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.