“Candy is sugar that’s all dressed up for the party.”
Today is an ugly day. The sky is gray and threatening. The wind is strong. Even the topmost branches are being blown sideways. The brown dead leaves still holding on will probably fall and add to the backyard already covered in layers of leaves. Today will be the warmest day of the week, but I have no plans to go anywhere. Nothing about the weather is enticing despite the warmth. I’ll do around the house stuff.
Even before my finger injury I had trouble opening the Aleve bottles, the sort you squeeze on both sides and hold in while you turn the lid to open. This last time was the worst. I couldn’t get it open, couldn’t hold and turn at the same time. I tried and tried. Finally, I had a solution. I took a hammer to the squeeze spots.
Yesterday I went to a doctor’s appointment then to Trader Joe’s. I had a great time shopping and hauled home five filled shopping bags. Some of the items, mostly the festive candy and holiday treats, I’ll put away until Christmas. I bought the most amazing pork loin rubbed in herbs, sage, rosemary, and oregano, and wrapped in uncured applewood smoked bacon for a pre-Christmas dinner with friends. I also bought a gingerbread house to put together and then decorate. That last one I’ll have to put up high out of the reach of a boxer.
When I was a kid, we always had turkey for Christmas dinner. The sides were different than those on Thanksgiving except for the mashed potatoes and stuffing. Later, when we were older, we had a roast, usually a roast beef, and, yes, it was always accompanied by mashed potatoes and a changing menu of vegetables.
I only remember a couple of Christmas candies from when I was a kid. I remember the ribbon candy. It always struck in my molars, and I’d click my teeth together. It was a weird sensation. The ones I remember eating the most were the hard, colored candies which always stuck together. As a gift in school, we used to be given a small cardboard box the size of Animal Cracker boxes with a white string for carrying the box and Christmas decorations on the two sides. The hard candies inside were so cemented together the cardboard always stuck to the candy. I don’t remember caring. I remember eating the candy anyway.
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December 3, 2022 at 6:23 pm
Your pre-Christmas dinner sounds delicious. Good luck with your hidden gingerbread house though a gingerbread tree in your garden might be nice too 🙂
I was downtown today to buy a gift and I hate to be there. Too many people and overheated crowded shops and drunken men at the Christmas market and bad music and so on. I was one of the few with a mask while our hospitals are overwhelmed with patients. I’m looking forward to a cozy lazy Sunday.
December 3, 2022 at 7:58 pm
Hi Birgit,
I know Nala thinks she has no boundary. When I was out yesterday, she stood on the table and stole pens and the dog nail cutter. She chewed the handle. I figured she was bored.
Trader Joe’s is the biggest store I have been shopping at in a couple of years. Most of my shopping is on line or on the computer.
I don’t wear a mask when I’m out. I guess I’m just hoping I’ll catch nothing. Maybe I should wear my Star Trek Christmas mask!
I had a lazy day today.
December 3, 2022 at 7:25 pm
We also had a dark drizzly day today but it didn’t stop us from cutting down our Christmas tree for this year. We are lucky that a local land preserve allows people to cut down their Douglas fir trees for free Christmas Trees. In exchange, it reduces the wildfire risk on the preserve and keeps the property looking closer to what it did prior to the wildfire suppression efforts that have occurred over the last century or so. It’s a nice win-win solution and negates the need for the preserve to bring in crews to cut down the Douglas Firs.
I’m with Birgit on the masks. I still wear one when I’m in a crowd and many people where I live also continue to wear masks. A choir that I was associated with prior to Covid had a big 60’s sing-along just before Thanksgiving and by last weekend half of the attendees had tested positive for Covid. Fortunately, no one has died or needed to be hospitalized but there have been quite a number of pretty miserably sick people.
December 3, 2022 at 8:11 pm
Hi Mark,
My sister and her husband used to cut down their trees when the kids were little. They made a whole day out of it. Now they reserve a tree based on sort and size then they pick it up. We all, my sisters, and I always buy a real tree. I have a favorite spot where I always buy my trees. They have never disappointed.
I don’t often wear a mask. Yesterday’s shopping spree was the first time I have been in a market in a long while. I am a firm believer in delivery and have had groceries delivered since long before covid. I do have uke practice in a group but so far I have been healthy. People make sure they stay away if feeling ill.
December 3, 2022 at 9:57 pm
Hi Kat,
Today was mostly sunny with a high temperature of 60°. The clouds began rolling in and there’s a slight chance of rain tomorrow afternoon.
One kind of candy I’m not fond of is peppermint. I can’t like anything made with that flavor, especially those silly red and white candy canes. I have no earthy idea why they always appear at Christmas time, yuk.
The best thing about Chanukah is the tradition of eating fried foods. Most Jews of European ancestry eat potato pancakes. I can only eat them with plenty of apple sauce to hide the flavor of the latke. My father loved making them and I didn’t like them then nor now. However, I do adore the Israeli tradition of eating jelly donuts. I can devour a dozen of any kind of donut. At least most Jews don’t serve turkey at Chanukah time. Instead they usually serve brisket. The only part of the turkey I like is the dark meat. Commercial turkeys are bred to have huge breasts with almost no dark meat.
December 3, 2022 at 10:40 pm
Hi Bob,
It started to rain in the early afternoon. The rain was heavy at times. It finally stopped in the early evening. It is a warmish night at 53°.
I like the peppermint candy canes, but I prefer the spearmint and cinnamon ones. Canes have an interesting history; https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-candy-canes-1991767
I bought candy canes for the grands at Trader Joes. They are filled with chocolate.
I like potato pancakes and used to make them for myself. I haven’t in a while, maybe I should again. I am not so much a jelly donut fan, but I still would eat one. I like brisket too. It seems I should make and enjoy a Chanukah dinner.
December 3, 2022 at 11:06 pm
Trader Joe’s is my favorite grocery store. Although grocery stores aren’t on my list of favorite stores. They carry the most interesting foods.
December 4, 2022 at 9:16 am
Bob,
I just don’t do supermarkets like Stop and Shop. I get an order a month delivered. I do like Trader Joe’s for the same reason you do. I bought the neatest stuff.