Something About Nothing............ #14

[schumigirl]

Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas, too, Carole,
I just wanted you to know that you have inspired me to try harder with the cooking. I have gotten out the cook books and have bought different ingredients for some new recipes. I'm actually looking forward to trying those.
My husband will be sending you a thank you card soon, LOL,

ruth

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I`m sure he`ll love whatever you cook for him Ruth......I love real cooking, not just throwing something in a microwave, but I have the time and do genuinely love spending some of my day cooking.

I await the card......lol........

I very rarely follow a recipe, it`s usually by eye or by feel, knowing what something needs.....if someone asks me measurements I genuinely have no clue......lol......

 

[schumigirl]

Was looking for a meme celebrating our 40 degree heatwave and stumbled on the below that set me back on my heels

View attachment 728088

Very true Janet.

 

[schumigirl]

Thirsty Thursday!!

Had an amazing sleep last night, and this morning me and my husband slept late for the first time in a long time........nothing like an early morning snuggle!!

Said goodbye to our house guests last night before we went to bed, heard them leave around 4am, but got straight back to sleep after the car left the drive, they`re using our car service to take them to Heathrow. Bless them, they had stripped the bed and put the sheets in the washer, dried down their shower and generally left the place as if no one had been there.

Stores back to normal today, we need to get our fresh for the weekend, New Years Day dinner is a turkey we need to pick up from our butcher, we think Saturday was the day we arranged, will pop in this morning to confirm. All the trimmings of a Christmas dinner as we love it. New Years Eve will be Chinese take out. All our friends and us have an open house policy all year, but it`s even nicer this time of year......anyone can drop in anytime.

So, heading out to get our fresh produce, I`m sure the stores will be busy so we`ll be in and out as quick as a flash. Looks not too bad a day out there, breezy but not too cold for the time of year.

Chicken in honey mustard sauce tonight, little baby potatoes and cauliflower for me and brocolli for Tom, maybe some roasted carrots too. Lunch is snack items, duck spring rolls and some Indian appetisers with dips. That`ll work.

Happy Thursday ​

 

[Lynne G]

Ah a Thirsty Thursday, oh yes. And a mostly sunny day. 47 the high, though still below freezing with 29 degrees out now. So I’d say more seasonal, and much better than those temps those arctic weather have us.

Glad Ruth had a great Christmas. We tend to cook the generally same menu options. Hope you enjoy trying to cook something new.

Yes Schumi, always good to have a good night’s sleep. Traditional to have turkey for New Year’s here. But once since my mom was no longer here, we don’t get together for New Year’s Day anymore, where my extended family all had enjoyed a turkey dinner and my mom’s birthday. And since my own family does not care if turkey is on the menu or not, I highly doubt I’ll cook a turkey for our New Year’s Day meal. We tend not like the dark meat, and even a small turkey is way too much food for us.

Keisha, complain away. Ack to your very very early wee hour post. Oddly, I was up around 2 am this morning. Watched a bit, then went back to sleep. I blame it on a restless bedmate, who once again had a way too early bedtime.

And so, a day to enjoy relaxing most of it. Have a return I have to do, and then stop at my MIL, to drop off some food DH just called me to say, he forgot the grocery bag he was going to take, when he left to her place, about a 1/2 hour ago. This week is flying by. But nice to be lazy all week, as have to remember which day it is. LoL

Have a most terrific Thirsty Thursday. Keep hydrated, good for ya. And I’ve been tea drinking already. House is nicely warm, with it cool out there this early morning.

 

[keishashadow]

64 degrees here, I and everyone else in the area have been out all day. I was scouring various stores for the NY eve/day provisions I need. Eventually, one store will be stocked well enough to polish off my big shopping list.

Pretty much thot I’d have to arm wrestle a woman for a pork butt, had asked the store’s butcher for a specific larger size. said sure, would take a bit. I patiently waited nearly a half hour. She popped out of nowhere and tried to take it out of his arms as he cleared the meat counter, no way ‘sista. Only time i cook a butt is when I want to flavor my SnoFloss sauerkraut for 8 hours or so (closest tasting to home made ‘kraut yum, admittedly an acquired taste). Will cook regular pork roast separately

have a long list of appetizers I’ll need to whittle down unless I can figure out how to make them other than the dead oven. plenty of booze to even it all out

dudes showed up to rip out the old furnace today, hallelujah indeed! It’s been a week with no heat jik we are keeping track. Those real temp nights, especially the -4 on 12/23 was rough indeed. Good thing we had 10 heaters and every blanket i could find in place.

they should be done tomorrow night. Big boiler etc. took them 7 hours to rip it and the old piping out. Sounded like they were literally getting my house Eek.

Any plans for all this weekend?

 

[NashvilleTrio]

Hello all! I just wanted to pop in for a moment and say Happy Holidays / New Year! It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone. I'm getting old. LOL

We had a good Christmas - just the 3 of us. Ordered a prime rib meal from Cracker Barrel which was really good. And then we braved the cold temps (cold for us Floridians, in the 40's) and went to Citywalk and did the new escape room experience. It was so fun! We did the Jurassic World one. It's very well done. It's interactive and if you can't completely solve the puzzle, you still get to move to the next room. I think we solved all the rooms except 2 where we just ran out of time. Josh, our son, was really good at figuring out what to do. I was there mostly for moral support! Ha!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year's weekend! Here's to 2023!

 

[schumigirl]

64 degrees here, I and everyone else in the area have been out all day. I was scouring various stores for the NY eve/day provisions I need. Eventually, one store will be stocked well enough to polish off my big shopping list.

Pretty much thot I’d have to arm wrestle a woman for a pork butt, had asked the store’s butcher for a specific larger size. said sure, would take a bit. I patiently waited nearly a half hour. She popped out of nowhere and tried to take it out of his arms as he cleared the meat counter, no way ‘sista. Only time i cook a butt is when I want to flavor my SnoFloss sauerkraut for 8 hours or so (closest tasting to home made ‘kraut yum, admittedly an acquired taste). Will cook regular pork roast separately

have a long list of appetizers I’ll need to whittle down unless I can figure out how to make them other than the dead oven. plenty of booze to even it all out

dudes showed up to rip out the old furnace today, hallelujah indeed! It’s been a week with no heat jik we are keeping track. Those real temp nights, especially the -4 on 12/23 was rough indeed. Good thing we had 10 heaters and every blanket i could find in place.

they should be done tomorrow night. Big boiler etc. took them 7 hours to rip it and the old piping out. Sounded like they were literally getting my house Eek.

Any plans for all this weekend?

Oh thank goodness it’ll be done by tomorrow night! You’ve been without that for too long…..good excuse to cosy up together though

Loving the appetisers! Think we’ll do that tomorrow night. And yes, plenty of booze too is a good idea for you after your cold week!

Pork sounds good……is that a popular choice for New Years where you are? What a rude woman….glad you intercepted her and got your meat!

We’re the only ones doing turkey for NY, no one else does it apparently……most here have a beef joint, steak or the good old Scottish favourite…..steak pie! Soaks up the booze……lol…..haven’t heard from one American they have turkey that time of year……so many other lovely choices I guess. I don’t mind being unique and original…..

Hello all! I just wanted to pop in for a moment and say Happy Holidays / New Year! It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone. I'm getting old. LOL

We had a good Christmas - just the 3 of us. Ordered a prime rib meal from Cracker Barrel which was really good. And then we braved the cold temps (cold for us Floridians, in the 40's) and went to Citywalk and did the new escape room experience. It was so fun! We did the Jurassic World one. It's very well done. It's interactive and if you can't completely solve the puzzle, you still get to move to the next room. I think we solved all the rooms except 2 where we just ran out of time. Josh, our son, was really good at figuring out what to do. I was there mostly for moral support! Ha!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year's weekend! Here's to 2023!

Hey Melissa…..good to see you!!

Glad you enjoyed the escape rooms, been hearing good reports that they are fun. I think we’ll give them a try. And yes, it has been cold for Florida…..I’m glad we weren’t there. Our friends who stay every year for a month usually spend Christmas Day by the pool as everywhere is so busy…..not this year….lol….

Prime Rib sounds so good!

Hope you have a wonderful 2023 too……






Ended up being out most of the day visiting a couple of friends we won’t see over New Year’s. Had such fun, 6 of us went to two friends houses…..snacked most of the day and evening so we didn’t need dinner tonight after all, we do all love our appetisers.

Although one friend thinks she can cook, but she really can’t…..her spring rolls were like bullets and mini sausage rolls were store bought and tasteless, but she’s lovely so we all forgive her. The other friends are both fabulous cooks, so their food is always amazing.

Even enjoyed some Karaoke…….. That was fun!!! Except when our friend Hugo decided he could sing Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meat Loaf!!! This guy looks and dresses like King Charles, sounds a bit like him too, but he can’t sing for toffee! Fun though..

Might be an early night and another lay in tomorrow…..

Watching Ghost Town with Ricky Gervais…..it’s quite a funny film, very gentle humour.

We’re so full!!

 

[Lynne G]

Ooh got mango salsa and frssh salsa with fresh made chips. Snacking time.

 

[schumigirl]

Forgot to post a picture of the Stem Ginger Brack I baked this morning, made five of them to take four round to friends today, kept one back and this is it……tasty, fruity, gingery and moist…….and calorie free……

Nice with real butter and a pot of tea……

 

[Charade67]

Good evening, Fairly quiet day today. I am happy to have a 4 day weekend. We don't have any plans for NYE. We were going to go to Busch Gardens, but it is going to rain again.

We had a nice Christmas surprise when we got back home. Before we left for TN dh dropped his car at the Honda dealership. He has been having problems with the odometer and something else that I can't remember. When we go home we were told that the repair was covered under some sort of dealership warranty that we didn't even know we had. (The car is 7 years old.) So the repair cost us nothing.

dudes showed up to rip out the old furnace today, hallelujah indeed! It’s been a week with no heat jik we are keeping track. Those real temp nights, especially the -4 on 12/23 was rough indeed. Good thing we had 10 heaters and every blanket i could find in place.

I know you are happy to get that taken care of. I can't imagine being without heat with the temps we had last week.

Any plans for all this weekend?

Sadly, none for us.

And then we braved the cold temps (cold for us Floridians, in the 40's) and went to Citywalk and did the new escape room experience. It was so fun! We did the Jurassic World one.

I want to try an escape room, but can't find anyone to do it with me. A few years ago our local escape room had an escape the 80's theme. I really wanted to try that one.

Ooh got mango salsa and frssh salsa with fresh made chips. Snacking time.

Yum!


Dh is watching a college bowl game and getting very angry because his team is losing. It's going to be a long night.

 

[Lynne G]

Keisha, I feel ya. We are without heat for weeks, bought electric blankets and hunkered down. Thankfully. was a software fix and a wire fix, as heater was not fully conbexfeec to the thermostat. House has been warm ever since, happily. Hope you get heat quick, but at least warmer temps with rain coming rest of week.

Our NYE plans are to relax at home. Long ago, we used to go out, but once with kids, not much we did. Now, no one cares to go out. And that’s fine with us.

 

[schumigirl]

Good evening, Fairly quiet day today. I am happy to have a 4 day weekend. We don't have any plans for NYE. We were going to go to Busch Gardens, but it is going to rain again.

We had a nice Christmas surprise when we got back home. Before we left for TN dh dropped his car at the Honda dealership. He has been having problems with the odometer and something else that I can't remember. When we go home we were told that the repair was covered under some sort of dealership warranty that we didn't even know we had. (The car is 7 years old.) So the repair cost us nothing.



I know you are happy to get that taken care of. I can't imagine being without heat with the temps we had last week.


Sadly, none for us.

I want to try an escape room, but can't find anyone to do it with me. A few years ago our local escape room had an escape the 80's theme. I really wanted to try that one.


Yum!


Dh is watching a college bowl game and getting very angry because his team is losing. It's going to be a long night.

That would be a nice surprise with the cost being covered by it`s warranty. Usually companies are delighted to find a reason to charge you. I know Porsche always seem to find something "extra" to charge for, it`s the one thing we find annoying as things that would have been under warranty with Mercedes, are not covered with them. Fabulous cars, but their service departments seem to have a competition to see how much extra they can charge you every visit.

Glad you had a nice trip and sorry you can`t get to Busch Gardens for NY.






Throat is a little tender after an evening of Karaoke!!

We have almost 50mph winds this morning, it woke us up around 3am, but got back to sleep. And heavy rain forecast later and all day tomorrow, although winds will drop to 25mph by early doors tomorrow, will get out to pick up our turkey from the butcher.

No plans to go out today, not in that wind, it is 46F, but feels much cooler according to the weather lady on the radio.

Charcuterie board for dinner tonight, picked up some lovely meats and other ingredients yesterday, will bake some rosemary bread, need to send Tom outside to pick some though.....I`m not wandering out there! Lunch is a mix of little snack items, most I`ll make up myself but we do have some store bought items, Indian snacks usually. Beakfast is just toast with preserves and copious amounts of tea of course. Will have snacks and goodies laid out all day too....it`s that nibbly time of year.

Can`t quite believe tomorrow is New Year`s Eve!! Been quite the year.

Have a wonderful Friday ​

 

[Lynne G]

Fabulous Friday all.

Windy and just a degree over freezing temp. Sunny day again before the rain comes for the weekend. Also, like yesterday, the air quality is not good for those with breathing issues. Yeah, thankfully, this time of year, older one is not having breathing issues.

Ah the holiday weekend is loading. Last Friday of lazy this year. I think we are going to the closer outlets today, but not sure. We were going to go there yesterday, but as we neared the highway to those outlets, the overhead news signs said there was firefighting work on that highway, expect delays and stoppages.And so, with the highway we take to get to that outlet highway, also goes to the huge mall. Thus, a stroll around the very crowded mall. Several of the sizes were not found, so correct sizes will be shipped. Boxes to be delivered in the next week. Doesn’t matter, in store order was free shipping. Hoping I’d we do go to those closer outlets, the highway is clear today.

 

[keishashadow]

Top of the list of My New Years resolutions is to learn how to spell:

Charcuterie

Have a real brain block on that one, autocorrect won’t even touch it

65 degrees here. Dudes still making dreadful noises in basement, in the home stretch

First garbage pickup since Xmas came early & loudly at 4 am. I may take a later as it already feels like dinner time

Charade A forgotten extended warranty on a car is a real bonus in my book

 

[Sue M]

Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Years everyone! We had a very snowy Christmas! And the city was a mess. The usual news videos of cars & busses sliding around like bumper cars. Our Airport was a hot mess, most flights canceled. Now we’re dealing with the melt and pot holes, flooding roads……ugh

There were 11 of us for Christmas dinner. I’m exhausted from the entire month of Dec! So many social events.
We are spending a quiet New Years Eve at brother in laws. Will probably be home before midnight lol!

@schumigirl thank you so much for thinking of us. Jim’s doctor is keeping close tabs on him. We’re recording his Bp 2x daily.

 

[Charade67]

Top of the list of My New Years resolutions is to learn how to spell:

Charcuterie

A-D-U-L-T L-U-N-C-H-A-B-L-E

 

[schumigirl]

Top of the list of My New Years resolutions is to learn how to spell:

Charcuterie

Have a real brain block on that one, autocorrect won’t even touch it

65 degrees here. Dudes still making dreadful noises in basement, in the home stretch

First garbage pickup since Xmas came early & loudly at 4 am. I may take a later as it already feels like dinner time

Charade A forgotten extended warranty on a car is a real bonus in my book

Yay!!! You’ll be warm soon enough……

Charcuterie is an art form for some…….and yes, a nap is always nice!

Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Years everyone! We had a very snowy Christmas! And the city was a mess. The usual news videos of cars & busses sliding around like bumper cars. Our Airport was a hot mess, most flights canceled. Now we’re dealing with the melt and pot holes, flooding roads……ugh

There were 11 of us for Christmas dinner. I’m exhausted from the entire month of Dec! So many social events.
We are spending a quiet New Years Eve at brother in laws. Will probably be home before midnight lol!

@schumigirl thank you so much for thinking of us. Jim’s doctor is keeping close tabs on him. We’re recording his Bp 2x daily.

Good to see you Sue, glad to hear things are good and your DH is being monitored.

Quiet New Years are a good thing some years…….

A-D-U-L-T L-U-N-C-H-A-B-L-E

You must prepare some nice lunchables over there. I always think of them as plain and basic and given to kids for lunchboxes.

Well, this is a small sample of my charcuterie boards……they can be quite elaborate of course at times if we have guests and many more items on offer.




















Had a lovely day again, had afternoon tea with some ginger brack and scones, no mini sandwiches as we had all eaten lunch. Our friend Henry stayed for that too as he knows the folks that popped in.

Smaller than usual charcuterie tonight as we aren’t too hungry, but will wait till later to eat and decide which movie to watch.

Chucking it down with rain and still blowing a hoodie out there tonight. Will not be going far at all.

Think we’ll have a cuppa or two…….

Have a wonderful Friday evening!

 

[macraven]

I can’t tell what all is on schumi’s charcuterie boards but I would take the green olives…
save a few for me!

 

[schumigirl]

I can’t tell what all is on schumi’s charcuterie boards but I would take the green olives…
save a few for me!

You’d love it mac…….high quality continental meats cheeses and other ingredients from a lovely deli near us. And yes, fresh olives from Italy. Never Greek, they’re too bitter for me.

Fresh shrimp, smoked salmon and always freshly baked bread with other additions when we have a crowd……always a popular choice with guest. Us too…….one of our favourite dishes to create and share.

Will save you some of those olives……




Watched an older Scottish comedy that used to only be shown for Hogmanay (New years eve to non Scots) called Scotch and Wry. Got Tom one of their “best of“ DVD’s for Christmas, quite dated in bits, but still funny.

Bridget Jones Diary is on tv, we have it on dvd, but it’ll pass some time before we go to bed…….

No need to get up early tomorrow, Tom needs to go pick up the turkey and a few last minute things for New Year’s Day, we Will have folks pop in so need to make sure they have some food appropriate for them as I cook my turkey covered in bacon so they can’t eat that. There’s usually a lasagne around and a chicken curry.

It‘s only 10.30, so not ready for bed just yet, might have another gin and lemonade.

Hope your Saturday is a good one…….

 

[schumigirl]

New Year`s Eve!!!!!

And a very good morning from a very wet UK!! Still, it`s better than snow as Pumpkin and Ruth can attest to. It is bouncing down out there and doesn`t look it`ll go off anytime soon, and It`s rare for us to get rain the whole day, but seems to be the forecast.

Did sleep late again, although laying half asleep listening to the rain as we have the windows open was very nice, but when you start to get hungry, time to shower and dress and get the bacon on. Well, once sleeping beauty gets up of course. Table is set and as we like to eat together, I`ll wait with a pot of tea......might go and rumble him up now. Don`t know how he slept through my hairdryer going!

This morning is cooking the sausage meat mixed with leeks and lots of black pepper and cranberry sauce. Might sound odd......but I cook it seperate and we eat it sliced cold with the turkey, lovely! You can have it hot, but we prefer cold. Then have some baking to do and some cleaning as it is New Year`s Eve and as I am very much my mother`s daughter at times, that`s what we do on NYE.....clean.

Snack food for lunch again, and we have some charcuterie left, parma ham mainly as it keeps nicely and then tonight is Chinese takeout. We don`t do that every year, but it`s what we feel like this year. And probably a movie and a snooze this afternoon if we don`t get any visitors.

Have a wonderful Saturday and New Year`s Eve!!

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