Friday, November 25, 2011

Such a day I have had...

  I could live in a house like this...
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   It's been a wonderful day after Thanksgiving.  I finished off the turkey stock today and canned 11 pints, 7 of them with meat, 4 plain broth.  The Irishman worked outside a big part of the day, coming in for little turkey sandwiches made on leftover rolls with cranberry sauce on them. We also had some kimchi on the side, and a little of this marvelous salad my SIL brought called Pretzel Salad.  I'll post the recipe for it when she sends it...it's one my cousin made at the family reunion last year and is remarkable.

  It was a gorgeous day, sunny and around 60 degrees. At about 4 o'clock, we took Miss Roxie and Miss Bella to the park for a walk. They had a ball. When we came back, he took Molly the Jack Russell Terrorist out to the reservoir where she can run like the wind.  They came home to find me and both dogs asleep on the couch, lol.

  I made a shepherds pie for supper, using turkey, of course. I also used dressing instead of mashed potatoes, and used all kinds of little root veggies in it that himself brought in from the garden. Had turkey gravy and some green beans in the fridge, so those went in as well.  It was delicious, even if it was a little magenta colored from the baby beets. Then he had some lemon meringue pie and I cut into the peaches and cream pie. Let me tell you something:  I kinda invented this pie because when I was making pies the other day, I didn't think  I had made enough peach filling for a deep dish pie. SO I ADDED TO IT.  Then, naturally, I had too much for one pie, but not enough for 2.  sigh...I looked in the fridge, found some cream cheese and some sour cream, whipped them together with a tiny bit of sugar, spread the concoction across the bottom of a prebaked pie crust, poured the peach filling on top of that, and then piped the remaining cream stuff around the edge of the crust.  

  OH. MY. GOD.

 It is magnificent. My husband was laughing at me, because with every bite I said, O, God. I am brilliant! O,God-this is sooooo good!  He laughed until I spooned some into his mouth, at which point his eyes got big and he said..O,God--you ARE brilliant!!  lol  Peaches and Cream Pie. It's the bomb, people. lol


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  SO now it's midnight and I'm ready to join my honey in bed for a good nights sleep...I did a good job of balancing R&R and accomplishing a few things today, so it feels like it was a very good day.  I love days like this...I get to stay home and  be grateful for my little home and my big family and my critters and my life.  I didn't have to go out and join the madness (not a shopper) and spend money I can do other things with. I have decided to do a completely hand made Christmas this year...not that we usually buy a lot, because we don't.  But I am going to try my hand at some dolls and some other little things for the few I do give gifts too. I have a book of handmade gifts that I'm going to go through and see what I can find.  My grandson wants a fleece blanket (and Pizza Hut gift cards, lol), but my 2 little nieces would love a doll, something simple that they can carry around and sleep with.  I used to do a lot of this stuff, but haven't in years.  I'm also gonna try my hand at a shirt or two for the Irishman, he loves that stuff.  I have an old shirt of his that came from South America that he always loved that I can use for a pattern. It's very simple, with straight lines.lol  Even I should be able to do it.  I guess I'd better get started, eh?

  BTW--the kimchi is still fermenting, and several of my nephews tried it yesterday and loved it. One wanted some to take home.  I am loving it...it tastes great, esp. since I so love ginger and garlic. lol

  I am soaking some pinto beans to can tomorrow, since I still have the canner out from the turkey broth. I've been wanting to can some for awhile, for convenience sake.  Also a good protein source to get to easily in the case of power outages. I have a lot of pinto beans (our favorite) in the pantry, probably 2 gallons of dried beans. Canning in the off season is almost fun  :)


  Alright then. I'm going to feed some fish and get ready to head for bed. (I just realized I haven't fed them yet tonight). The kitchen is clean, the animals have all been outside, and  I am ready for some sweet slumber.


 Namaste.

8 comments:

Annette said...

Love this post....I love the idea of a homemade Christmas too. I tried that several years ago but no one else int he family was willing to jump on board. I think I may try again...next year. The damage is already done this year. I am going to have to go back through this post and write down your peaches and cream pie recipe and I am anxiously awaiting the pretzel salad recipe. :o)

DJan said...

You have given me an idea to do the same homemade stuff this year! It will be fun, and it will keep my hands busy. Your wonderful food descriptions... I am already hungry and they sound so good! I always wonder how you can accomplish so much in one day. I am almost always in awe when I finish your post. Hope you got a good night's sleep, you sure deserved it! :-)

Rita said...

What a wonderful day!! I almost found myself sighing ahhhh as I read it. :)

I've done handmade Christmases several times over the years. I can just picture those girls with their dolls! :)

Have a wonderful weekend, too! :)

Judy T said...

Oh... I think I'm drooling on my keyboard- that pie sounds fantastic!! Peaches and cream.... Mmmm.....
Judy

the wild magnolia said...

This post was full of it. Everything!

If you write the pie creation in recipe form I would love that. It sounds good and your enthusiasm make it fun.

Canning, working outside, turkey sandwiches, cranberry sauce on rolls, and kimchi....whew...lots of good homemade treats. Making shepherds pie with dressing, great idea too.

Homemade Christmas is such a good idea. We don't do much for Christmas. Everyone is grown now. But I am looking for a simple doll pattern.

Rest up, I am hoping you are off until Monday. Good stay at home days.

I rarely shop either.

Blessings.

Anonymous said...

Peaches and cream pie sounds divine. Positively divine. I'm so delighted your holiday went well. You deserve the happiest of days!

Dirt Lover said...

Oh, you sound busy!! Enjoyed reading your post. We do alot of our Christmas gifts from what we've made. This year we're doing smoked cheeses to add to the other foodie things. Hubby's quite adept with the smoker. :) Great blog, I'm a follower now!
~~Lori

Carol said...

I happened to come across your rustic bread post on Louisey's blog roll a day after I had made some for T'giving. Good ideas are everywhere in the universe. I picked up a 5 mo chip on Friday and asked a program to sponsor as I will never figure out what I'm doing without help. For that, I am thanksful.