The What's For Dinner Thread - October'11 (recipe index in OP)

[LindsayDunn228]

Morning, all!

Today we are having leftover chili. Scott is working from home today so that's always nice. I am going to the grocery store early this morning with my mom just to get some things done. Not to mention I always enjoy spending time with her. I'm thinking about seeing if she wants to go get her nails done beforehand

When in doubt, always go to the source. I mentioned the nut issue with my mom and she said to just leave them off. No problem. So I'm making the rum cake this afternoon and tomorrow morning I will make a derby pie. It's easy, I always have the ingredients to make it, and I think Ryan will like it better than a rum cake, lol.

Am I ready for the weekend? Meh, I think so. I still have to wrap 4 more gifts. They are ornaments. I couldn't find them (I bought them while in WDW) so when Scott got home he found them for me. Once those are wrapped, I am done!

I hope everyone has a great day!

Oh, FYI, I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but a derby pie tip: If you don't have bourbon for the pie, you can use a tablespoon of Cognac instead

*In proofreading my post, I just realized I said Ryan would probably like the derby pie better than the rum, but I'm making two alcohol-y desserts, lol! Oops! I just found that funny.*

 

[LindsayDunn228]

We went to Chili's for dinner and then we went to two different choreographed light show homes. The first one we went to had Disney themed music. The second one had more lights and was simply amazing. We had a blast!!!!

That is always fun! I was hoping Scott and I could do that this year, but we haven't had time yet. As a kid, my dad always took me out to look at Christmas lights. I have a looooooooooooong story about looking at them last year I will share later.

 

[Goofyluver]

Morning, all!

Today we are having leftover chili. Scott is working from home today so that's always nice. I am going to the grocery store early this morning with my mom just to get some things done. Not to mention I always enjoy spending time with her. I'm thinking about seeing if she wants to go get her nails done beforehand

When in doubt, always go to the source. I mentioned the nut issue with my mom and she said to just leave them off. No problem. So I'm making the rum cake this afternoon and tomorrow morning I will make a derby pie. It's easy, I always have the ingredients to make it, and I think Ryan will like it better than a rum cake, lol.

Am I ready for the weekend? Meh, I think so. I still have to wrap 4 more gifts. They are ornaments. I couldn't find them (I bought them while in WDW) so when Scott got home he found them for me. Once those are wrapped, I am done!

I hope everyone has a great day!

Oh, FYI, I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but a derby pie tip: If you don't have bourbon for the pie, you can use a tablespoon of Cognac instead

*In proofreading my post, I just realized I said Ryan would probably like the derby pie better than the rum, but I'm making two alcohol-y desserts, lol! Oops! I just found that funny.*

Whoa! Ryan sure is growing up!

That is always fun! I was hoping Scott and I could do that this year, but we haven't had time yet. As a kid, my dad always took me out to look at Christmas lights. I have a looooooooooooong story about looking at them last year I will share later.

Okay, it's later.

Have a good day, Lindsay!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It sure is quiet around here. Y'all must be getting ready for Christmas.

Today we'll be beginning to cook for our Christmas dinner, which I think we may actually start eating tomorrow.

Other than that, today will be a relaxing day.

Tonight's dinner is carnitas with homemade tortillas.

I know that Santa brought me a tortilla pan with some tortilla-making accessories, and I hear that if I promise to share tortillas with Santa that I can open that today.

I've been waiting for years for a comal since I used to watch my aunt making tortillas when I was younger so I'm excited!!!!!

Y'all have a good day!

 

[dgbg100106]

Ellen, sometime after you're back, you'll have to tell me what frog eye salad is.

Exactly.

 

[dgbg100106]

David and I are enjoying our time here and have been on the go since we landed. It has been funny watching him "show" us around.

Hope you all have a blessed day.

 

[Goofyluver]

We miss you Brandi! Enjoy the rest of your time!

 

[liamsaunt]

My friend who had brain surgery is struggling but the doctors think it may just be effects of the procedure. He's DH's very closest friend here so we're a bit anxious.

I hope he will be OK. It can take a while to adjust after brain surgery.

Christmas dinner is set:
Prime Rib
Crab Legs
Baked Potatoes
Cheesey potatoes
Scalloped Corn
Swiss Beans
Frogs eye salad
Western salad
Rosemary rolls
Black Cherry Pie
Peach Pie
Pumpkin Pie
There will be 12 of us and I know we won't starve.

Sounds great! I see Glynis explained frog eye salad, but what is western salad?

WFD: probably just some cheese and baguette. John and I have not even started wrapping any presents yet, and we have to get it all done before tomorrow morning! It is going to be present-palooza tonight!!

 

[franandaj]

My friend who had brain surgery is struggling but the doctors think it may just be effects of the procedure. He's DH's very closest friend here so we're a bit anxious.

Best of luck to your friend, I hope he starts recovery.

Christmas dinner is set:
Prime Rib
Crab Legs
Baked Potatoes
Cheesey potatoes
Scalloped Corn
Swiss Beans
Frogs eye salad
Western salad
Rosemary rolls
Black Cherry Pie
Peach Pie
Pumpkin Pie
There will be 12 of us and I know we won't starve.

Liam had his first checkup yesterday. He is now 20 1/2 inches and 6 lbs. 4 ozs. He is just doing amazingly - thanks again for all of your prayers.

Ellen, your dinner sounds great! Very happy to hear about how well Liam is doing!

Well I got the outfit I wanted for a friends GD! I have been looking and looking for the right combination and braved the mall today. Who knew it would be so hard to find a black shirt and tights and a red skirt and shoes for a 1 year old. I got the skirt and tights at Gymboree, the shirt at the Children's Place and the shoes at Target.

Funny thing about the shoes. I had looked at several differant places for soft red sparkly shoes and no one has them, they top part is hard and she has thick feet. Well I looked at a pair of black satin ones that were on clearance at Target and finally decided I would switch the colors for everything, went back to get the black ones and they had the same shoes in red, also on clearance.

Funny that a one year old takes so much fashion expertise!

We are back from our evening out.

We went to Chili's for dinner and then we went to two different choreographed light show homes. The first one we went to had Disney themed music. The second one had more lights and was simply amazing. We had a blast!!!!

It was so nice to spend an evening with just the four of us.

Tomorrow we'll start making some of the appetizers for our Christmas dinner.

It's almost here! Can't wait. Hope the rest of you are ready and as excited as we are.

Sounds like a wonderful evening out, Jen!

When in doubt, always go to the source. I mentioned the nut issue with my mom and she said to just leave them off. No problem. So I'm making the rum cake this afternoon and tomorrow morning I will make a derby pie. It's easy, I always have the ingredients to make it, and I think Ryan will like it better than a rum cake, lol.

I'm glad you solved your dilemma!

Today we'll be beginning to cook for our Christmas dinner, which I think we may actually start eating tomorrow.

Other than that, today will be a relaxing day.

Tonight's dinner is carnitas with homemade tortillas.

Enjoy your relaxing day!

David and I are enjoying our time here and have been on the go since we landed. It has been funny watching him "show" us around.

Hope you all have a blessed day.

Glad you are enjoying your time here. David sounds so cute!

WFD: probably just some cheese and baguette. John and I have not even started wrapping any presents yet, and we have to get it all done before tomorrow morning! It is going to be present-palooza tonight!!

Sounds like you have a busy evening!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We're moving very slowly today. I want to make sure that we haven't been pushing Fran too much. If we stick to the plan, we are eating leftovers in the room for breakfast. We will have a big lunch at the Hofbrau House and then rest for a few hours. We'll head over to the South Point Casino and have a light snack at the seafood restaurant before catching the Debbie Reynolds show and then catch a nosh afterwards as well.

Here's to relaxing!

 

[EJ4Disney]

Merry Christmas my dear friends.

I want you all to know what an honor it is to call each and every one of you my friends. My days are so special knowing I can always count on you. What a wonderful blessing you all are to me.

May you all have a wonderful Christmas season.

Blessings,

Ellen

 

[Goofyluver]

We're moving very slowly today. I want to make sure that we haven't been pushing Fran too much. If we stick to the plan, we are eating leftovers in the room for breakfast. We will have a big lunch at the Hofbrau House and then rest for a few hours. We'll head over to the South Point Casino and have a light snack at the seafood restaurant before catching the Debbie Reynolds show and then catch a nosh afterwards as well.

Here's to relaxing!

I love the word nosh.

Have fun watching Debbie, y'all lucky ladies!!!

Merry Christmas my dear friends.

I want you all to know what an honor it is to call each and every one of you my friends. My days are so special knowing I can always count on you. What a wonderful blessing you all are to me.

May you all have a wonderful Christmas season.

Blessings,

Ellen

Merry Christmas to you and yours, Ellen.

 

[Glynis]

Happy Christmas Adam! My kids call today Christmas Adam, since Adam came before Eve! Just our little joke, but it has stuck with us!

Today is pumpkin bread day! I've made 3 batches so far, and have another 2 batches to make. My house smells divine!!! I use my mother's recipe, so I always feel her close to me on this day! I love that feeling!!!

Alison - Alan knows that Debbie Reynolds is my all-time favorite actress! Before we had kids, he picked me up from work on a Friday afternoon, and took me to Vegas for the weekend! He had won tickets to a Debbie Reynolds show and wanted to surprise me! What a guy!!! When we got to the show, I realized that we were the youngest people there. I was all of 23 at the time. The show was fantastic, and when she was done, she asked for the lights to come up and she just sat and chatted with the audience for a while. I saw her look at me a couple of times, and I was thrilled to make eye contact with her. An usher came up to our table, and asked Alan and I to stay after the show, as "Miss Reynolds wants to meet you." She came over and sat down with us, and asked why we were there. I explained that I had grown up on her movies, and she was my favorite star of all time! She was so touched. She signed a "Singing in the Rain" poster for me, and took us on a personal tour of her "museum". (This was back in the day when she owned a hotel in Vegas and displayed movie memorabilia there). All in all, she spent an extra 2 hours with us. It is one of the highlights of my life!!! I hope you enjoy her show!

Alan gets off work in about an hour, and the kids and I are driving up to meet him. He's made plans for all of us, but won't tell me what they are. I'm hoping to stop at the library, as well, to pick up some reading material for the next week.

I'll check back in tonight!

 

[TigerKat]

I just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

[Rogue26]

Kathy- You were starting to make me worry, good to see you here.

Merry Christmas all!!! Hope Santa is good to all of you.

I won't be around much, my husband is taking next week off so the 3 of us will be busy.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Merry Christmas everyone.

It's Christmas eve here and I just spent 2 hours of MADNESS at the Victoria Market. I stood next to someone who bought 10 kg (over 20 lbs) of raw shrimp and bought 5 whole snapper....then wondered if she had bought enough fish! The person on the other side of me also handed over money hand over fist on seafood. And this was at 6 am in the morning. I guess the serious shoppers are there at that time of the morning (wait....did I just put myself in the bucket of a serious shopper???).

If you remember the pictures of the market I posted, there was hardly any room to move at all. The crowds were 5 rows deep for every seafood, meat and chicken stall.
The fruit and vegie section was slightly better...they were only 3 rows deep.


Time to get cracking on the cooking and cleaning. I probably won't catch any of you much over the next 2 or 3 days....but Merry Christmas and have a safe one.

 

[franandaj]

Glynis - what a lovely story! I imagine that I will be one of the younger ones in the crowd tonight!

Merry Christmas Kat, Robin and PIO! See you all after the dust settles!

Well our day has changed. Fran doesn't feel good, so she's been in bed all day resting and sleeping. Arline and I went shoe shopping in the morning. When we came back Fran wasn't interested in going to lunch, so I called down to the salon to see about a massage, and they invited me to come right down. I think she gave me an extra fifteen minutes or so and it was heaven!

I'm debating what to do next, I'm hungry, am thinking about playing some Blackjack, but waiting for the maids to come take care of our trash and towels. Not sure what to do!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Alison - rest and enjoy that relax feel after the massage. When are you seeing Debbie Reynolds? tonight? I hope Fran feels better by then.

 

[Goofyluver]

Merry Christmas Kat, PIO and Robin.

I hope that Fran gets to feeling better, Alison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner is done. Carnitas with homemade tortillas. UncleR helped me with the tortillas. It was her first time, and she did FABULOUS.

I also made an appetizer for our appetizer spread...crazy feta. It's yummy. I'll post pics for all of these things in the next few days.

all around.

 

[HERSEY]

Just popping in for a quick fly-by.

I am alive just barely. I am hopelessly behind everywhere and especially here.
I need to get stuff wrapped and cookies baked. The downstairs of my home is clean. Don't peek in the closets or upstairs

 

[Aimeedyan]

Tonight's dinner is carnitas with homemade tortillas.

I know that Santa brought me a tortilla pan with some tortilla-making accessories, and I hear that if I promise to share tortillas with Santa that I can open that today.

I've been waiting for years for a comal since I used to watch my aunt making tortillas when I was younger so I'm excited!!!!!

Y'all have a good day!

Yum! Enjoy your new toy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We're moving very slowly today. I want to make sure that we haven't been pushing Fran too much. If we stick to the plan, we are eating leftovers in the room for breakfast. We will have a big lunch at the Hofbrau House and then rest for a few hours. We'll head over to the South Point Casino and have a light snack at the seafood restaurant before catching the Debbie Reynolds show and then catch a nosh afterwards as well.

Here's to relaxing!

I'm sorry she's not feeling well, but I hope you enjoy your time regardless

Merry Christmas my dear friends.

I want you all to know what an honor it is to call each and every one of you my friends. My days are so special knowing I can always count on you. What a wonderful blessing you all are to me.

May you all have a wonderful Christmas season.

Blessings,

Ellen

Merry Christmas, Ellen!

Alison - Alan knows that Debbie Reynolds is my all-time favorite actress! Before we had kids, he picked me up from work on a Friday afternoon, and took me to Vegas for the weekend! He had won tickets to a Debbie Reynolds show and wanted to surprise me! What a guy!!! When we got to the show, I realized that we were the youngest people there. I was all of 23 at the time. The show was fantastic, and when she was done, she asked for the lights to come up and she just sat and chatted with the audience for a while. I saw her look at me a couple of times, and I was thrilled to make eye contact with her. An usher came up to our table, and asked Alan and I to stay after the show, as "Miss Reynolds wants to meet you." She came over and sat down with us, and asked why we were there. I explained that I had grown up on her movies, and she was my favorite star of all time! She was so touched. She signed a "Singing in the Rain" poster for me, and took us on a personal tour of her "museum". (This was back in the day when she owned a hotel in Vegas and displayed movie memorabilia there). All in all, she spent an extra 2 hours with us. It is one of the highlights of my life!!! I hope you enjoy her show!

What a cool story! And that Christmas Adam is clever!

I just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas, Kat!

I won't be around much, my husband is taking next week off so the 3 of us will be busy.

Enjoy the time off together!

Time to get cracking on the cooking and cleaning. I probably won't catch any of you much over the next 2 or 3 days....but Merry Christmas and have a safe one.

YIKES on the crowds! Glad you survived! Merry Christmas!

Just popping in for a quick fly-by.

I am alive just barely. I am hopelessly behind everywhere and especially here.
I need to get stuff wrapped and cookies baked. The downstairs of my home is clean. Don't peek in the closets or upstairs

I know the feeling




Welp, I went out shopping today. With all the men. I did find a few things but really just found more things for me and the dogs Still have some more to buy... maybe tomorrow The traffic was the problem, not really the people in the stores. I didn't go near the mall - just hit stand alone stores.

We had a party to go to again tonight but I'm really not feeling well. Yesterday it was my allergies - itchy, burning, sneezing. Today, congestion, stuffed up nose, etc. Quite miserable. So, DH went to the party on his own and I stayed home with my box of kleenex. He's eating there, I stopped at Sonic.

Our friend had another seizure this morning but the surgeons are still hopeful that it's being caused by the swelling from the surgery and not his condition. Poor guy. They removed part of his brain that controls the left side of his body and remarkably, he's been able to move his arm and hand! There was a fear he'd never move them again so the small blessings are big ones right now.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Happy Christmas Eve, everyone!

Since I nixed the antipasti platter for today, I picked up a Digourno pizza for Scott and I to eat before everyone got here. Easy, quick, no clean-up, and most importantly, comfort food! I'm going to need it. It will be to early in the day to take a shot of whiskey, and I can't sing at church tonight with alcohol on my breath, lol. (Sorry if that was too cheesy, but Scott got a kick out of it)

I found the answer to today at Publix last night. I went to the bakery and looked around. They had an assortment of things I am going to make a platter of fudge and cookies and such. Easy peasy, right? I am planning on making it pretty so I will take a picture. Anyway, I made the rum cake yesterday and I have some heavy cream I will whip for it before they get here. I also have vanilla bean ice cream and peppermint stick ice cream. (hee hee, I bought the peppermint as a surprise for Scott. It's his favorite)

I will fix the coffee pot later in the morning. As far as tea for Kevin? Heh, I will fill the kettle with water, point him to the cabinet of teas, and have milk in a creamer in the fridge. I am NOT going all out for him this time like I did at Thanksgiving. This is a very long story, but let's put it this way: Lindsay will not be a chump anymore.

On a funny note, we decided last year to just get ornaments for each other for Christmas to make life easier. I got everyone's in WDW. Scott and I joked that we should get Kevin a little something extra:

How mean are we? LOL!

I will let you know how things go. I'm sure there will be stories to tell.

*Ok, the Christmas lights story I promised to tell later. Bear with me, it's a long one.

Last year, our church choir sang at Christmas Eve services. As we were about to go inside, the choir director came out to run to his car and told me that we were going to wear robes. Well, crap, I thought. I hate wearing robes because I feel like I look odd.

I told Scott to go in the choir room to give me a hand with mine because they are hung up a hair out of my reach. But to go in the second choir door to avoid THAT WOMAN. Said woman is your typical old biddy church lady who is mean, grouchy, runs the show, and thinks the church can't function without her. If she saw me putting on my robe, she would RUN over to me and insist on helping. Scott knows this, so he agreed to lend a hand.

So we go in, he gets my robe and is helping me get it on. Here comes that woman, a hundred miles an hour, and literally ribs the robe from my husband's hands, snap, "I'VE got it," and literally starts to dress me.

Ok, ladies, I am quite ok with my disability and I acknowledge my limitations in life, but one thing I cannot tolerate is being treated like a child. It's humiliating and it absolutely kills me. So my husband is standing there with his mouth open not knowing what to do and I'm just wanting to punch Biddy in the nose. So when she gets me dressed to her satisfaction, we rehearse a few minutes, me flushed and trying not to cry, and go out on stage.

During our "Silent Night" we were going to go down each row of the choir and light candles. I get on stage and guess what? My candle is gone. So I'm thinking this will look lovely. A huge choir and Lindsay all by herself on the front row with no candle, looking like a dork.

So we sing, pastor preaches, and I don't hear a word. We then partake of the Lord's Supper. I don't remember a word the pastor says because I'm upset, I don't even remember partaking of the elements, though Scott says the choir did. All I want to do is get the heck out of there.

So after the service we go back to the choir room to hang up our robes and get our stuff. One of the altos in the group, who is around my mom's age, sees me getting my robe on the hanger and says, "Hey Lindsay, would you like for me to hang that for you?" I wanted to scream, "Yes! That, right there, that's all I wanted!" THAT is how you help a person!!!

So Scott knows something is wrong with me, even sitting in the audience. We get in the car to leave and I just crumple in a heap, crying. I'm sick of everyone insisting they help, I'm sick of being in the way, I'm sick of being all alone on the front row, I'm sick of being forgotten (no candle), I'm just sick! He says, "What can I do, honey?" I told him I didn't want to go home, let's just drive around and look at Christmas lights. So we do.

On our way home, we are at a major intersection in our city and I look up and see the Church of God International Headquarters and proceed to bust out laughing. Scott thinks I have gone completely nuts. I then proceeded to tell him a story from my childhood. One Christmas, the offices had a HUGE "Peace on Earth" sign on top of the biggest building. Well, lights were burned out and the entire holiday it read, "Pea on Earth." As a child of 10-ish, you can imagine the fun we had with that, lol. Fart humor at it's finest!!!! It made me feel so much better.

If you made it through that, thank you