Do you have a person on your list who is absolutely impossible to buy for?  I am one of those people.

How did this happen?

It all started years ago when my parents sold their condo and retired south.  I was in charge of the move and the clean-out which followed.  OMG!  This is when I vowed to never do this to my kids.  I would start culling my belongings.  “Please don’t buy me any more stuff,” I pleaded. 

Well….. that didn’t work and this is why; I personally love gifting.  Completely my fault.  It brings me such joy to watch my family members open their gifts.  If there is any squealing involved, I am especially happy!  I admit that I have let the amount I spend get a bit out of control and know I should cut back.  And I understand why my kids feel the need to reciprocate.

So what to do?

We have started to use the wish list system, which works pretty well.  If I think of something I need, I put it on the list.  There is never much on the list, though, because I really don’t need much.  So yes, I am one of those difficult-to-buy-for-people.

Gifts that made me smile

Now I’m cleaning up after Christmas and putting my lovely gifts away.  I am enjoying them again as I realize how thoughtful they all are.  

Thank you to my son-in-law for a whole bunch (6) of HOT DATES.  God knows, at my age, it’s difficult to get just one!  Isn’t this a hysterical gift?  Not on my list, by the way, but incredibly delicious.  And…10% of the profits are donated to causes that help combat climate change and reduce poverty.  My kind of company.  You can get them here…hotdatekitchen.com

Look at this beautiful wine bottle bag from my daughter-in-law!  I don’t know where she bought it, but there are similar bags on Amazon.  And, of course, it came with a bottle.

Don’t scoff, this was on my list!  I haven’t tried it yet but it’s the iron I wanted and the best thing about it is, it can be used vertically as a steamer!

Isn’t this bag funny?  I love it and can’t wait to take it grocery shopping!  There is a similar one here.

Another item from my wish list.  When Covid-19 hit I bought a bike to keep myself in shape during my quarantine.  But, in order to ride it, I needed to get it out of my hilly neighborhood!  Bottom line, I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t ridden it yet.  Now I have no excuse!  Get moving Ellie!

My first sleep mask.  Sometimes I am literally awake all night.  This comes with age, I’m told. This mask is so soft.  And it’s weighted!  I find that the gentle pressure really does help calm my mind!  It can be found here.

This is really neat.  A refresher to spray on my mask between washings.  It may be found at Mono Mono Boutique.

Isn’t this the most gorgeous rain gauge?  I was expecting a plastic one! Available on Amazon.

Who knew that Ryobi makes a glue gun?  Woohoo!  Two great things about it; first, of course, no cord.  The other great thing is that it stands up!  So much easier to control.

The gifts I have shared with you here are my actual gifts and the links are here to help if you would like to find them.  I am not receiving a stipend of any sort for recommending these gifts.  

In summary, what to do if you have a difficult to buy for person on your list

• Try the wish list system.  It will at least give you ideas.
• Think of something funny in a thoughtful way.
• Favorite consumables are great and won’t take up space for long.
• Remember that it really is the thought that counts.

The family has gone home, the house is quiet and the the dishwasher is humming along for the 4th time. Another wonderful Christmas has been put to bed. This was my 5th Christmas since becoming a widow, and I am slowly becoming used to doing it alone.

I have kept everything the same, as much as possible, for the kids and grandkids; all the family traditions we loved when Grandpa was alive. I have to admit that it is getting harder, not just financially, but also physically, and I’m thinking more and more about how to downsize Christmas.

For my whole married life I have nearly killed myself starting the day after Thanksgiving making gifts and wrapping them, shopping for everyone and his dog, making and filling stockings, baking, entertaining, decorating the house inside and out and every other thing I could think of to make Christmas “merry.” But why??  By the time Christmas arrived, I was exhausted, and never ready. Time to reevaluate.  

Downsizing Christmas is a gradual process.  This is how I started:

Before Jim died, we reluctantly bought an artificial tree. We fought it for a long time, but when it was no longer fun for us to buy a fresh tree, due to Jim’s illness, buying an artificial one was the practical solution.  

It is a gorgeous, lifelike tree! Guests have been known to touch it to see if it is real. I am so happy that I have it, and can’t imagine dealing with a real tree by myself.  For the last 4 years I have lugged the boxes of tree ornaments out of the attic, down the drop-down ladder, and decorated the tree.  And then, back up.  

This year I left my tree unadorned and it was still lovely.  It is so covered with those pretty little white lights, it doesn’t need anything more, in my opinion.  To my surprise, I liked it and I was so much more relaxed. 

I also decided that not every surface needed to have Christmas on it!  I brought down only a few favorite decorations.  Next year maybe I’ll rotate them for others.  The Santa collection didn’t make an appearance at all!  Except for my Beach Santa.

So this was the start of my downsizing Christmas.  I have offered the tree ornaments to my children who have politely declined, so I will have to figure out how to somehow pass them along to others.  I could try these possibilities:

• ebay, craigslist, facebook marketplace:  I imagine there are many baby boomers just like me trying to rid themselves of these things as well, so who knows.  
• donate:  Goodwill etc., facebook marketplace free

In either case, I think the smart thing would be for me to place the ads next fall when people are looking for them again.  If I remember…

This year my granddaughter addressed all my Christmas cards. And wrapped most of my gifts.  Thank God for her.  Accepting help is new for me and I now gratefully accept!

I swear to have a serious talk with myself next year about how much cooking and baking to do.  I always do too much and have so much left over.  Wasted expense, energy and time!

The most difficult thing for me to downsize is the amount of my gift giving.  I know I will have to do it, but it is so hard for me.  Watching a grandchild open a gift which then brings a squeal of delight, oh my goodness, I live for that!

Emma opening her Dr. Martens.  They are in style again!

This year, the Covid epidemic forced me to simplify Christmas somewhat.  We were very limited in the size of our Christmas celebration, so we had just the immediate family as we did for Thanksgiving. https://www.peoniesandpowertools.com/traditional-thanksgiving-menu-2020/  That got me to thinking about the holiday parties we usually have.  Maybe, in the spirit of simplifying our lives, we don’t need so many of them.  Being with family is what is important.  

Are you ready to downsize Christmas?  In summary, this is what I did:

• I bought an artificial tree
• I left the tree undecorated
• I limited the decorations I brought down from the attic to a few
• I accepted help!
• I vowed to not overdo baking and cooking next year
• I am seriously thinking about cutting down on gift giving.  We’ll see.

To me, the best thing about Christmas is spending it with my family.  And in my family our get together isn’t usually on Christmas.  No matter.  I hope you all enjoyed yours as much as I did mine!  If you enjoyed this post, please let me know!

Happy New Year!

Our Thanksgiving will be small this year, just 9 immediate family members instead of the usual 20.  We will miss our special family members and friends who won’t be able to attend due to Covid-19. They will get zoom calls from us.  I know that it’s been a tough year.  Hopefully you are all OK.  I’m going to be upbeat and make it as festive as possible.  I’ll have to try really hard to cut the menu down, though. So hard for me.

Look how cute this is!  The kids will love it.  I found it at http://sassyeats.com/turkey-charcuterie-board/.  She is such a clever girl.  I have to hold myself back or I’d make all of the turkey ideas on her post.

My family members are basic eaters so I have to resist my urge to jazz up the menu.  Just the basics will make my group very happy.  Keep it simple will be my mantra this year.  Here is the menu:

• Turkey ~  For decades I have used the cheesecloth (aka sacrificial dish towel) soaked in butter method that my grandmother taught me and have always had a wonderful, juicy turkey.  It didn’t matter what kind of bird I used either; fresh, frozen, brined, dry rubbed…..they all came out the same fantastic way.  But last year I did something different, I used a roasting bag!  I had always considered this the lazy way to roast a turkey, but I have been converted!  It was just as juicy and it cooked faster, giving me oven space to keep the veggies warm.  Bonus!  I used the directions from 12tomatoes.com and highly recommend it.  The one thing I will add is that I always use a meat thermometer.  Not the little pop-up that comes in the turkey, you can throw that away.  This is the one I use and it is awesome.  It will call you on your phone when your meat is done!  Well, almost.  It has bluetooth connectivity.  I absolutely love this thing and use it for the grill outside and the oven inside.  Best gift ever.. How To Cook A Turkey In A Roasting Bag

Ingredients

• 1 oven roasting bag, 19×23 ½-inch
• 1 turkey (8 to 24-pounds), thawed, giblets and neck removed, rinsed and dried
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 4-6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, paprika, crushed red pepper flakes, ground ginger, and dried thyme until well combined. Set aside.
3. Shake flour inside the roasting bag. Place bag in a large 2-inch deep roasting pan.
4. Place onion wedges, garlic cloves, and carrot pieces in bottom of roasting bag.
5. Rub turkey with melted butter. Evenly spread and rub seasoning mix around whole turkey.
6. Place turkey into the bag, resting on top of onions and carrots. Roasting bag opening should face one end of the roasting pan and not open upwards.
7. Close and seal with cooking twine. Cut 4-6 slits in top of roasting bag.
8. Transfer roasting pan to oven and bake according to the weight of the turkey. (See weight and cooking times below)
9. When turkey reaches an internal temperature of 180°F in at the thickest part of the turkey thigh, remove from oven and rest in oven bag for 15 minutes to allow juices to settle back into the turkey.
10. Use a carving fork to lift turkey from bag and transfer to a carving board. Carve and enjoy!

Turkey Cooking Times

• 1.5-2 hours for 8-12 lb turkeys
• 2-2.5 hours for 12-16 lb turkeys
• 2.5-3 hours for 16-20 lb turkeys
• 3-3.5 hours for 20-24 lb turkey

• Stuffing ~ The family loves stuffing!  As long as I don’t sneak any meat or fruit into it, they are happy with Pepperidge Farm Stuffing out of the bag.  I make it according to the package directions, adding the onion and celery, and I cook it in the bird.  This year, for the first time, I’m going to make home made stuffing.  I still can’t add any fun stuff, but it will be home made.  This is the recipe I am going to use, courtesy of Buzzfeed.  I am definitely still cooking it in the bird.  I can save my Pepperidge Farm for day 2 if I need it.
• Cranberry Sauce ~ My family likes cranberry sauce!  Not the kind I make, with fresh cranberries, but the gelatinous blob that comes out of the can, complete with ridges.  Oh, they are so easy.  So I serve them what they like, but I slice it up and try to arrange it in a pretty way in a cut crystal dish.  However, I also serve my home made version because it is Thanksgiving and because I like it.  Hopefully someday one of the grandchildren will try it.

Ellie’s Simple Cranberry Sauce

1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple in juice, drained (save juice)

2 (12 oz.) packages fresh cranberries

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Add water to saved pineapple juice to make 2 cups liquid.  

Place liquid, cranberries and sugar in saucepan and heat and stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture comes to a boil.  Boil for about 10 minutes until most of the cranberries have burst and the mixture is thick.

Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, cloves and drained pineapple.  Stir to combine.  Transfer to bowl and refrigerate for 24 hours. 

• Mashed Potatoes ~ Everybody eats mashed potatoes!  Luckily I have one of these, which I don’t believe is sold anymore.  Westinghouse steamer/masher.  Apparently there were issues.  Too bad because I love mine, and I (actually my son does this job) use it every year.  It does everything but peel the potatoes. So simple! If you find it somewhere, (like the Amazon reviewer who said he found it at Christmas Tree Shop) pick it up.  This is the recipe I use:

• I double or triple it on Thanksgiving.  Of course, without the steamer/masher, you’ll have to do it the regular way; cook the potatoes in water for 30 minutes or until done, drain, mash and mix in other ingredients.  I generally use a ricer instead of a masher to get all the lumps out.
• Gravy ~ My daughter picks this up at a local turkey farm.  Thank you!!!  It’s delicious and frees me from this last minute job.  
• Vegetables ~ This is always a problem.  My grandchildren just don’t like them.  William said he’d prefer frozen peas this year, as in still frozen.  Enough said.  So this is what I’m serving this year:

Neither of the above recipes is difficult.  I am hoping that the added sweetness will tempt the grandkids.  However, I’ll still serve assorted frozen vegetables for them, with plenty of butter.

I was 19 and clueless in the kitchen, but I figured it out.  Over the years I have realized that I needed to make a larger batch (makes about 42) so this is how I make them now:

Ingredients:

• 2 packages dry yeast
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, to proof the yeast
• 6 tablespoons shortening or unsalted butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 9 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (more if the dough is sticky, up to 10 cups)
• 2 cups hot water
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 cup softened butter, divided
• 2 cups brown sugar (about)
• ground cinnamon

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the 1 cup of lukewarm water.  Add a teaspoon of sugar to “proof” the yeast.  After 5 or 10 minutes, the yeast should start to foam up.  This proves that the yeast is active.  Do not skip this step!  Always have extra yeast.  If the yeast doesn’t foam up, throw it out and start again with fresh yeast.  

In a large bowl, put 6 tablespoons tablespoons shortening (I use Crisco), 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon salt and 2 cups very hot water.  Stir to dissolve.  Set aside to cool a bit.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs.  When the water mixture is lukewarm, add eggs and yeast to it.  Then add the flour, a bit at a time, until it is no longer sticky.  You can do this by hand or with your mixer with a dough hook.  I use the mixer.

Put out on a floured pastry cloth or counter and let rest for a few minutes.  Meanwhile, soften the butter.  I use the microwave.  

Cut dough in half.  With a floured rolling pin, roll out each piece of dough into a large rectangle, about 12 by 18 inches.  Spread the softened butter over each rectangle.  Next spread a lot of brown sugar over the butter.  I wing the amount, but it’s about 1/4 inch thick or a bit more.  Sprinkle cinnamon over this.  Now roll them up so that you have 2 rolls, each approximately 18 inches long.  

Cut the rolls with a serrated knife into 1 inch wide slices and place them into greased muffin tins.  Cover with clean dish towels and let rise until double.  

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  I always start checking a few minutes early so they don’t overcook.  You want them to be just slightly brown on top.  

YUM

• Grandma’s Apple Pie ~ I always make 2

Crust:

In large bowl, put 4 cups unsifted all purpose flour, 1 tablespoon sugar and 2 teaspoons salt.  

Add 1 and 3/4 cup crisco shortening and mix with fork until crumbly.

In separate small bowl, beat together 1 large egg, 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1/2 cup water. Combine the 2 mixtures until well mixed.

Divide dough into 4 equal portions (makes 2 pies) and shape each into a flat round patty ready for rolling.  Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1/2 hour.  

When ready to roll out, lightly flour both sides of patty and put on lightly floured pastry cloth.  Keeping pastry round, roll from center until 2 inches larger than inverted pie pan.

Apple Pie Filling For Each Pie:

Peel, core and slice 7 cups of apples (2.5 to 3 pounds)This is what I use and it is an awesome time-saver.  I’ve been using it for decades.

Mix apples with 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Mix in 2 tablespoons lemon juice.

Fill pie crust with apple filling.  Dot with 2 tablespoons butter, cut up.  Top with remaining crust.  Try to make pretty edges.  I cover the edges with foil so they don’t over brown.

Bake in preheated 425F oven for 45 to 50 minutes until apples test fork tender.  It’s a good idea to place a cookie sheet under the pie to catch drips.  

I always make the pies a few days ahead and warm them in the oven while we eat our dinner. 

I have never had a failure with this pie.  It’s not always pretty, but it’s always delicious!

From my family to yours…Have a wonderful, safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

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