Tag, You're It! (The Christmas version)

(Munch and cousin A. last Christmas)

OK, I admit it. I usually am the LAST person in the world to respond to those emails where you copy & paste in your own answers. But when dear Liz sent one my way, with this:
"26. Who is most likely to respond to this. Janice..."
as the answer to her last question, how could I let her down? So...more about me than you probably ever wanted to know...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both- I LOVE to wrap gifts! But, sometimes it just doesn't work for the shape/size of the gift. BTW, my fave assignment when working retail at Williams-Sonoma (other than the cash reg)? Gift wrapping!
2. Real tree or Artificial? Real, usually cut down by AudioDad, but I'll use mini-fake ones around the house too.
3. When do you put up the tree? I'm not together enough to put one up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Usually the first or second weekend of December.
4. When do you take the tree down? After New Years.
5. Do you like eggnog? MMMmmrrawrr (and other Homer-ish souds)...eggnog (drool...)
6. Favorite gift received as a child? a Barbie Dream House
7. Hardest person to buy for? dads
8. Easiest person to buy for? Munch
9. Do you have a nativity scene? nope
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Can't think of one.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Grinch Who Stole Christmas- the original version- especially ever since Munch's first Xmas and I got a photo of her that reminded me of Susie-Lou Who
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Thanksgiving week
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes (cringe...), but my rules are: -ONLY if it's something I would have purchased anyway
-it's not so unique/personal that it would be apparent to whomever gave it to me (eg. any Bath & Body Works product!)
- and, finally, a girl can only use so many candles and scented soap/lotion sets before I'd have to start bathing multiple times a day with an inferno blazing around me- you really wouldn't believe how many of these I get from students at Christmas & the end of the school year! Gotta be practical!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Anything seasonal- like Trader Joe's candy cane Joe-Joes!
16. Lights on the tree? There are people who DON'T put lights on the tree?!?
17. Favorite Christmas song? The whole Charlie Brown/Vince Guaraldi CD- it's not the Christmas season until we first play it
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Both, but we make the local rounds, no long distance traveling
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Probably, but I can ALSO name more than 40 kindergartners, most of their parents & other caretakers, AND tell you what vehicle they go in!
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel
21.Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning in our pj's
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The weeks of December go by so slowly before we break for winter vacation
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Always multi colored lights and LOTS of them(rule of thumb- a strand of 100 per foot, wrapped from the base out & around each branch), also only red balls (other than the random ones I get as gifts)
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? There's gotta be a ham!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A Wii, but it looks like fate brought me a fridge instead :)
26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Can't wait to see!!!

Family Dinners- Lasagna!

It's funny how different meals work their way in and out of the usual dinner rotation. An old favorite somehow drops off the radar for a while, only to be rediscovered months (years?) later. My lasagna is like that- I used to make it frequently back in high school. But it was such a pain! Boiling the noodles (and wrestling those slippery suckers into the dish), mom's sauce that took seemingly forever, ALL those pots to wash! Oh, but was it good! AudioDad loved it, so I made it for him often once we got married- I remember it was even harder in that teeny apartment kitchen that had NO counter space- I had enough space for a dish-drying rack, and a free-standing butcher block that was about one and a half feet square.
Later I found a recipe that uses no-boil noodles. It was SO much easier! And just as good...no, better than my previous recipe. And it seems to come together in a jiffy! Now that it's back in the rotation, I'm making it just about once a week!



Sauce:
1 tbs. olive oil (I just do 1 swirl around the pan)
1 medium onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. heavy cream
28 oz. can tomato puree
28 oz. diced tomatoes, drained (do NOT forget to drain!)

Other ingredients to layer:
15 oz. ricotta cheese
1 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, I like to use a combination of grated and shredded
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil (I just use a heaping pinch of dried)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
9 oz. package Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles
4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat oil in a large saucepan (I use a 4 qt.) over medium high heat and add onion. Cook, stirring occasionally until onion is softened but not browned, about 2 min. Add the garlic and cook another 2 min. Crumble ground beef into onion mixture and add salt and pepper. Cook, breaking meat into small pieces until meat loses its raw color but has not yet browned, about 4 min. Pour in cream and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and only fat remains, about 4 min. Stir in the pureed tomatoes and the drained diced tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Simmer gently about 5 more minutes, then remove from heat and set sauce aside.
In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, 1 c. Parmesan, basil, egg, salt, and pepper. Set aside. Assemble first lasagna layer in a deep 9x13 baking dish, starting with sauce smeared on bottom of dish. Place 4 lasagna noodle sheets on top of sauce, then dollop 3-4 scant tablespoons of the ricotta mixture onto the noodles, spread over noodles with spoon, then sprinkle with 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella (about 2-3 handfuls) and a shake of the grated Parmesan. Ladle 1 1/2 c. meat sauce over cheese layer, then repeat layering of noodles, cheeses, and sauce two more times. Place remaining 4 noodles on top of sauce, spread remaining sauce over noodles, sprinkle with remaining cup of mozzarella, then the remaining 1/4 cup or so of Parmesan. Lightly spray a sheet of foil with nonstick cooking spray and cover lasagna. Bake 15 min. then remove foil. Return lasagna to oven and bake, uncovered about 25 more minutes until the cheese is beginning to brown and sauce is bubbling. Remove from oven and cool 10 min. before serving.



We were in such a hurry to eat that I forgot to take a picture of it before digging in!

Holiday Countdown...

Christmas is my second favorite holiday after Thanksgiving, mostly because I have to actually DO stuff to get ready for Christmas. On Thanksgiving, I just show up with a dessert in hand and eat! But this year is definitely different now that Munch is older. She "gets" it more and can participate in the preparations- the girl LOVES projects! So we spent a lot of last week shopping online- with her acting as consultant. She now makes sure all the boxes that arrive are properly placed in the "package room". We've made cinnamon-applesauce dough, then rolled and cut it out- I figure these fragrant little shapes will be cute with a red gingham ribbon, tied onto presents. We picked out cute containers at the dollar store which will be filled with holiday cookies. Last Sunday, we headed to our favorite pottery place to make ornaments and figurines for the grandparents-



they'll be ready for us this weekend, so we'll make a day of picking them up and chopping down the perfect tree at the tree farm! And this year, I'll finally get back to my old practice of having multiple trees around the house. We'll put a little tree in Munch's room that she can decorate (and undecorate) as she pleases. And maybe one on the front porch, with more of a "nature" theme...

Yay!

It's here! It's here!
The new refrigerator arrived today and I'm thrilled! (Note: there will be liberal use of the exclamation point in this post)
The guys that delivered it were pros- quick, precise (I hadn't given much thought to doorway width), and efficient- how often does THAT happen?
Munch and I quickly got to work removing all the plastic & tape from the interior. I'd almost forgotten how large the freezer is- the bottom bin is bigger than my laundry basket!


Love the tilt-out freezer door!


I'm still playing with the configuration of the interior shelves- it's such a different layout from the old side-by-side- and trying to get used to the increased depth. I used to ALWAYS stuff the old fridge to the brim, food practically spilling out when you opened the doors!


Can't wait to get to the grocery store so I can get to work on filling it up!

Baby, It's Cold(er) Outside

RIP, My dear old refrigerator...
It had to happen- I've been home ALL week long, fridge is stuffed to the brim (well, then again, when is it not?), and I notice over the weekend (hours before I head back to work) that it just doesn't seem as cold. Crank the chill settings up a bit- a day later, still the same. And, now my frozen blueberries are getting a bit softer. At least the ground beef is still frozen solid. Crank the settings up a little more...and vacuum those coils. Doesn't seem to help. So, we make the decision that it's time to replace it (poor thing's going on 15-18 years old now!) Munch & I headed to Sears right after work today- and fell in love (I guess we rebound quickly!) with a french-door style model- the Kenmore Elite Trio. I'll actually be able to put a whole sheet pan in there, or even a Costco pizza! I can't wait for it to come home- pictures to come!