Well, to be honest, my stuff never came down from last year. Except for most of the ornaments on the tree. I didn't finish taking them down. Tree still up, all my Christmas stuff still in the living room that my daughter put out all over my shrunk and her coffee table, which is now mine. It has been used as a storage space since after Christmas because my son's table is in there along with his suitcase that he had mailed to my house after he realized he wouldn't be able to take it through some major airports along with his other luggage when he flew to England last year. I need to clean that room out and put out the wreath on the front door, put the ornaments back on the tree.... Never had Thanksgiving because I got sick but now we are having Christmas dinner here the day after Christmas. I'm working Christmas day. I think I have one of those snowflake things somewhere that project on the front of the house. I just don't remember where it is. I don't know if I'll ever put out lights on the house again. Someday I would like to have some yard ornaments, like giant candy canes and those pretty white reindeer. I may decorate the trees outside with lights. See how I feel.

Oh man, it all looks delicious. At first I was concerned, then I saw the pink bowl for the stuffing and the pink pan holding spinach dip and all was right with the world. It's amylou, it's gotta have something pink. I think George has taken the correct measures, LOL. He looks a lot like my 25 pound cat, Spark. Orange cats gotta do orange cat things, you know. My Thanksgiving won't be until next Saturday, that's when Ashley has the girls and Makayla can come home for dinner and all other family obligations are fullfilled by all. Elery and I joined the neighbors at the B&B for dinner, the chef there did the cooking and I provided some of the "raw" ingredients. Well brined free range Amish turkey, nearly 30 pounds, some apple/cranberry stuffing, green bean casserole with no C of M soup, just some nicely seasoned white sauce and crunchy pan fried shallots, mashed potatoes from our Kennebecs in storage, gravy, fresh cranberry relish and dinner rolls, dessert was a really nicely spiced apple cake with cream cheese frosting. A couple of cups of coffee, chatting with friends and rooting for the Detroit Lions (who, true to tradition, lost), made a lovely day. Having lost my mother and my brother within the last year it was actually good to have something completely different. I'll start my cooking about Wednesday... Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Annie

I managed to do everything I planned to do despite having a bad reaction to the latest round of chemo on the 20th. We went back to our home in the country and I was feeling relatively OK the next day so I did some prep for cooking, making the sausagemeat stuffing for the turkey and freezing it. I had made pumpkin pies and brownies before we went down to the city for the treatment and put them into the freezer in our unit there. I was glad that I did as I felt dreadful on the Friday and Saturday. I was a little better on the Saturday so I continued with prepping, chopping bread cubes and celery and onions etc for the bread stuffing, then we had to pack it all up and head down to the city again as DD and her little family were arriving at the airport in the early evening. We were lending them DH’s car so at least he had to be there. It was touch and go as to whether I would be up to driving my car down (as opposed to DH’s sister bringing him back to the country and then him driving both of us in my car) but through sheer stubbornness I made it :-). Sunday morning I felt almost human again so I put the ham I had pre-studded with cloves into the oven and basted it with a mix of orange juice, cranberry sauce, honey and mustard at regular intervals. It turned out delicious and moist :-) As it happened I didn’t need to bring salads so I made the cheesecake I had planned to make and that was me done for the day. We took the ham and the desserts and all our presents to my BIL’s place and had a great evening with the whole extended family and then divvied up leftovers. I gave away a fair amount of ham, which was fine with me as I had bought a large one just for the purpose. Christmas morning I made the bread stuffing then stuffed the turkey buffe with it then sealed it in with the sausagemeat stuffing. We took that, the remaining ham and a pumpkin pie to the holiday apartment where DD is staying. Her DH made waffles with fresh fruit and maple syrup for brunch, then we played with DGS and opened presents while the turkey roasted along with the potatoes. After a while DD made an appetiser of brie wedges coated in panko and fried, along with cranberry sauce and rocket salad. Then we had the turkey, ham, green beans with prosciutto, roasted Dutch carrots, cauliflower cheese, hasselback potatoes, bread sauce and gravy and big puffy mini Yorkshire puddings (made by DSIL), followed by pumpkin pie at a decent interval. It was a lovely low key day and we had a great time with DD, DSIL and DGS, who is the most delightful baby 🥰

Yeonassky, yes, of course I'll share. I'm sorry, I just now got back to this and noticed you'd asked. Bear with me, its lengthy and help me pray I have no typos 😊 Marcella Rosene Lasagna (Pasta and Co) SAUCE 1 1/2 # lean ground beef 1/4 C pure olive oil 1 1/2 C coarsely chopped onions 1 heaping Tablespoon oregano 1 1/2 teaspoon finely minced garlic 1 1/2 teaspoons basil 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1 Cup plus 3 tablespoons dry white wine 3 1/4 cups crushed tomatoes in puree (Paradise brand if available). There will be a couple of ounces left in the 28-oz can, save and use in assembling the lasagna 5 ounces frozen spinach (half a 10 oz box, keep the other half frozen for another use. Squeeze what you will use dry of all liquid CHEESE 3 cups mozzarella, grated 1/2 Cup feta, crumbled BECHAMEL 1 1/2 C milk 1 Cup cream big pinch white pepper big pinch thyme big pinch nutmeg big pinch basil 3 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese 3 tablespoons grated romano cheese THEN Uncooked fresh only lasagna noodles,enough for three layers in 9x13 pan TOPPING 1/4 cup unseasoned bread crumbs 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese 1 teaspoon very finely chopped parsley Cook beef in saute pan over medium heat until pink gone. Remove from heat and drain of all fat. (make sure it is well crumbled). In same pan, heat olive oil and add onions, oregano, garlic, basil, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes. Cook until onions are translucent. Add wine, bring to a boil, cook about 10 min until alcohol taste evaporated. Stir in tomatoes, spinach, your reserved browned beef. Simmer a couple of minutes then remove from heat. Mix together mozzarella and feta cheeses and set aside. Make bechamel: Heat milk,cream, white pepper, thyme, nutmeg, basil in small saucepan until it nears a boil. Turn off heat. Melt butter in medium pan, cook until foam from butter recedes, remove from heat, add flour and mix well. Return to medium low heat and stirring frequently, simmer 2-3 minutes to cook but not brown the flour. Gradually stir in hot milk/cream mix, raise heat a little and continue to stir until mixture is smooth and thick (5 minutes?). Add Parmesan and Romano and whisk until smooth. Should be texture of wallpaper paste, not the white sauce more often associated with bechamel. Mix together and reserve your topping ingredients. ASSEMBLE AND BAKE (or, as they do at the deli often, assemble, wrap and freeze to bake later) Preheat oven to 400F. Spread 2 tablespoons of leftover tomato juices from your can on bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Lay in one layer of the uncooked lasagna noodles. Spoon on 3 cups meat sauce. Spread 1 Cup Bechamel across the meat sauce in two diagonals (no need to spread evenly at this point). Top with two cups cheese mixture. Lay on another layer of lasagna noodles and repeat, using same amounts of sauce - be sure to get in every dab of the meat sauce( as there will be none to spare) bechamel, cheese. Top with last layer of noodles, and with fingertips, press lightly to distribute bechamel smoothly in the layers. Using a long metal spatula 'frost' top layer of noodles with remaining bechamel. Be sure to completely cover noodles so they do not dry out in oven. Sprinkle evenly with reserved bread crumb mix. Bake 400F for approx 60 minutes until sauce bubbles around edges and top is lightly browned. If browning too quickly, cover with foil last 10 minutes. If baking this assembled straight from your freezer, add about 20 minutes baking time. Critical for ease in serving.....Let Stand 20 Minutes Before Serving I hope you enjoy this as much as we do, and again, I am not especially a fan of lasagna other than this one 😁