins. then you can add any other veggies you've got handy. It's kinda like stone soup, you can add most anything! I've used frozen peas and corn, cabbage leaves sliced up, drained canned green beans. (Broccoli, cauliflower, beets will completely change the taste and look.) Simmer another 20 mins. and check your seasonings. Freeze until day of serving.

Day of - set out to thaw, then put it in a crock pot on high, then low.
Serve with yeast rolls (can be made today and frozen) or a bowl of crackers.

I hate it when post disappear on me....it takes me long enough to type something without having to do it twice... some great ideas, soup will be good I have about 1 1/2 gal.of stock from the Christmas Goose in the fridge now, just have to get the fat removed from the top.

Already have the ham waiting....hadn't thought about potatoes or yams...mmmm.

OK - Trisha wanted the collards recipe. My family took me to 42nd Street Oyster Bar two birthdays ago, and Bevin got me to taste collards (yuck!) NO - YUM!!! Never had anything so tasty. Much spicier and flavorful than anything my dear mum cooked!

We have a local newspaper column, Greg Cox's "Specialty of the House" that asks for recipes from local restaurants. a while back, when no one I asked really had a good recipe for collards, I wrote asking for the restaurant's recipe.

Well, we've been busy, too busy to read much of the newspaper. Mom's new place,"The Heritage" has a wonderful chef, who got a writeup last week in the News and Observer about his gingerbread birdhouses he'd made for the old folks. (They were AWESOME). Mom wanted me to save her that section. Since that was the weekly food section, I checked the recipes for any I might want to try. They had one for collards, it looked pretty darn good, so I clipped it out.

Was about to type it into my recipe program when I read the first two paragraphs at the beginning of the column and realized it was my request for the 42nd Street Oyster Bar's recipe - Cox had gotten it!!!

serves 12 - from Chef David Greenwell

1 large hamhock (not smoked)
1 medium onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
3 (16 ounce) packages frozen chopped
collard greens, thawed and drained
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (or more, to taste)
salt and pepper, to taste

Simmer the hamhock in 2 quarts of water, until tender, about 4 hours. Remove hock from the water and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bone, roughly chop and set aside in the frig.

Transfer the cooking liquid to a fat separator, or other container and refrigerate until fat solidifies on top. Skim off the fat, reserve both separately.

Heat a heavy bottomed stockpot over medium heat. Add pork fat and allow to get hot. Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent, 3-5 mins. Add the thawed collards and enough cooking liquid to cover, saving the rest of the liquid in case more is needed to keep collards from drying out as they cook.

Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 45 mins. or so. Stir in chopped ham meat, pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to simmer until collard are very tender, about 30 mins.


My comment -
Since this is a restaurant, and all side dishes would be made in advance and held in warming trays, I'm guessing this could be made up to 3 days in advance. Probably gets better the next day!

Sounds fantastic...already have it on my list for Friday!!

glad to be of help! these make for a more tangy collard than some. But the way Momma cooked collards, they were slimy and bitter.

A Chinese friend taught me to cook greens....Bill always thought he didn't like spinach....just discovered it was his Mother's spinach he didn't like....the same with fish. It is amazing how proper cooking can change the taste of some things. As for Blackeyed Peas, someone in the group usually does Hoppin' John (rice for riches, peas for Peace).

Mistressgardenr you ave me a real chuckle i ant to be there with you..lol..

Hello everyone much happiness in New year..

Jaye , you look nice your lovely....Much happinessw and many blessing for you and Kel in 2010.

prayers and blessing for everyone here..

now, I don't know how to cook spinach, either. since I love it fresh in salad, not a problem.

Joy, Peace, Prosperity and Love for everyone, in 2010!

"Here's to the bright New Year, and a fond farewell to the old; here's to the things that are yet to come, and to the memories that we hold." (anonymous quote)

"A new year is unfolding – like a blossom with petals curled tightly concealing the beauty within."

♫♪♫Should auld acquaintence be forgot in days of auld lang sang....♪♫♪

♫♪~§usan~♪♫

This message was edited Dec 28, 2009 4:48 PM

Happy Birthday Twyla. Hope you had a great day!

Happy Birthday, Twyla!!

~Susan~

Happy Birthday Twyla, hope it was a good one!
My cousin in Shawnee said you guys got quite a lot of snow!

Scottish customs for the New Year:

http://www.aboutaberdeen.com/hogmanaycustoms.php

Jaye I just wonder how long Tiga can live on the steroids before they do damage to vital organs, that's my biggest worry with her. I didn't know you don't have kids, that's 3 of us I think...

Donna I love your hair! I need to get mine done, but I'm thinking about buying one and doing it myself so I don't spend the money, but then again I tend to splatter it on the walls, which isn't good either. I don't know, I'll leave it up to DH Dave.

Janice what a sweetheart!!! She'll get to where she won't bother you at night, good thing you don't have to get up and go to work every morning! Tiga wakes me up now and then by either licking my nose or petting my face or shoulder, and I do have to get up and go to work every morning! Oh well!

Man, Trisha you are hooked up! I don't cook for large crowds, don't cook for small ones either since no body comes over :(

Busy busy busy busy. That's all I have to say about today. I'm working on my embroidery again so I'm going to check a few other threads and I'll be working on that the rest of the evening.