Dackel Princess

What I Did This Past Weekend

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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The weekend was a crazy one. After Thanksgiving, it was the usual reorganization of the house, after having it all in pieces for the big day.

Massive amounts of turkey soup was made, and since we were starting to feel overwhelmed with the turkey, I froze most of it!

I was given some venison, and so on Sunday night I made braised venison for our dinner. Yum!

I feel like I am finally getting caught up, and I even have kicked back a bit and relaxed. On Saturday night I read for well over an hour before my eyes got tired and I fell asleep.

Sunday found me watching a bunch of old movies, including “On Golden Pond”, which was filmed in the next town. I have hiked a trail up, so we could look down upon Squam Lake, which is also known as Golden Pond.

I love that movie!

So the weekend is nearly over and I think I will watch “The Good Wife” later on, and then off to bed with me!

Happy Monday Everyone!!!

What Day Is It?

I know everyone who works a 5 day week enjoys it when we have a 3 or 4 day weekend. They can rest and relax and maybe even have a get away.

However, if you are an empty nester, and retired, a 3 or 4 day weekend leads to confusion! Is today Sunday or Monday or what? No? It’s Saturday? Oh my, I sure am confused.

While some people took Friday and Saturday to break down the doors of department stores and malls everywhere, I stayed home. I did laundry and cooked and cleaned a bit. Nothing too strenuous.

We watched a western movie with Kevin Costner and Annette Benning, and Law and Order SVU. We also watched the annual Football overload games. I love our local team, the Patriots, but hour upon hour, upon hour of college football, is not my thing. Thank goodness for my Kindle!

Well, one more weekend day and a new week will begin.

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Black Friday

The month of November has never been a great one for me, diet wise. I have my birthday (and cake) and then my favorite holiday…Thanksgiving! Need I say more! Nothing is guaranteed to help me gain weight, like a month packed with eating orgies!

On Thanksgiving night, I looked at the pictures taken and I knew. I knew I could not fool myself any longer about the weight I had gained this fall!

Now before I go off the deep end and gain back everything I have lost at Weight Watchers, when I woke on Friday morning, I made a resolution.

Today is the first day back on the Points Plus Plan!

Yes, it is “Black Friday”…Diet Wise!

I was so unhappy with how I looked. And previously, I had made excuses about my weight. Oh, I am big boned. Or (this is my personal favorite) I have a slow metabolism.

The plain fact is, I eat the wrong things, and too much of them. So, this morning I had a single egg, with two slices of diet toast and half a grapefruit.

The hardest part for me is not the first week. Usually I do well at that time. The hardest part is the next week. I find it so hard to follow through. However, I am determined! I will do this!

I will do this for me!

Friday Fill-Ins

And…here we go!

1. Oh, I am so tired after cooking the Thanksgiving meal. I wonder how much more tired I would be if I didn’t have Hubby, Dave and Isaiah helping me before and Janet after.
2. Hands down, it was the chestnut stuffing. Second was the brussel sprouts with onion, bacon and chestnuts was my favorite part of the big meal yesterday.
3. Where does Arnie disappear to when he is in the field. One moment he is gone and the next he pokes his head up, as if to say hello!
4. The plum pudding was filled with dried fruit.
5. This weather is giving me chapped lips and hands. I guess winter is here.
6. Health, happiness and love; these are some of the things I wish for my loved ones.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to some down time. In fact this weekend aside from doing laundry I plan nothing else. I’m really over tired, tomorrow my plans include again, very little and Sunday, I want to organize the leftovers!

Thanksgiving

Wednesday was preparing day.
There was a lot of organizing.
Dave and Isaiah came and the chopping began.
Onions and celery, and carrots. Chestnuts were roasted and opened and then broken up for the dressing and the brussel sprouts.
I made a great new recipe for pork loin roast.
I wasn’t sure we would like it, but it came out well.
I am posting it below.
I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving.
I hope you are surrounded by your loved ones, be they family or friends.
Be sure to enjoy that which is special.
The things that say Thanksgiving
I’m doing a 1/4 cup of my favorite dinner dishes
I’ll report tomorrow.

Herb-Rubbed Roasted Pork Loin

“Herb-rubbed roasted pork loin with a sweet, tangy glaze.”
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 (5 pound) boneless pork loin

1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a bowl, combine sage, salt, pepper, and garlic. Rub thoroughly all over pork. Place pork in an uncovered roasting pan on the middle oven rack.
3. Bake in the preheated oven approximately 3 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C), depending upon your desired doneness.
4. Meanwhile, place sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, water, and soy sauce in a small saucepan. Heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken slightly. Brush roast with glaze 3 or 4 times during the last 1/2 hour of cooking. Pour remaining glaze over roast, and serve.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Turkey-love it or leave it? White meat or dark? What’s your favorite thing to make using leftover turkey?

First, turkey: love it! Second: white meat. Third: favorite thing to make with leftover turkey? The mile high turkey/stuffing/mayo/cranberry sauce sandwich! Oh yeah, that is the best! Hubby likes his warm with gravy, but I just like mine straight!

2. Gotta burn off all those carbs the day after a holiday feast so which would you rather do-run a 10K or climb a mountain?

Don’t do any of those. I walk or watch other people. My comeuppance will be next Wednesday when I return full time to Weight Watchers and their program!

3. Do you feel like social networking has made your relationships better or worse? Explain.

Better. I find that I have found so many people that I had lost track of. Now I keep in touch with my family and friends pretty much daily. I love it.

4. How do you find and express gratitude for the hard things in your life?

Instead of dwelling on the hard things, I have chosen to celebrate them. This birthday I invited my family and friends and celebrated. I let them all know how very much they mean to me.

5. In the US, the day after Thanksgiving has been dubbed ‘Black Friday’. Is most of your holiday shopping done live and in person, or is it done more through the magic of the Internet? How do you feel about stores opening at midnight Thanksgiving night? Will you be out amongst the masses on Friday?

I think it is terrible that the stores are opening Thanksgiving night. I think it is also crazy that people have already camped out in front of them. I will probably spend one day in the mall, but mostly I shop online.

6. Speaking of the color black-which black item in your wardrobe would you say is your favorite?

My dress black pants. I love them! They are from Talbots and I have actually had them a while. But they are comfortable, and look beautiful on.

7. What do you appreciate about your life today?

That I have a wonderful relationship with my daughter, husband and granddaughter!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I can hardly wait for the new coffee maker to arrive. I remember now how bad the old one Hubby used in his commuter pad is. The coffee tastes like crap this morning (Tuesday) and I really LOVE my coffee!

Preparing

Monday dawned and I found myself slowly getting up. I ignored the dackels, and put off getting up until 8:15. Coming out to the kitchen, I turned on the coffee in the old pot, and walked the dogs on the crunchy, frozen, white grass. Winter is coming to Central New Hampshire.

I came inside, and after removing my hat, gloves and coat, raced to the coffee maker for that all important first cup of coffee. We still do not have the new pot. That should arrive tomorrow!

Monday I simply slowed things down. I planned my Thanksgiving menu, and I am starting my grocery list, as we will shop on Tuesday for all our fixings. We have a 13-14 pound fresh turkey waiting for us to come get it!

Hubby needs to get a couple of different apples for the pie, and since my cousin asked, I will make a small pumpkin pie too.

What I most need for Tuesday is to get Hubby up early and to the grocery store at a decent time. As most of you know, after noon in the grocery store on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, life will become crazy!

In other news…

Greta’s leg is nearly healed now. We still have no idea what happened to her. We don’t allow her outside without supervision, so I doubt it was another animal. No, I think this cut was from some object like a metal fence or something like that.

On Monday we cleaned her up again, and it is almost totally closed up. The infection is also just about gone. I am so grateful we saw it before it got too bad!

What I Did This Past Weekend

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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This past Saturday was my birthday, so all weekend was spent either preparing for the event, enjoying the event, and then cleaning up after the event! And every single second, of every minute, of every hour, was absolutely splendid!

I spent the day on Friday doing all sorts of prep work. Baking my cake and pre-frosting it, I baked a Carrot Casserole , and set about getting the dishware, silverware and punch bowl out and ready.

On Saturday I went about like a crazy person touching up the house one last time, and then I jumped into the shower and made it out a mere 10 minutes before my guests arrived.

I had a blast! I did not sit around like a grand Queen. That is just not my style. I served people, and made sure they had drinks, did introductions and stood back and smiled an awful lot of the time! There we all were, my daughter and my granddaughter, my cousin Janet and Dave, and my closest friends! Mandy and Matt gifted me with a wonderful collage of Savannah and me and Mandy! Wonderful! Janet and Dave made the most delicious Seafood Lasagna in a bechemel sauce! Here is a little collage from my day yesterday!

The Seafood Lasagna was to die for! In fact I just finished the last piece, and it was even better the next day! I got flowers and Prosecco. Friends brought appetizers and yummies and I think I smiled all day long! The work involved, didn’t seem like work at all.

Lastly, I got a special card made for me by Dave.

Dave is not only a talented cook, but he is a gifted artist as well! Thank you so much for all you did yesterday to make my day so happy, and for all you do each and every day to bring joy and sunshine into my cousin’s life!

Sunday I got up, and went to the kitchen to turn on the coffee. Then I got my coat on, my gloves and my hat. But oddly, I did not hear the coffee maker whooshing and gurgling. Hmmmm! I went over and I thought I’d forgotten to turn it on. I flipped the switch, and NOTHING!!! I flipped it again! Nothing! Shoot! So I got out the old, smaller pot, that Hubby had in his commuter apartment in New York some 15 years ago, out and fixed the coffee in that. Once I got that going, I walked the dogs!

Now I knew that we would need another pot. A big twelve cup pot, because both Hubby and I are big coffee drinkers. I checked out the prices at the department stores locally and bristled when I saw they wanted close to $90.00 for our coffee make! Then I looked into Amazon.com and found our coffee pot. There it was for $69.00 no shipping!

Now I will tell you that I am an Amazon Prime member. for $79.00 a year I get free shipping on my purchases. However, I also get free videos, both old TV shows and movies. For us, it is a great benefit. I would recommend it for anyone who likes to save money!

I have not been paid for this totally unsolicited opinion of Amazon.com.

Well, once the coffee finally got brewed and I had ordered the new coffee maker, which should be here by Wednesday, I set about doing the last dishes and once Hubby and I finished breakfast, we treated Greta’s leg once again and wrapped it up.

Two days ago we noticed that she had an infected cut on her leg. How she did this we do not know, but the cut is about an inch long. We have been cleaning it twice a day with peroxide and triple antibiotic ointment. Then we wrap it up. Thankfully, she leaves it alone!

Sunday mid-day I got out two of the party plates. I filled one with cake and cookies from the party. The other I filled with meat and cheese and carrot casserole. And I tucked in some nice rolls too. Then off I went to see our neighbor, Frank. Frank will be 95 on December 7th. He served in the military during WW II and was a Prisoner of War. He is such a good man! Now he is shut-in most of the time and I just wanted to share my happiness with him. All I can say is…I am so glad I did!

Sometimes the best parts of our lives are the parts we share with others.

Happy Monday!!!

54 +1 Day

Saturday we celebrated my 54th birthday. I had planned a smallish group of those nearest and dearest to me, and we had a blast! There was plenty of food, plenty of great stories and Miss Savannah Rose!

I’m made my cake and it came out okay, but it’s funny, after so long not eating super sweet things, I found the triple chocolate cake and icing, almost too sweet. I cannot believe I just typed that!

Janet and Dave made the worlds most delicious Seafood Lasagna with Bechemel Sauce. Oh my, it was wonderful!

Mandy and Matt brought rolls and meats and cheeses, and it was wonderful! In fact later in the evening when I needed a little snack, I make myself a mini sandwich.

Others brought banana bread, shrimp cocktail and we also had chips and dips and ice cold punch. A new recipe, that came out really well!

I think the best part was just having everyone here with me. That was just the best!

Nov 17 004