Colder

   A lovely lunch at Judy and Dave's today - Yvonne was there, delivering Christmas presents so I got invited too. Lucky me!  We had butternut squash soup with wholegrain baguette slices, Pork Wellington, asparagus, green salad and potato salad, and a delicious crème brulee for dessert! And, of course, a glass of wine (just one as I still had to drive home). I am still stuffed so will only need a light supper later tonight. After lunch we played a trivia game but soon my head was nodding so I thought I'd better get home.

    The temperature is back to more seasonal levels, -1C was today's high. I saw a few snowflakes but nothing has accumulated so far. Dave has started a backyard rink at their house but it really hasn't been cold enough yet. He should be able to get things going over the next few days.

    After a short nap I spent the rest of the afternoon getting caught up with the weekend newspapers. Now I am about to get my fix of bridge with an online game; last night I was beaten badly by the computer but most nights I come out on top. Can't wait to get back to playing with real people! Some good shows on TV tonight so I should manage to stay awake until a reasonable time.

Two Recipes

   I found some blackberries at the store yesterday at a reasonable price  ($1.65 for a punnet) and will have then with my home made crème fraiche. It is so easy to make and, in my opinion, better than the real stuff which is quite high in fat. I use a small carton of low fat sour cream and a tablespoon of brown sugar, well mixed.

    Here's another recipe - my grandmother's recipe for stuffing. I used this to stuff the capon for the Christmas dinner but had a bread stuffing cooked separately for those that prefer it. But I did notice that both were popular. I had a little left over so mixed it with some sausage meat to stuff in the neck of the bird.. It was delicious too.

   8 ozs. oatmeal
   4 ozs beef suet
   1/2 onion, chopped
   1/2  tsp. salt and some freshly ground pepper
   milk to moisten

   After taking the stuffing out of the bird, fluff it and check it for seasoning (oatmeal does need quite a lot of salt) and add more if needed.

Lucy's Visit

     Lucy the dog arrived around noon yesterday. Steve and Alison were on their way up north for an overnight visit. Lucy didn't seem to object to being left and we had a pretty active afternoon, playing in the back yard and a walk to the park. She can spend an inordinate amount of time fetching a tennis ball and waiting for it to be thrown again.

    We had an early start to the day today with a trip outside at 5:00 a.m. However, after she had finished her business and come back in, I headed back to bed and got another couple of hours sleep before starting the day for real. That's actually a better performance than when the grandkids sleep over. More walks this afternoon and more action with the tennis ball! While in the back yard I did a bit of a clean up since it's still mild (up to 9C today and last week's snow pretty well all gone) and put a cover on my air conditioning unit. I would like to keep it looking new as long as possible The old one got very tatty looking before it was replaced.

   Now Lucy has departed (she was very glad to see Steve and Alison) and I can relax and start on the leftovers again. I have put half the leftover chicken in the freezer for another day and plan to start with the Taramasalata and a glass of White Zinfandel. I should be able to finish off the potatoes, gravy and green vegetables tonight and I gave Steve and Alison most of the plum pudding - there's just enough to have with some custard if I have room!

Back To Normal (almost)

     Just a day for sorting and tidying. The dishwasher is finally empty of all the pots and pans that had to be handwashed. A quick run (or rather fast walk) down to the drug store for milk this morning 
 - I knew they, at least, would be open, not sure about the supermarkets. Got the capon carcass in a pot and cooked up some soup - barley, lots of veg and spices, and, an interesting addition, a tsp. of vinegar. Supposedly it draws calcium out of the bones and into the soup - all the better for my bones!

   Steve and Alison arrived around noon with Lucy dog who is having a sleepover with me tonight. She is a delightful house guest, very low maintenance, except she is leaning on my arm, making it difficult to type. We went for a long walk just before lunch so she slept while I had a nap. I hope tonight is equally calm!

She loves her yellow tennis ball - we needed an indoor one and an outdoor one due to muddiness.



In her Christmas finery and eyeing the snacks on the table.