Gift Mystery

This box contains a holiday gift that has been delivered at this time of year no matter where we were living at Christmas — NJ, VA and now NH.

It always arrives just before the holidays and is enjoyed for quite awhile afterwards.
No, it's not a fruitcake or alcoholic beverage; yes it's an identical gift each year.

Can you guess what's in this box?
(No prize, just self-satisfaction or being correct.)

Enjoy your weekend, Everyone. 
The Christmas countdown is on.

Christmas Decos - What's Outside

Our previous post showed this year's Christmas decorations inside our mill apartment. Thanks to everyone for your comments. It was fun getting into the holiday mood, so much so that I decided to also decorate the apt entryway with a wintry theme, despite the fact that there hasn't been a snowflake to be seen with daytime temps in the mid-50s. Perhaps, if I include snowmen, the snow will come?

The doorway decorations built on a seasonal theme from last year. We're fortunate in this mill building that our apt entry has a shelf and some other folks also decorate for the seasons. This is a photo taken last week with Grenville peering out.

The shelf snowmen are all thrift store "finds" (none cost more than $1). The snowflakes came from Dollar Tree as did the wall signs.These signs will be replaced with winter themed ones in January. The greenery that was recently added is discarded branches from an area Christmas tree seller.

The theme for our decorated doorway began as a package wrapped up with in large ribbon with an oversized bow (yes, Dollar Tree again). The front pieces of last year’s cards finalized the decor.

“Percy" (full name Percival) the Penguin formerly resided on our VA front porch for the 12 years we lived there. This cement figure was given to us by a NJ friend and painted after we moved to VA. After bringing it here, we decided to dress it in seasonal holiday gear and found a small Santa hat among our holiday "stuff" collection. This is why it’s good to keep  "stuff' as you never know when it could be useful. The snowman companion is named "Nigel" and was a 50-cent bargain from a local thrift store that needed some stitching repair  which is now covered by his scarf that Percy also shares — another thrift store find that was cut in half for both to share.

The wall opposite the shelf snowman displays one the large holiday flags that we formerly used on our VA front porch. It's hung on a dowel road suspended using fishing line, an idea from a good friend (thanks, Marty). A large Santa flag is similarly displayed on one of the large mill windows.

We hope you enjoyed our holiday decorations tour, both inside and outside. We have a few more inside decor spread about the apt, but that's a post for another holiday season. Here's Grenville with his good friend, Santa.

Merry Christmas to All

Dorothy (Beatrice) & Pat (Grenville)

Christmas Decos - Come Inside

We've had (a lot) of fun sharing memories as we decorated inside (and outside) our NH apt this holiday season. SO much fun that we decided to share our displays with friends who won’t be able to visit. While we would enjoy seeing our fellow bloggers, that just isn't possible; this post is an overview of what we've done since Thanksgiving. (And, there's more to come.) 

Last year was our 1st NH Christmas; however, we spent the holidays in NJ due to the unexpected passing of my mother. She is "sharing" some holiday decor which was once in her home. We put up our 4-foot tree on a table and Grenville elevated some of the village with styrofoam pieces under the snow blanket (good thing both are white).  We had most of the New England village pieces, but this year added some thrift store finds of snowmen and Santas which will become permanent pieces.

The vintage tablecloth belonged to my late mother and was used in her home during many holiday get-togethers in my childhood. Back then, I never noticed that there are different scenes in each ornament along the front. Most of my mother's household possessions were donated, but I kept some pieces to use and remember. (She is here with us at Christmas time.)

Grenville created a Christmas tree light outline on a mill window using some of unused tree lites. We can see the lights  from across the Nashua River. The other night we took a ride and could see the Christmas light tree and our small tree. There weren’t many other decorated windows so it wasn’t hard to find; unfortunately it doesn’t show up well from such a distance, perhaps taking along a zoom-lens camera would be helpful the next time.

This village is nestled below the tree and this year Grenville elevated some of the village buildings with styrofoam pieces (good to save some packing materials) then covered all with a "snow" blanket (think Christmas Tree store shopping). The pieces to the this Dept. 56 New England-themed village were bought over the years we lived in NJ; now it's quite appropriate that we live in NE. This year's additions included some snowmen and Santas purchased at thrift stores and flea markets; these will become permanent pieces. 

A Nativity has been part of our holiday display for many Christmases and this one combines a couple of sets. Mine was originally bought at an S.S. Kresge store (remember those?). This year, I donated most of the figures, replacing them with pieces from a set of my late mother's.  Those made in Italy pieces showed more detail than mine. The creche is from my set as are some of the animal figures added over the years. You will also see that there are extra angels as you can never have too many. (Again, mom's spirit is here at Christmas.) 

This Charlie Brown trio was bought at a CVS in PA during an after-Christmas sale last year at a ridiculously low price (under $5) for all. We hope to find more of Charlie's friends on sale during after holiday sales this year too.

These Christmas bears survived the "cut" of those donated when we relocated from VA.

We've also decorated the exterior entry of our mill apt (a subject for another post). We hope that you've enjoyed seeing our inside decorations "tour." And, if your travels take you anywhere near Nashua, NH during the holidays, please DO let us know!

Merry Christmas to All
Dorothy (Beatrice) & Pat (Grenville)

Party Favorite (Ours Too!)

The holiday season is get-together time for so many. Last week we attended a couple of holiday socials and our grandson's birthday celebration too. 

While it can be risky bringing along a first-time tried dish, I had wanted to a 7 Layer Dip after a few years of enjoying ones done by others for similar gatherings.

It was so easy once you assemble all the ingredients. The best part is that no cooking is required. You can dice some of the ingredients the night before or earlier in the day, then assemble everything later. It helps to make it a few hours earlier and refrigerate before serving. The ingredients set up better when chilled.

7 Layer Dip Appetizer 

• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and mashed
• 1-1/2 TBSP fresh lime juice
• 1/4 C hoped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 C salsa (drain if too liquid)
• 1 (8 oz) container sour cream
• 1 package taco seasoning mix
• 4 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 bunch scallions (green onions) finely chopped
• 1 (16 oz) can refried beans
• 1 can black olives, drained and chopped
• 2 C shredded Mexican style cheese blend
• Chili seasoning (optional)
• garlic salt to taste (optional) 
• ground black pepper 

1. Mash avocados in a bowl. Add in lime juice, cilantro, salsa, garlic salt and pepper and you now have guacamole.
2. Blend sour cream and taco seasoning in a small bowl (add in dash of chili seasoning if using).
3. In a 9x13 dish or large serving platter layer ingredients: spread refried beans, top with sour cream mixture, spread on guacamole. Top with tomatoes, green onions, cheese and black olives.
4. Serve with nacho chips.

There are many variations to this dish; you might have a different recipe which adds or omits some ingredients. I made it 3 times in a week and learned something each time. For example: draining diced tomatoes and removing some seeds is helpful as is draining the salsa if the brand is too liquid. Also, I combined scallions with tomatoes and mixed some of the cheese with the diced olives before spreading the layers.

There's not much that can go wrong with this appetizer, except that it tends to disappear. Be sure to have an accompanying large bag of nacho chips when serving. I plan to make it again during the holiday season (so let us know if you can stop by for a visit).

Birthday Boy

Nine years ago this past week we traveled to California for the birth of our grandson, who spent his first two weeks in the neo-natal unit, but arrived home in time to celebrate Christmas. This weekend, family and friends gathered to celebrate his 9th birthday.

As you can tell by the figurines that decorated the cake, he is a Star Wars fan and he's watched the the older movies online.

And, he also enjoyed eating the cake.

No birthday is complete without birthday cards and he read each card before opening the attached gift.

Then came the most fun — opening gifts; he was excited at just about every one, which seemed to among his current favorites. 

It was a fun afternoon for everyone especially the birthday boy — cake, cards and gifts —and  celebrating with family and friends. We're thankful that he is a healthy youngster. 

Friday Funnies

This goes to show that a girl is never without her phone — even when napping.

Granddaughter Ellie was oblivious to everything around her including her brother Bobby sitting nearby her on the couch. Maybe she was exhausted from holiday gift ordering?

Lots of holiday events are going on in Nashua, NH and we're planning to enjoy a few. It's also grandson Bobby's 9th birthday (already) on Sunday. Lots of celebrating to do.

Enjoy your weekend, Everyone.

Thanksgiving Reunion

Did you have your fill of leftover turkey in the aftermath of the Thanksgiving holiday?
There were no casserole leftover dishes, turkey pot pies or turkey soup meals for us.

Why? Because we celebrated the holiday with family members by dining at a restaurant. Last year, we were in NJ for what turned out to be my mother's last holiday celebration as she passed away a few weeks later in late December. This year, we traveled to PA to celebrate with my brother and his family.

As poignant as that holiday season later turned out, this year Thanksgiving started the season off better because my brother and I shared it together. For reasons too personal to detail here, we (sadly) had not celebrated any holiday together in many years. This year was different as we not only dined together, but were truly thankful to be together once again. 

There was sadness that we could not share this long-overdue reunion with our late mother. And, there was some smiles too when my brother remarked at dinner: "I can just hear mom saying why didn't you invite me too?" We both knew she would not have wanted to miss a holiday celebration with her family. 

She would have enjoyed that comment too. It's moments like this shared with family that bring a smile as we remember family and friends. They are with us in spirit and always in our hearts and memories.

That said, we had a wonderful reunion. Admittedly, it was a long trip for us, but this celebration was one we would't have missed sharing with these family members.

But we do miss not having any turkey leftovers, so we're cooking one here at home next week. Yes, that bearded fellow is Grenville who's getting ready for the long and snowy winter days to come here in NH. 

(He left his sleigh and reindeer outside the restaurant at Thanksgiving.)

No-Guilt Eggplant Parmesan

Here it is — a recipe post that doesn't contain any chicken or turkey, which some folks may be tired of by now. As we celebrated Thanksgiving by dining out with family members, there were no leftovers for us to tire of eating. 

As we've posted about before, Grenville and myself are both on a weight loss plan. It's working, although sometimes we hit a few plateaus or stumbling blocks along the way. We're always looking for new ways to cut calories on some favorite recipes.

Eggplant parmesan used to involve breading and then frying the eggplant before assembling the dish. Delicious, sure it was, but calorie-filled too. Did it taste good? Yes! We  tried other eggplant parmesan recipes which called for cutting and baking the eggplant. The result was good and healthy too, but we missed the crunchiness of breading first. Until last week, when I found this recipe at Cooking Light online. After one try, it's definitely a "keeper" for us.

No Guilt  Eggplant Parmesan

• 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1-inch slices
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 TBSP water
• 2 C whole-wheat panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/4 C grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• Cooking spray

Filling

• 1/2 C torn fresh basil
• 1/4 C grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
• 1-2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 16 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten

Remaining ingredients

• 1 jar tomato sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8 oz. thinly sliced mozzarella cheese
• 3/4 C finely grated fontina cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Combine 2 eggs and 1 tablespoon of water in a shallow dish (cake tins work well). Combine panko and 1/4 cup Parmigiana-Reggiano in a second shallow pan. 
2. Dip eggplant in egg mixture, dredge in panko mix, pressing gently to adhere and shake off excess. Place eggplant, 1 inch apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. 
3. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden, turning once and rotating baking sheets after 15 minutes (if using more than one).
4. To make filling, combine basil and next 6 ingredients (through egg).
5. To assemble, spoon 1/2 cup of tomato cause in bottom of 13x9-inch glass baking dish coated with cooking spray. Layer half of eggplant slices over pasta sauce. Sprinkle eggplant with salt. 
6. Top with 3/4 cup of tomato sauce, spread half of ricotta cheese mixture over sauce and top with a third of mozzarella and 1/4 cup fontina cheese. Repeat layers once, ending with about 1 cup of sauce.
   
7. Cover tightly with aluminum foil coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. 
8. Remove foil and top with remaining third of mozzarella and 1/3 cup fontina. Bake 10 minutes longer or until sauce is bubbly and cheese melts. 

Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Phriday Phunny

As Seen on Cape Cod

Does this mean only Chunky Monkeys are allowed here??????

Maybe Chubby and his honey Chubette live down the lane??

Happy Phriday to all. 

Hope that you've survive all those Turkey Endorphins!!

Enjoy your weekend and Stay Safe

Grenville[Looking for a Turkey Sandwich]

Thanksgiving Escape

Today, as many folks in the U.S are on their way to visit family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday, there were also a few others in a big hurry to leave the area.

Agnes and Edith were seen rushing along a field . . .

And were joined by their friend, Tom . . .

The trio were last seen heading very quickly out of the area.

The END.

We wish Everyone very safe travels AND a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Beatrice (Dorothy) & Grenville (Pat)

and from our special friend "Tom"

"Eat more beef"