Christmas eve, I'm going to my parents house. I am going to make a simple roast beef,roast chicken, mashed potatoes, some kind of veggie,and rolls. Ill go with them to Mass and then with my sister and her family to look at Christmas lights. Christmas day,my sister wants me to come to her house to cook Christmas lunch. She is a good cook,but with 6 kids, that day is rather hectic. I don't know what she wants me to make. She knows most of my recipes and I usually just show up and make what's on the list she gives me. To be honest,I really just want to hole up at home with SO and the dogs. But I'll make an appearance at my sister's to cook and take a plate home. SO will probably stop at his mother's and just bring himself a plate home as well and we can enjoy the evening together. This year is the first in many that I have actually been off Christmas day. My mom's official Christmas party will be on the 30th. My dad will smoke a ham,my brother will deep dry a turkey,and right now she asked me to make: Family chip dip spinach artichoke dip Fresh salsa Devilled eggs Roasted shrimp Broccolli casserole cauliflower casserole Potato salad Mac and cheese Homemade cranberry sauce Rolls My mom is not a great cook and doesn't enjoy it at all,even though she loves and is good at baking. I certainty don't mind helping her. But im just not on the spirit this year,with the other stuff I have going on with my furbaby, I'm just ready to get this stupid year over with. At least I know I will eat well.

Here is my Texas Sheet Cake recipe. Mine calls for a 15.5 x 10.5” pan. Preheat oven to 350. Bring to a boil: 2 sticks butter 1 cup water 4 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa Remove from heat and add to mixture of: 2 cups flour 2 cups sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp cinnamon beat in 2 eggs and 1\2 cup sour cream Pour into greased and floured pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until toothpick is clean. Cool 10 minutes and then add frosting Frosting: Bring to boil: 4 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa 6 Tbsp milk 1 stick butter Remove from heat and add to: 1 box confectioner’s sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts) - optional pour over cake Annie, if you go with carrot cake, I use the Southern Living recipe, omitting the coconut. No one but me likes coconut and it is not missed in the recipe. It is very moist and absolutely delicious. I have also made it as a 9x13 sheet cake. If I have a little batter left over I make a small round layer. Easier than assembling a 3-layer cake.

Great inspiration to read when it's time to think about planning the 2018 garden. Our daughter-in-law has chickens so we get our eggs from her. The King Arthur Flour recipe for baked apple French toast is wonderful and a simple make-ahead. We had breakfast for dinner for our weekly family dinner. I paid $1 for the grocery store baguette from their day old rack, her eggs, etc., maple syrup our friends produce, and Caville Blanc apples from storage. Near the end of the season I buy a large bag of orchard seconds at the local orchard and I like this variety for cooking, dehydrating and applesauce. Yesterday's soup began with a ham bone and some dried beans. I finally tried some zucchini I had dehydrated and thought it cooked up nicely during the long simmer so I will dehydrate more next summer. I'm afraid the carrots and onion I added were store bought but I added some flavor in addition to the bay leaf and dried thyme, with some homemade hot sauce. A long time ago, I got and lost a recipe for salted herb. Herbes salee is a popular Canadian seasoning mix you can make. It is a wonderful way to preserve herbs and have your own flavoring mix to season soups, stews and gravies. There are a lot of different recipes on the internet so I think it's easy just to choose one to make use of the ingredients you have on hand. Right now, my potted prostrate rosemary is still alive and available!

We had roast chicken one year, it was delicious and no one complained. Other than folks who just complain for a living. This year at Thanksgiving, even though he KNEW we were having turkey for dinner, right before we sat down Dad complained that he had just had chicken for lunch . . . I actually predicted that would be his complaint de jour. He has a mental disorder so it will always be something. He actually complimented me on the meal and said he realized it had been his choice to eat chicken for dinner. He just couldn't stop himself from saying something negative. Kind of like OCD . . . he has a compulsion to say something negative as he sits down to eat a meal. Usually it is "I'm not hungry, I have no appetite." But his other go-to is, "I just had . . . "X, insert the name of whatever food is being served . . . for "you name the previous meal." Or "I've been eating a lot of "X" lately . . . Another one is "What IS that??!! Doesn't look like any "X" I've ever seen before . . . " People who are like this are usually suffering the after-effects of some type of trauma. Sometimes it goes back to childhood, and re-emerges as folks get older and can't keep as busy to hold their demons at bay . . . Sometimes it is a combination of childhood trauma and adult grief and trauma. We try to keep a sense of humor about it and be compassionate. We gave up trying to please, because it can't be done, by design . . . just try to include him and if he just has to eat a roll and some leftover plain rice, so be it. He knows it is his issue, does not need to be ours.