'Tis the Season..... for over-eating!

    A couple of busy days this week. On Tuesday the ladies who lunch (AKA RODEO - Retired Old Dames Eating Out ) had their pre-Christmas outing to Gerhard's Cafe for afternoon tea. Except for having to wait until 2:00 p.m. (I skipped lunch) which is seemingly the appropriate time for afternoon tea, it was a lovely treat, served in a very decadent fashion with all the trimmings. Some of the group even went home with additional purchases of Christmas stollen and gingerbread cookies. The cafe is truly a haven of delicious treats!

Christmas crackers and paper hats as we are into December.

I chose Earl Grey tea and drank a gallon of it as the pot was frequently replenished.

We each got a mammoth slice of this chocolate cake which was truly decadent!

   I managed to refrain from buying anything else but was truly tempted. However, I have all my Christmas baking in the freezer to nibble on for the rest of the month.

    Today was Book Club and Clara and I were presenting the book and supplying the refreshments. We did go a bit overboard on the food but, what the hey! It's almost Christmas. The book, "The Hidden Child" by Louise Fein, was well received and proved very popular - lots of meaningful discussion. Tomorrow brings another special event but more on that later. I will need the weekend to recover from all the excessive eating!

On the Go

    A snow squall this morning but no accumulation on the ground which is still not frozen. However, it is a sign of what's in store for us soon. Some years we can get through December without snow which is a definite bonus!

    I had an early start as the tickets for the Seniors Christmas lunch at the Mandarin buffet restaurant went on sale this morning. I was there by 8:30 as I had another place to be later and managed to snag one of the first tickets. They sell out really fast as they are subsidized by the Executive of the Centre and are a really good deal. More on that later. 

    Then it was off to Hava Java for coffee and a muffin. We had a good turnout and much good conversation. We won't be meeting again until January as people are so busy or on vacation in December so there were lots of Christmas wishes despite still being November.

   On my way back I stopped at the other community centre to pick up an application for the room we use for the Knitters group. Our current rental agreement runs out next month so, hopefully, we will get the room from January to June of next year. We just use it once a month but it has lots of cupboard space to stow our supplies in between meetings. 

    Next stop was back to the seniors centre (and, yes, the tickets were almost all gone as we suspected) for an afternoon of Bridge. My partner and I had terrible cards (or played really badly) as the other pair won all three rubbers. Luckily no money changed hands!

Too Much of a Good Thing

    Fitness class was cancelled again today as Alison went on a two week vacation without giving the coordinator time to find a replacement. Also my Wednesday class was cancelled as Brenda was sick so only my home workouts this week. They are quite good, cover cardio, abdominals and upper and lower body toning but are rather boring! I'd much rather workout in a class.

   This was all rather unfortunate as I had a week of overeating. Tuesday was the worst as it was the Christmas lunch at the country club - turkey, stuffing etc. followed by gooey squares and coffee. All delicious but I had to be careful as I was going out in the evening for granddaughter's 16th birthday party. I tried to eat the minimum at both events but it was all so delicious! Just too bad to have two meals scheduled for the same day.

   Thursday was the RODEO "Eating Around the World" outing. This month it was the letter B and we ate at a Turkish restaurant for The Balkans. I just had an appetizer but that was followed by yummy Turkish Delight with rosewater and pistachios. Next time will be January and for the letter C it will either be China or Czeck, I voted for dim sum at a Chinese place.

   One nice thing was the entertainment at the Tuesday lunch - the Enchanted Flutes, a group of musicians who, as always, were spectacular! We were singing along and dancing in the aisles - I was anyway. That's one way to work off a big meal!

Mix-it-up Sunday

    I stopped by the bulk food store the other day and stocked up on all the supplies I needed for the Christmas plum pudding. So today was the day to go into action!

    It wasn't a big job and getting in there with my hands made it go faster. But now it's done and dusted and, once it cools off, will be stored in a dry place to mature until Christmas Day. Then I will steam it again for an hour and we will all enjoy its rich goodness!'

The finished product. It weighs 3 and a half pounds!