Monday, December 24, 2012

I'm Dreaming


...of a wet Christmas. No dreaming necessary, as the forecast calls for two more days of rain. No complaints from me. We are happy not to have snow to shovel.
As if.
There are no sidewalks here to clear, and as far as snow on stairs, just come in the studio door, no stairs there.
Our Coral Bark Maple is all dressed up for the holidays, clothed in bright red bark. It looks especially bright when wet, so again we are glad to have the rain.


The ice on the pond has melted and one can view the fish from the porch, or if inside, from my bedroom window.
We have so many fish this year, and they travel around the pond in large schools, lazily rising and sinking. Notice the interesting bark on that holly tree? Looks painted, but it isn't.

We'll be staying put for the next two days, as my hoped for meetup with my sister's family to share tamales has fallen through. I was unable to find the necessary ingredients for the first time this year.
I have temporarily given up and will try again after Christmas.
Instead I am making a small turkey breast for two + dawgs and it will become Turkey Lasagna. Without planning it, this has become a traditional way to have our turkey dinner since 2009. Make ahead and bake on the day. The leftovers are ready to heat up with no fuss. I know several readers have adopted this idea, and if you are traveling to another home for dinner, it is an easy addition to whatever else the hostess is serving.




I continue to bake cookies, from some internal obsessive-keeping-with-tradition. I will finish up today with pecan tarts, cool whip in the fridge. The baking ingredients never got put away, and the counter is full of  sugar, nuts of all kinds, flour, butter and the big Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I spilled some confectioner's sugar on the floor and Chester quickly licked it up, making his muzzle all white.
Too bad my hands were too full of sticky dough to reach for the camera.
Here's hoping your Christmas is stress free, full of noisy fun and lots of goodies to eat and share.
Wear your expandomatics and have a great day,
Love and Peas from our family to yours,



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12 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your lovely pictures - and the name of that maple tree. It's amazing, and I'll have to check it out.
    I've been baking like a fiend, too. I just said that we need a dog to lick up our spills.
    Hope you have a lovely day tomorrow.

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  2. Merry Christmas! It's chilly in Las Vegas, too, but NO SNOW. I have seen enough and if I want to see some (doubtful) I can drive 40 min. up to Mt. Charleston! My Christmas dinner will be Tommy's Swedish Meatballs from her Tommy Cooks blog. Yum.

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  3. Merry Christmas, Melody. Enjoy yor day with Dave and the dawgs. :)

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  4. Wishing you a wonderful holiday together and the best of 2013 with plenty of time for creativity.

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  5. What a beautiful, fun post, Melody---wish I were there sharing it with you. :D Thanks, especially, for sharing the picture of the red bark maple. This tree is new to me and I LOVE IT---It is at the top of my list to plant here. Merry merry Christmas.

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  6. Wishing you merry holidays from our side of not-snowy-christmas to yours.(if you want to see ours:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/pobarvanka/8300688281/in/photostream )

    May your dreams be in color this year, dear Melody, and thank you for sharing your life with us strangers.
    Neža, Slovenia

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  7. Merry Christmas, Mel. Thanks for all the wonderful info in your posts this year. Peace to you and yours.

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  8. Merry Christmas, Melody! I love the photos, including the dawgs (just caught up again...) and am glad they're both running down the stairs for food. :-) Have fun making Dave's sweater; I want to see him modeling it when it's done. Peace, Leslie

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  9. Merry Christmas Melody
    It it cold, wet and windy here on the Central Cost of NSW
    I was planning a cold lunch, but lucky and have ingredients for a lovely baked dinner
    It is so rare to be able to do that at this time of year here
    Enjoy your turkey

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  10. Merry Christmas to you and yours, Melody!
    Snow is forecast for Seattle, which I find exciting, especially since I don't have to go out (unless our guest can't get here on the buses, in which case snow would be nice but can it melt okthxbai before I have to drive in it?). I've only had one other white Christmas.

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  11. I wish you merry holidays and a cosy time. In Austria we have a rainy time too, but the rain ist good for the nature and I agree to you, I too don`t like to showel snow!
    A happy time
    Susi

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  12. We woke to a fresh coating of snow and 6 more inches are promised for tomorrow...come on over!

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