With Thanksgiving being 2 weeks away, I am starting my Christmas plans.
We have Christmas here for the family. My MIL does Thanksgiving at her house for the family and my SIL does Easter. So yesterday I started to gather things here and try to decide on a Christmas card, since they get mailed out the day after Thanksgiving.
Then I went to Walgreen's....
The deal they had on boxed cards was just too good to be passed up! Buy 1 and get 2(!) free! So for 6.99 plus tax I got cards for this year. These are the 2 boxes that I am going to send out....
Plain and simple. Of course the Christmas pig ones were very cute too! My husband does not share my sense of humor though, so I passed on them.
Now to make my list and check it twice!
We also do a theme for Christmas and this year it is going to be England. Every year we do a different country and do traditional food from that country. We also do some of the customs from that country for Christmas. We gift Christmas bulbs that I get at our annual Bronner's trip. The bulbs have that country on the front and on the back is a bit about their Christmas traditions. Gives the kids a look into Christmas in other parts of the world. Last year we did Italy because I was on an Italian cooking binge. Next year we are doing Australia since my husband and I are going there next summer.
If you have any good Christmas goose recipes or tips (hint hint Yvonne and Jacqueline!) let me know!
Now I got a funny Christmas story for you. Since it happened 11 years ago it is funny now. Our son was almost 3 months old and I was planning Christmas dinner for about 20 people in our old little house. We had just gotten a new stove the previous summer. I loved my new stove cause the oven and all 4 burners worked. I planned on cooking a "turkaling". You take a cornish hen, debone it, and stuff it back into shape with one kind of stuffing. Then you take a duck, debone it, put the cornish hen inside and put another kind of stuffing around inside it. Then you do a capon, debone it, put the 2 other birds inside it and put another kind of stuffing around them. Then you debone a turkey, put the other 3 birds inside and another kind of stuffing around them. Then you debone a goose, put the other 4 birds inside and another kind of stuffing around them. Then bake.
It took me 3 days to do the prep work for these suckers! Deboning a bird is not a fun or easy task. So Christmas Eve we baked it. We cooked it on a cookie sheet and wrapped about 2 boxes of aluminum foil around it. Jeffrey woke up at 2 am to be fed and when I walked out of our room the entire house was engulfed with smoke! I woke up my husband and we found that the grease had started to drip out of the aluminum foil. We sucked out as much grease and juices as we could and thought it good. Opened all the windows to air out the house I had just spent 2 weeks cleaning too. Then I took Jeffrey into the living room to feed him.
I kept thinking when he was eating that it seemed to be getting smokey again. After he was done, I went to take him into the bedroom to put back to bed. We had to pass through our kitchen to get to the bedrooms. I looked over and flames were coming out of my new stove! I screamed for Jeff and he came running. He opened the oven and the whole thing was on fire! I just stood there crying as he put out the fire with a fire extinguisher.
The house was trashed, the stove was unusable and dinner was ruined. Jeff tried to make jokes about it but that just made me more upset. He carefully unwrapped it and all that tinfoil had kept the fire extinguisher crap from getting in. So at 5 am he took it over to his mom's and had her finish cooking it. It was very good. Everyone loved it. Don't know if it was worth destroying the kitchen for though.
So there is my funny Christmas story. Haven't made a turkaling since either.
That reminds me I have to get a really really deep pan to cook a goose in!
So I am off to write out Christmas cards to be mailed.
***
Don't forget about Cindy's party on the 16th!
My little thing has to do with this area....
and having people over for the holidays.
I still need to plan a birthday party for Syrina who turns 3 on New Year's Eve....
7 comments:
Maggie:
Honi, you really need to write a book. You make me double over in laughter; even about the "turkaling" I have read bout them but never eaten one and that is over the top about you prepare it!!!
I like your choice of Christmas cards and you have the budget thing right on the top!!!
Take lots of photos of the English dinner and plum pudding.
You are a hell of a nice person!!!
Hugs
carole
Is it really only two weeks away???
We will be in the barn...munching carrots with the kids!
We do nothing for Thanksgiving or Christmas. We celebrate in N.C with my whole family. It's the only time I can get a horse/dog/cat sitter!
But that's ok. I love Christmas Eve in the barn! The animals talk you know!
Misha
oops, I meant to say we get together at New Years for a week!
Hi there Maggie,
The one thing that you have to have at an English Christmas dinner table, and it's something that you don't have, are crackers. I don't know if you know what they are.They are cardboard tubes covered in pretty paper and inside is a silly gift , a hat and a joke. You have to pull the cracker and it goes 'BANG' and then you can get the gift. If you like, I'll send you some. Just email me your address (only if you want to) and I'll send you a box of Christmas crackers. Also, a goose can be very fatty so its best to seal it in a frying pan to crisp the skin and get rid of some of the fat. I'll think of some other things to tell you about an English Christmas, later.
Loved your story. We have had the bird within a bird within a bird thingy.....it's a bit of a palava (English word, sorry).Don't forget to let me know if you would like a box of crackers.
We always have Christmas crackers too!! I am sure you can find them there ~ if not let me know and I can send some to you too!
Your bird story was funny ~ I am sure it was not funny at the time but it's good that you can laugh about it now.
A turkaling??? I for sure thought your were kidding. OMG. I'm amazed you're laughing after 11 years...it would take me at least another decade.
Oh MY GOSH,MAGGIE!!!!!!!I Laughed so hard, I almost had an accident- too much coffee and a VERY funny story don't go together! Hysterical! Someday I hope to meet you in person. You must be such a stitch!!!!! And I will tell you about the time I emptied a whole fire extinguisher in my new refregerator's freezer area (fully stocked) because I thought it was on fire! The detail are complete with the fire company coming in hazmat suites and the neighbores gawking, and one of my husband's patients telling him the house was on fire before I could call him! Funny now... not so much then!
Listen, if you can cook a turkaling, everthing else is easy peasy! I am sooo impressed. You tackled this with a 3 month old, now I know that you are slightly off-center! Did I say Hysterical?
Coming to visit you is so much fun!
Yvonne
PS. please revisit my post for today- I had to add something, and I had you and some other very dear blog friends in mind!
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