Santa's Lap of Luxury

We went to the Wisconsin Dells for Christmas! We stayed in a very posh timeshare, courtesy of Paul's mom who needed to use up "points" or lose them. It had a whole kitchen, so I cooked our roast beast there. The recipe I gave you last time worked perfectly, although the boys said it was too rare. I think because I used a bone-in roast, it could have cooked a little longer.

Paul gave me an ereader, which I really like. I downloaded "Huckleberry Finn" for free and read it in the dark!

I felt a little bad about missing Christmas Eve services at our church. I was also surprised that the hotel/timeshares were completely full on such a big holiday. Then I took a longer look at the other guests. They were probably not Christians, so it was just another weekend to them! I forget how small my little world is, sometimes. I need to get out more! I was interested in the very modest swimsuits the Muslim women were wearing. Kind of like a wetsuit with a dress over it. The headpiece even had a bump-out for the wearer's hair bun.

This posh place had 3, count them 3, waterparks in it. (More in the summer.) Big waterparks, with scary slides and tube rides. I seriously thought I would die. Paul says you could hear me scream and say"OH DEAR" all the way down. There was also mini-golf and laser tag and arcades. Paul and I endured a 2 hour sales presentation for the time shares to get a $150 gift card. The guys used it to go skiing. I have a bum knee, so I try to avoid skiing. Sadly, I had to stay alone in the posh suite, soak in the hot tub, read magazines and work on a quilt. It was rough.

We're going to have a quiet New Year's Eve. Appetizers and movies in our pajama pants, fire in the fireplace... I am glad to say that Nick turned down an invitation from a buddy to stay home with us! With Nate going to college next year, I am relishing every minute of family time.

Here is a party dip recipe that was new to me. Have you ever had that appetizer where you spread cream cheese on Buddig lunch meat, wrap a pickle in it, then slice it? I like that, but spreading the cream cheese is a pain. This recipe has the same flavor, but without the hassle!(Now how much would you pay?)

Wrapped Pickle Dip

1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup real mayonaise
1 pkg Buddig corned beef
1 pkg Buddig beef
Pickles to taste
Crackers (Wheat thins are good)

Mix cream cheese and mayo. Chop meat into small squares and add to mixture. Dice pickles and add to your taste. Add pickle juice to make it easier to spread. Or just use pickle relish! Serve with crackers.

Happy New Year!

Mama, Mama, Holiday Drama

Ready for Christmas? Got all your shopping done? If one more person asks me something like that I will scream! Because I am extremely unready. Yeah, I know, IT'S TOMORROW! EEEKK!!

Yesterday was the Christmas program at preschool. Now they are all tucked up in their house with their parents and I can work on MY family's Christmas.When I mentioned how behind on preparations I was, Mr. Ose said, "Maybe you should learn to multi-task". He is definitely getting coal in his stocking. He was kidding, he knew I was already multi-tasking my little heart out. Next year will be easier, first year is the hardest, (I keep telling myself). Really, we just have to buy stuff. Gifts, food, etc. Teenage boys are hard to buy for. It's amazing how much of this is Mama-driven, at least at our house.

At least I don't have to make up a menu. That may be the reason that traditions are born, so that you don't have to make everything up from scratch every year. (Mothers are geniuses!) We will have rib roast, mashed potatoes, broccoli, carrots, jello for Nick, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy. We will have English "crackers", party favors that look like wrapped tubes from toilet paper. Inside the tubes there is a small firework that goes "POP" when you pull on it, a tissue paper hat, a corny joke and a small, cracker-jacky prize. (I mean the kind of prize you USED to get in Cracker Jack, not the piece of paper you get nowadays). Lucy dog is so afraid of the small pop sound the crackers make that she hides in the basement anytime we sit at the dining room table, in case it is Christmas Eve. She comes up later, looking for fatty bits from the roast.

The roast is a BIG DEAL. It is expensive, the best price this year is from Cub, $6 a pound. I rarely buy meat that expensive. I would hate to ruin it. Ruining, to me, is well done. I like my steaks on the rare side of medium rare. I do not want to overcook this roast. My friend Mary gave me this recipe she got from County Market. She said it is foolproof. As I am a fool, it is exactly what I need! I'm going to try it, while still hovering over the oven with thermometer in hand.

I wish you a Merry Christmas,
Kellet

Prime Rib

This recipe works for ANY size rib roast.
DO NOT open oven door at all during the cooking time.
Preheat oven to 375
Roast should be placed in a shallow pan on a rack, do not cover.
Season with Salt and pepper
Bake for 1 hour.
Turn oven off for at least 2 hours, but not more than 4 hours.
DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR DURING THIS TIME.
Turn oven back on to 375 and cook for another 45 minutes.
Remove from oven and let set for 15 minutes before carving.
Roast will be medium rare from end to end.

Madness

I'm back! Miss me? Sorry to leave you with pictures of bacon turtles for so long, but I've been THIS CLOSE to insane! The new job at the preschool has taken up all my brain cells and more. I am drained, empty, no fun at all. I was afraid for a while that I would never even enjoy the kids again, but that has been coming back.

I got the nicest note from the nicest person telling me she missed the blog, and could I write some more? That was just what I needed to get me going. I have been noticing blog-worthy things lately, so maybe it'll be ok. Here is a Christmas item I thought was a little crazy:

Fancy Chair Leg Covers! Dress up your dining room furniture for the Holidays! You will surely be known as the eccentric relative if you buy these for your chairs. (Isn't the one on the left what the wicked witch was wearing when Dorothy dropped the house on her? Very festive.)









Did you see the Martha Stewart ad for Black Friday? The woman has totally lost it and isn't even trying to hide it! It's not so much showing up in people's bedrooms at 3 a.m. as it is the crazy look in her eyes as she rubs the chicken on their bedspread. See the video here. If that link won't work, I'm sorry, it's been a while since I've done this.

Jessica Simpson and Martha Stewart Wake Up Black Friday Shoppers for Macy's

I herewith declare myself the winner of the "Ugliest Thing" contest for the year, as nobody else entered. I purchased the following Halloween decoration for a nickle at a garage sale this last summer. I hung it in the kitchen just until I could take a picture of it to show you. IT'S STILL THERE! The family has begged me to take it down, so now I can. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to crochet 2 ghosts, a pumpkin-headed ghost and 3 bats. They even covered the hanging hardware with yarn! As hideous as this is, it was almost overtaken this last weekend by a purse made from a whole (deceased) armadillo! If I had a photo of that you would be amazed. I saw it in an antique shop in Duluth, but did not have my camera.



















Have I given you my recipe for cornflake chicken? I'm pretty sure Martha wouldn't be caught dead making it, but my family loves it!

Cornflake Chicken

Boneless, skinless chicken (I use thighs)
Salad dressing (the guys like ranch, I like french, use whatever you have, or want to use up)
Crushed corn flakes.

Cover a baking sheet with foil, or this will be a pain to scrub off. Coat the chicken in the salad dressing, then in the crushed corn flakes. Crush more corn flakes if you need to. Bake at 350 degrees until the chicken is done, maybe half an hour. Nice and crunchy, not as good as leftovers, because it gets soggy.