The 11th Day of Christmas...

It snowed lightly! 

I made the vegan pancakes!

They were so easy and really good!

I felt like I was eating a butter-filled pancake! 

 So, I've kinda been wishing for a slightly smaller cream/white coloured tray,

as my white one, which I love, is quite large... but I took myself by the hand

and told myself to use what I have... :)... and then I remembered the cute 

Christmas tree placemats that an etsy seller included with my order

a few years ago of Christmas Tree Spode dishes... the place-mats are a thick 

paper but it was perfect to use to add a bit more 'Christmas' to the white tray!

We had a fun Christmas lunch and enjoyed

talking and then knitting together! 

I got some stuff out of the 3-month-make-sure-bedbugs-are-not-in-it VNA rummage sale

stash (we keep them bundled up in trashcans tightly sealed with bags for 3 months)....

and I got a bunch of picture frames! And a little bit of stationary,

including big card envelopes, I was so pleased! 

Also got this Anne Lamott book... she gives one things to think about and

 her humour is great... I appreciate her as a writer! 

I hope to have all the shades up (they need adjusting again) for the Christmas dinner

with the Munchkin DV this Friday night... I LOVE how the 

white lights reflect in the windows.... 

I love these sticky notes! 3$ at the VNA! 

You can see below that they were originally just over 8 pounds and that's

over 11.00 USD! So a significant savings!

I am thinking of using these to make cards with... 

and as markers for books that I want to note something about... 

 So....I had this in my cupboard and I must of put too much on it....

my friend was so kind when I realized that it the bottom of this had broke 😕in 3 pieces. 

... she helped me carefully clean it up .... 

then I could get the right skillet to do those delicious pancakes in!

 I will be hunting for a replacement in time but am so grateful for patient friends!

***

I must tell you the story of this IKEA 3 tiered tray... 

I had wanted one for some years, probably about 10, when I found this at 

IKEA back when I lived in Ottawa...When I showed my 

sister-friend, who I was shopping with, she was so glad

for me, that she gave me a hug! 

She understood! 

So a happy memory! 

I will probably replace this one with the same 

if IKEA still sells it when

I next go there...

My Husband's slice of cheesecake on this fast-free Wednesday!

So these were 2 frames that I got at the VNA...

but they are actually trivets/hotpads and really nice! 

So I am going to use them as such...

they are really pretty... this picture does not capture

how they glisten, having a nice glaze on top of the tile, and 

add to the sense of beauty that twinkle lights and candles give....

***

So, my friend is coming tomorrow, DV! (DV = Lord willing)...

hopefully we can tackle that hinge that broke a while back, making a 

cupboard quite difficult to use!

And make my skirt!!! I am so excited for this! 

So I better sign off so I can get the things out....

***

And that is today's 11th day of Christmas...

I feel a lot of joy in it...

11th day of Christmas

Today was a day of adventures, in a way,

some unfortunate, one funny.

The funny is that I must of put dish soap in the dishwasher tonight.

I was going to go make tea and saw bubbles 

all on the floor under our dishwasher!

***

The unfortunate was that 4 of the 17 people (19 with myself and Mr Husband)

who were coming to my birthday party

got sick and are unable to come.

Such a shame!  I am really going to miss those who can't make it!

So now there will be 15, which of course is still a large group.

I am hoping everyone else can come!!!

I am really excited about the party, as is to be expected, of course.

I hope to use my Christmas Tree Spode dishes plus

white and gold, and my prettiest tea cups,

and my vintage-got-at-super-great-prices silver plate flatware!

And I found red and green napkins (thrift store in MI!) for this,

and a nice green table cloth for the large table (for about 1.00!!!)

I am really excited for everyone to see my home 

decked our for Christmas and to have a nice meal 

together! I am so hoping that everything goes well for it!

I have not had a birthday party for girlfriends in over 10 years

and thought that my 40th birthday was worth celebrating!

***

Mr Husband and I seem to be really turning that corner that I 

sensed yesterday...

I am still coughing a bunch lately 

(only last 2 days...)

I will call a nurse, but I honestly don't feel sick as much

as just having a dry cough and needing to regain strength. 

***

I am loving my new Christmas Rooster (third picture).

We decided to name him Chanticleer, since

Chaucer had his Rooster of this name...

And the group of the same name I mainly listen to

their Christmas music...

Here's their  2016 performance,

I was not able to go this year but have been in that NYC

church 2 times for their Christmas concert, it's really nice!

We had a Walton's date again; we are now in Season 2

and are really enjoying it!

I've still be enjoying different teas as well.

I've had 2 nights of insomnia, so I had

some sleepytime tea tonight,

hoping it does the trick!

And this was the 11th day of Christmas!

Christ is Born!

Glorify Him!

11th Day of Christmas

Chocolate and Chai tea was my fuel for the day ;)

A good friend brought the cheese platter for the hors d'oeuvres.

Cleo was ready for the party!

Everyone had a place setting tag.

I worked hard trying to arrange people in a good table setting! 

The beef roast turned out well!

Used this recipe, had talked to a lady at our local church about 

how to do a pot roast and her verbal instructions were very helpful...

brown the meat, use butter, (I added a bit of extra virgin olive oil at the end), 

cook for a good long while, at least 2 hours. 

Then, an hour before the meal, add the vegetables.

Don't add strait wine, it will burn, add water first.

For whatever reason, the beef roast recipes were seeming a bit

incomprehensible to me. 

Once I heard her speak of it, it all made sense.

I added only pearl onions, already peeled from our grocery delivery service,

added about 3 cups (3/4th of the Cabernet Sauvignon bottle) of wine.

(The additional wine was based on reading Julia Child's cookbook and a recipe

that called for 5 cups of wine, though some of it boiled down by half).

I added 2 cups to start, with some water first.

Used my best flake salt and pepper. 

Sprinkled thyme, marjoram and basil on top, according to the recipe.

I cooked it in my Dutch oven, covered the whole time.

I wanted lots of left overs so I added 1lb of organic stewing beef

on the sides surrounding the beef roast.

*

My goal, as funny as this sounds, was to have

a lot of left overs for easy meals for the rest of Jan-February

so that I can do other things...

Since I had St. Basil's bread,

I had his icon with a candle lit on the buffet as well. 

*

Menu in full:

~Cheese platter

~Roast beef with red potatoes and carrots, with pearl onions, spices and red wine

~Mashed potatoes (pre-made via grocery delivery service)

~Cranberry stuffing (also premade)

~Salad that A. brought

~Hot fruit salad, made day of

~St. Basil's bread (N. got the coin, happy for her!)

~Cheesecake with caramel sauce and chocolate bourbon sauce 

~Tea: my guests choose Lemongrass Tea and English Breakfast

*

It was a good 11th day of Christmas and I thank God for

everyone who was able to be at our table this year!

11th day of Christmas {Saturday}...

Mr. Husband and I finished up the mini cheesecakes 

that we were given for Christmas this day!

Mr. Husband being funny, photobombing the picture ;)

We had a few teas mixed together...

ginger, echinacea and such... 

We both have been so busy and have 

some sort of sinus something going on,

so lots of tea drinking was done!

Of course you can see that it did not change our dessert habit too much ;)

We had a simple meal of left overs and used our

dish-washer safe blue and white dishes for a simple

Saturday that was still festive!

It was a really nice day,

ending with vespers and a story about

Saint Athanasius the Great.