Leftovers Plus Extras

Oops, I forgot to take pictures of the Christmas meal before it disappeared again.  The menu for Christmas was rabbit soup, shrimp, waldorf salad, broccoli, cheese, braunschweiger, crusty warm bread, and crackers.

I sent most of the shrimp plus several containers of other things home with mom to enjoy.

The next day we had some leftover soup, a few shrimp, and chicken shu-mei filling steamed in some wonton wrappers and fried as egg rolls (a little cheating on hubby's diet).

 Of course, it is strongly advised that you say grace with one eye open to keep the four legged lurker from stealing your lunch.
(Chloe, "Hey those roll things look a lot like rawhides,
I wonder if they taste as good as they smell?"
Sorry Chloe NSFD, not safe for dogs.)

The chicken shu-mei filling recipe was adapted from the Frugal Gourmet's Three Ancient Cuisines recipe book.
The adapted version included:
One pound ground chicken breast
  (the grocery store had it on special for $2.00/lb)
One small yellow onion, chopped very finely
3 cloves garlic, run through a press or finely chopped
1 Tbs rice wine
1 Tbs soy sauce
3/4 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp salt (or less)
ground black pepper (or white if you like)
1 can water chestnuts drained and chopped finely
1 Tbs corn starch

Mix well and stuff into desired wrappers.  As wontons they work well steamed, deep fried, or simmered in chicken stock.  In egg roll wrappers, the only option to get the insides cooked fully is to deep fry them.

Real Id is Really Expensive

All total it cost $54 to renew my driver's license, $34 for the license and $20 for the certified copy of my marriage license.  That is not counting the mileage to & from the county seat and to & from the DMV. To all ladies out there who have had the misfortune to be married more than once, get out your checkbooks.

If Elizabeth Taylor was still alive, she would have to pay an awful lot for certified copies of marriage and divorce certificates.  Ok, perhaps she isn't the best example since she really didn't change her name with all seven marriages.

Snow, Beautiful Snow

 (Maybe the apple trees will finally

drop their leaves by springtime.)

Wishing you a

Very Merry Christmas Season!

(I'm personally aiming for the twelve days of Christmas, because I still have to put lights on an artificial tree in the downstairs living room.  Christmas with mom & stepfather will be tomorrow afternoon, so you might get to see some food pics tomorrow.  I have cooking to do now, so bye for now.)

Ever Get the Feeling

that you're living inside a snow globe, and some naughty child keeps shaking the darn thing?

I guess it is prettier than looking at dirt and dead plants.  Cameras just can't capture the glisten of evening lights on fresh fluffy snow.  Maybe I'll snap some pictures of a freshly frosted world in the morning.  Shoveling is done for now, until the city plows us in - again.

Winter Wonderland

Another blast from the past

to make the snow shoveling go faster.

Shovel Dat Snow

An Oldie from Da Yoopers

Thankfully, hubby changed the battery on my car yesterday, so at least my car does go.  My snowblower started fine today, but I can't say the same for dad's snowblower.

Fortune Cookies

Hubby had off work today, so we took advantage of a coupon to our favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch.  At the end of the meal, they gave us two fortune cookies.  We find it much more amusing to bring them home and read them to Chloe.  So here are Chloe's fortune cookie predictions for today.

1. "You will conquer obstacles to achieve success."

and

2. "Everything will now come your way."

If those fortunes actually came true, the results might resemble this.

A live bunny toy, lifetime guarantee not included.

All You Can Eat Fresh Bread

A live toy cat that doesn't run away.

Of course, we know that fortune cookies aren't real.

So this is what actually happens.

But mom, a successful bath coming my way was NOT what I had in mind.

Christmas a Little Early

Friday was divided between cooking at home in preparation for the S. family Christmas celebration and dad's house with furnace stuff.  Somehow the potato salad, bread, raspberry jello, and Christmas cookies were made.  However, the cookies did not get frosted.

  Frosting was whipped-up and colored on Sat. morning and all the stuff was loaded into the Element for the two hour trek to hubby's sister's place.  First we stopped at mom's house to give her insulin shot.  Then we went to dad's house to make sure the furnace was still running.  Then the drive south began.  It was snowing, and the salt trucks were working well.  They were working so well that we stopped at a store and bought three gallons of windshield washer fluid.  We used at least one gallon on the way there.

Once there, a grand time was had by all catching up on what everybody has been doing since Thanksgiving.  For the niece and nephews, that seems to involve playing a lot of video games and watching You-tube videos.  So many activities these days are not very group friendly.  We had a tasty dinner of ham, green bean casserole, bread, raspberry jello, and potato salad.  For first desert, there were cookies.  My niece has been doing a lot of homework baking for home-ec. class.  She brought gingerbread people; they were quite tasty.  The cutout cookies were a frost-your-own project this year.  Although the pretty piped decorations were missed, one nephew seemed to like being able to put a giant glob of frosting on a cookie and then load it up with as many red-hots as it would hold.  Sparky the dog enjoyed sitting on as many laps as possible and giving people doggy kisses.  Second desert was candy cane pie.  Then it was time to leave.  Hubby topped off the windshield washer fluid, and we gave ma-in-law a ride back to the assisted living place because it was getting to be her bedtime anyway.  The ride back north went well with a short break to top off the washer fluid yet again.  We stopped at dad's house, and thankfully his furnace had not quit while we were away.  We made it home safe and sound with only one gallon of windshield washer fluid to spare.

Anyone need a little leftover potato salad?

Must Have Been a Glitch

Dad's furnace is now running in automatic mode.  The furnace repair man came Friday afternoon, switched it to auto and thankfully it kept running.  He tweaked a few hoses, checked to make sure the exaust wasn't clogged, and left instructions to call him back if it acts up again.  So far the furnace has been running, although it does make a funny metallic groaning noise on startup and shutdown, a noise which it did not make when the repairman visited-murphy's law strikes again.  The furnace gets checked twice a day to make sure it is still running.  I plan to record the noise, and let dad have a listen to decide whether or not he wants me to call back the repairman during the week.

We're still not sure what caused dad's furnace to quit, although Wed. morning hubby and I awoke to find the pellet stove had shut-down during the night and the trusty, old boiler (with no electronic parts) had kicked in.  The pellet stove will shut down when there is an interruption of electrical power.  Maybe there was a brief, city-wide power outage or surge early Wed. morning.  If that was the case, we are very lucky that it took so long for dad's house to cool down.  It may just be sheer coincidence, but an electrical outlet at mom's house quit working this week too.

Interesting Things Happen in Life

in spite of our plans.  I had planned to make Christmas cookies today for the upcoming S. family Christmas gathering, however it was not to be.  I checked on my dad's house this afternoon to find that it was almost as cold inside as the weather outside, 37 deg. F not good.  So I flipped the breaker; the furnace burner kicked on, but the blower didn't start.  I called dad.  He gave me the name of his furnace guy.  The phone book had the office number.  The answering machine had the emergency cell number.  Although the furnace guy can't come until tomorrow, he told me to switch the fan to manual, and thankfully after scaring the furnace by opening and closing an access panel, it fired up both the burner and the blower.  Both the hot and cold taps weren't running, so I figured the main was a bit frozen.  After running home to fetch a space heater, box fan, heavy gauge extension cord, extra batteries for my flashlight and after stopping at Little Ceasar's for a pizza, I went back to dad's and set up the heater and fan in front of the water main connection with the valve turned off, just in case something had ruptured.  Then I settled in with my winter hat and coat on in the living room to eat pizza while watching some Top Gear on Netflix.  Although it was quite funny, watching the winter olympics special was a bit chilly, especially the part where Hammond tests which will stop functioning first in a cold test chamber - him or a little car - brr.  The main thawed, and there appeared to be no leaks in any of the indoor pipes, but just to be on the safe side, I only turn the main on when the toilet tank needs refilling and back off when it is full.

Time to take a hot shower and head back over to dad's house to camp out in the living room overnight; the bedrooms upstairs are still a bit chilly.  Hope the furnace guy can figure out what is wrong tomorrow.

Sometimes I Wish

that Chloe could tell me what she wants.  Case in point, this afternoon she walked into the living room and stared at me for a while.  Then she slowly walked into the dining room and promptly barfed her entire breakfast onto the floor.  Not sure what is bugging her.  It could just be that she swallowed her food whole without chewing.  Maybe she knows that if she looks sick, I will cook her something special.

Come to think of it, I don't really want her to be able to talk about everything.  She knows too much.

Stating the Obvious

Baby, It's Cold Outside

A classic for a cold winter's day

Going to have loads of fun shoveling.

Stay warm.

In Honor of

the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who,

WI Public Television canceled their regularly scheduled programming of Doctor Who at 9:00

to broadcast some horrible drivel

for their semi-annual beg-fest.

One,

Two,

Three,

Freaking Massive Face-palm!

There He Goes Again

Tis that time of year again, the Santa on a flatbed float just went by the house.  Poor fella, it is 9 deg. F with a wind chill of -6 deg. F.  I hope he is dressed very warmly so that he doesn't freeze off his jingle bells.