Here Comes Christmas

2020 has seemed exceedingly long, while also impossibly short. Here we are just a little over a month from the end of the year, and it seems as if the year has gone by without really being lived. Certainly a lot have died. One can only hope this will all end before we find ourselves at this date next year. I was thinking about all we have to be thankful for in 2020. When I consider where we were last January, I feel a little as if we were in a blissful state of naivete. 

In January we met up with my friend Judy from high school and visited two wildlife refuges. I was in the middle of a terrible asthma attack...the worst of my life...from the bad air in that part of California, but we thoroughly enjoyed our day with her and seeing so many birds.

In February, still blissfully unaware of what was coming, we met up with Erik and Mae in Pahrump, Nevada. Like us, they were trying to escape the wet and cold of the Pacific Northwest's winter. We had a marvelous couple of days with them, and they visited Death Valley National Park for the first time. It's one of our favorite places, and we loved the opportunity to show them around.

Things were starting to get weird in March. Toilet paper and sanitizing wipes disappeared from the shelves, and we started thinking we should head for home. We managed to get a space at one of the Oregon state parks on our last night before home, just before all the state parks shut down for COVID restrictions. It was good to be home in such weird times, and I was thrilled to see the peony tubers I'd planted before we left were springing into action. 

Things started blooming in April, and I was reminded all over again why I love our home in the Pacific Northwest. We were happy to be home to celebrate Matthew's April birthday.

By May, we were deep into COVID territory. Just the same, a nice restaurant nearby had gone to quite a bit of effort to update and expand their outdoor dining options...obviously, a smart business move. We were just happy to be able to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary with a nice dinner outside in some unseasonably warm weather.

June saw little green sprouts in our first vegetable garden in many years...so exciting!

And in July...cherries from our trees! The cherries started off Canning Season 2020.

August brought more veggies, and I put my pressure canner to use for the first time in a very long time. And let me just tell you, we've been eating those green beans. They are so good!

September...well, that's a month I hope never to repeat. We were on vacation when we learned our neighborhood had been evacuated because of a wild fire burning nearby. And all's well that ends well. We're just so grateful for the firefighters who worked diligently to save all of the homes in our area.

We were happy to be at home in October, and we celebrated our good fortune at still having a home with the kids for Erik's birthday.

And that brings me to November, and yesterday. Our Thanksgiving celebration was small, but delicious. It was an all-day affair making it, but there was some time to chill too. The kitties aren't good cooks, but they are good at chilling.

It was a table for two last night. Usually I get out all the silverware and make it all fancy. Yesterday, only the plates were in the "fancy" category. Those are Mike's grandmother's fancy china plates. They're big plates, and make excellent platforms for a big Thanksgiving dinner.

You can see now nicely they held last night's feast. I'll explain below what you're seeing with links to recipes if I can find them.

At the top of the plate is a Roasted Cornish Hen with Cherry-Port Glaze. It's a Cooking Light recipe, so diet friendly! Mine were stuffed with a wild rice stuffing. I made the whole recipe for the stuffing because it goes along with a recipe for stuffed delicata squash. And hey! I just happen to have a delicata squash to use it up! I can't find the recipe, but I'll publish it in a day or two when I make up the squash. The stuffing can be frozen too.

Okay, and then there are the garlic mashed potatoes. It's not Thanksgiving without them. I always use red potatoes and leave the skins on. For every two potatoes, I toss a clove of garlic into the boiling water and then mash them with the potatoes. Since we didn't do a turkey, I looked for a way to make gravy without drippings. This gravy recipe turned out to be surprisingly delicious. I made the Thanksgiving version. 

Next, Mike consented to brussels sprouts. He even ate some. These are brussels sprouts for the haters. They don't even taste like brussels sprouts when they're ready to eat, and they are delicious. You can find the recipe for Balsamic-glazed Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta right here. Right there in the middle of the plate was a super easy way to make sweet potatoes. You can find the recipe for Honey Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes right here. With only a few ingredients, they were easy to put together, and they went into the oven with the Cornish hens. Finally, lowly jellied cranberry sauce. Ordinarily, I'd also make them from fresh berries, but Mike can't eat the seeds. We stuck with just the jellied variety this year, but I happen to love them that way.

And, you didn't think we'd skip dessert, did you? Silly you. No. Of course, we had Pecan Pie for Two. 

I like this recipe. It contains no corn syrup or granulated sugar. The sweetness comes from honey and maple syrup. Also, I tried the crust that comes with the recipe for the first time. Usually, I'm making this in the RV, and so I use Pillsbury. This crust is made with olive oil, and no butter. It was simple and good, and I wouldn't have known the difference.

So there you go...another Thanksgiving done and gone. Christmas is next. Might as well get ready. We still have lots of leftover side dishes, although the Cornish hens are gone. I'm putting a turkey breast in the slow cooker, and so we'll have a repeat of last night's dinner. Also, I'm doing some canning today. Intriguing, no? What could it possibly be? The canning won't take long, and then I'll get back to my sewing. Top-stitching will probably rule the day.