Saturday, November 22, 2008

Interesting parts of my week

Adhesive wrapping paper--a good idea in theory, perhaps? Just say no, unless you are not wrapping children's gifts (the paper was hard to rip off), are not contac-paper challenged (as I am), have no pets, and vacuum every hour. See the wrinkles? Granted, the one with the worst wrinkles was the first one I wrapped, but I did end up wrapping one more gift that was not in a box, and it wasn't pretty--at all--the process or the result. Loved the stripes, though, which is why I bought it even though my inner voice told me it was a specious idea at best.

My baby is four years old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. The positives: no more diapers, no more nursing, more sleep (theoretically, anyway), and more nights out. The negative: no more baby! Though my little M. is still cuddly, is generous with hugs and kisses, and will sit in my lap without a fuss whenever I want him to, so I have the best of both worlds right now.

The arrival of my parents from the Deep South (blame them--they brought the cold weather North with them) for M.'s birthday also meant that we had extended family that live locally over for "Thanksgiving Lite" yesterday evening. Two of my relatives have Celiac disease, so our gluten-free menu included boneless turkey breast, roasted potatoes, peas, and salad, and gingered dried fruit slow-cooker compote with vanilla ice cream for dessert. I think I prefer the lightness of this menu (and the ease of its preparation) to the all-out Thanksgiving meal we'll be enjoying next week at my sister's house in the Mid-Atlantic region. I'm getting stuffed just thinking about it!

I missed Music Monday (and Poetry Friday on my other blog) this week, as I was too tired all week to post. It was a very musical week, though, with dress rehearsals, a performance by our homeschooling, multi-generational chorus today, and the community chorus (my Monday night chorus) concert tomorrow afternoon. Here's a song our family chorus sang today, as sung by the entertaining Perry Como--enjoy!

3 comments:

MP said...

"gingered dried fruit slow-cooker compote"! Sounds so yummy! How do you make it?

Also, how did your performance go?

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Christina said...

The compote is the easiest dessert in the universe. Throw 4 c. of mixed dried fruit (I used apples, apricots, peaches, prunes, and probably more that I cant remember) and 3 c. water or juice (can also replace about a quarter of the liquid with sweet wine or brandy), 1/3 c. sugar or even honey, 1/2 t. dried ginger (or fresh ginger to taste), a couple of cinnamon sticks and/or 1/2 t. ground cinnamon, and 1 t. vanilla into a crock pot. Stir until mixed, cover, and cook on low about 4 hours or on high 2.5 hours or until cooked to a consistency you like! Serve HOT with best quality vanilla ice cream.

Christina said...

Oh, yeah. The performance went pretty well. I'm waiting to hear the cd before I make my final judgment!