First, Happy Chanukah to those who celebrate it. It seems really early this year. I don’t ever recall the first day coinciding with Thanksgiving. Anyway, happy, happy.
The Thanksgiving dinner we catered for my parents was a huge success. I thought it was wicked good; so did dad. The storm hit the day before, so the roads were clear by the time we had to hit the highways. My parents were suitably impressed enough to call and express thanks the following morning. Mom doesn’t cook anymore, and frankly, never was any good at it, except for one or two dishes she got right more often than not. Dad appreciated the properly cooked feast, and mom appreciated not having to clean the oven and all the associated cookware.
We’ll be doing the same catering thing for Christmas. Dad offered to make reservations, and take us all out, to save us the trouble of cooking, not because my cooking is icky. However, he seemed a little relieved that we’d prefer to cater the meal, and not bother about getting dressed up to go out for dinner. I suspect that decades worth of mom’s complaints about what a PITA cooking holiday meals is wormed their way into his consciousness. I don’t find it a pain at all; I love cooking holiday meals. Most of it can be done (or at least prepped) a day ahead, anyway.
Not sure what the entrée will be this year. We normally cook a ham, but this year, we have to watch the sodium content. It’s fairly easy to get a half loin of pork and do a roast. Same with a tenderloin of beef. A side of salmon with béarnaise or dijonnais would be nice, but would not travel well, so scratch that idea. Salmon mousse as a side dish, though, is an option. I’m leaning toward a beef tenderloin, but if I can’t find a good quality one, I’ll probably go with a pork loin.
Aside from undecided food items, I’m done with Christmas shopping. A few stocking stuffers could be bought for our cats and dog, but anything that needs to be wrapped and name-tagged has already been purchased and squirreled away for safe keeping. Stocking stuffers don’t require a special trip to buy, anyway. I’m not averse to a 50% off plus free shipping deal for something we really need, or held off buying until it went on sale, but holiday sales crushes are not my thing. Not going there, period.
Drifting away from the topic, I must say the Marshall Crenshaw show in Bordentown was fantastic! It was just Marshall with two of his guitars. He stopped on his way into the venue to talk with a few of us who were waiting on the sidewalk for the doors to open. Cool guy. Good music. I’d love to see Nikita try to play one of his songs on guitar … not easy, with chord changes every couple of notes, and not a single squeak between them.
I love the idea of a catered meal! I grew up with my mom complaining constantly about what a pain cooking and cleaning was for the holidays, so once I hit my 20s I just halted it and took them out to eat. It’s been much better since! I’ve honestly never attempted a full spread simply b/c of the negative overtones associated with it. Who knows, I might enjoy it…just too many memories of it being a stressful event.
I’m still shopping for my cats- got most everything else online and delivered now. Petco has the cutest Star Wars themed cat toys. Lil mice like Darth Vader and Yoda toys. I’m not even a big fan, but they are really cute.
I rescued 3 kittens who were living under a deck when their mother disappeared. They are sooo adorable. Today I found a family for 2 of them and yesterday one for the 3rd (who will be living with another family). They will leave me right before Christmas. Lots of vet visits to get them the proper start on life but makes me feel good. 2 of them have bbs in them from where some sick inividual shot them. Of course my 3 cats aren’t loving it, but I am getting good at juggling them throughout my house.
Sounds like you are way way ahead for holiday preparations. Your Christmas meal choices sound delicious!
star wars themed cat toys! D= I must get! My gypsy cat loves tossing toy mice around when the mood strikes her.
Now that I’m working again, I can get everyone little gifts. The trade off is working on Christmas-but after being out of work so long, I’m glad to have my menial little job.