Christmas Wrap-up

Good morning the day after International Unwrapping Day!  Ha, the wrapping paper was certainly flying yesterday and Christmas Eve with the grands and cousins in the mix.  The looks on faces when they see what the have unwrapped, the sparkle in their eyes is unforgettable. Awesome Christmas this year.  We are all tired though but very content.  A year ago we were all on pins and needles with the impending birth of baby Max and his so very uncertain health future.  Now, here we are with him turning 1 year old next week and his future is so bright it is blinding.  He is such a happy baby and has brought so much joy to all of us, especially his big sister.  Oh, she loves him so.

Yesterday brought lots of laughter and utter exhaustion from opening all the presents and trying to play with ALL OF THEM AT ONCE!

Cousin time...

Granddad and grandson time...

oh and some typical little boy things like a black eye...(fell on a toy!)

So looking forward to 2024.

Yesterday the family came here for dinner.  Something I am trying to hold on to for a tradition.  Since my girls are vegan or vegetarian I have to really do some research to feed them and it was quite successful, except for the ham and desserts.  

A HUGE tossed salad...

Frozen green beans with onion...NO BACON!

I also cubed and roasted regular potatoes and sweet potatoes.

And Rhodes rolls, the frozen ones are VEGAN!  I was trying to jump the gun on the rise process a couple of years ago and bought the heat and serve ones but those are NOT vegan.  So back to the frozen and really they are quite easy.  Also on Instagram Christmas Eve I saw a quick video where a guy took the frozen ones and made focaccia bread!  WHAT!!!!!  I tried it with a small pan and O M G, so easy and good.  I took a square glass pan (at the back of photo), greased the pan (spray PAM'd it) and put 9 frozen rolls in it.  They were placed with all the others to rise over a couple of hours and when ready to cook I drizzled olive oil (olive oil from Italy, Bramasole as in Under The Tuscan Sun I ordered) and then plunged my fingers in the dough to make all kind of huge dents.  Then I sprinkled coarse salt and Italian seasoning (you could do any kind of seasoning) and baked at 350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes!  OMG, so SOOOOOo very good.  They just slide out and on a plate or platter and you pull apart and eat.  I am never going back.

Now here we have apple pie.  I bought a pre-made crust, as I do a lot.  I had other things to do.  Anyway I did NOT do my research here and figured out it had milk in it so it was not vegan friendly.  It was yummy though.

On to cake.  I had a strawberry cake mix in my pantry with a can of whipped strawberry icing and I got a great idea.  I made the cake in two round pans and when cool I spread strawberry jam on the bottom layer and then I added a small container of Cool Whip to the whipped strawberry icing and put a layer in the middle then iced the rest.  It was of course kept in the fridge until time to serve.  SO very good and light.  

In my down time I am either reading (40 books this year) or back to an old love, counted cross-stitch ornaments.  This one I thought was going to be fairly easy because so few colors, but oh no, not so.  Absolutely so intricate you can not imagine and time consuming, but I will finish.  I've finished 3 so far this season and plan on continuing until my hands say stop for awhile.  The arthritis in my hands is a beast.  I tried to do some last night but my hands were so tired from making salad and cutting up potatoes that they just kept cramping.  I had to stop.