However, Jack gave up naps long ago, which means Sunday naps don't happen. Every once in awhile Ben and I will take turns taking naps. I usually go first. Isn't that nice? This week I was fifteen minutes into my nap when Jack came and woke me up to let me know that Ben fell asleep. Nice. Jack lead me downstairs, and we found Ben cocooned in a blanket, sound asleep. Since I wouldn't be able to fall back sleep, I asked Ben if he wanted to go finish his nap upstairs. Isn't that nice? He immediately went upstairs, shut the door, and slept for an hour and a half. I am a little jealous, although at bedtime I will be able to fall asleep.
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| A little perspective. December in New Jersey. Very cold. |
Have I told you I love holidays? All of them. I love making a big deal of them, but sometimes I run into problems. For instance, in my search for Halloween costumes, I have found that most of them are more appropriate for the bedroom and not a party where people Ben works with will be. Not only that, but costumes online are pretty expensive for a one time use.
I have loved all of your ideas. Thank you so much for helping out, I knew I had creative friends.
I am thinking that I might just have to check my closet and try to come up with something clever, I really like the super hero idea. Maybe I can be a super housewife and Ben the super "man-of-the-house".
Or I can pretend I have to watch the kids so I don't have to worry about it.
Then next holiday after Halloween is of course Thanksgiving, which I love- IF I am invited some place, or have a good restaurant to go to, or go out of town. The only thing is, sometimes I forget that the time I tried to cook a Thanksgiving meal, it did not go well, and I want to attempt to cook a fancy Thanksgiving dinner. This year I have been inspired by the November issue of Real Simple magazine.
Here is my ambitious meal plan:
Appetizers:
Shrimp with Tarragon Aioli
Caramelized Onion Dip
Dinner:
Easy Roasted Turkey with Basic Gravy
Cheddar and Jalapeno Stuffing
Wild Rice and Mushroom Pilaf with Cranberries
Sautéed Escarole with Leeks
Dessert:Pecan and Walnut Pie
Also, there will have to be some sort of Jell-O dish (probably my favorite 12-layer), mashed potatoes, some sort of cranberry dish, green bean casserole, and a fun punch- probably with sherbet.
When I told Ben my plan, this was our conversation:
Ben: "Who is going to eat all of that food?"
Me: "Maybe we could invite some people over."
Ben: "Okay, but, a turkey? You are going to cook a turkey?"
(To his credit the last time I tried to cook a turkey it was still raw when we cut into it.)
Me: "Well maybe we could buy a rotisserie chicken at Costco."
Perhaps next year I will attempt a fancy dinner. Or, if anyone wants to come cook Thanksgiving dinner at our house, you're invited. Oh, I would even consider alternative menus. No pressure, I can be pretty flexible.
6 comments:
ROTFL about the costumes! Yes, lots of costumes for us grown lady types would be PERFECT... for the bedroom. That cracked me up so much!
As for Thanksgiving, girl, you hit the nail on the head. I am soooo depressed about Thanksgiving I just don't even know what to think or do. Theoretically, our families are in Florida and we're in VA. Which is a 2 day drive each way. We get out of Language at FSI on Wednesday. Do we really want to drive from VA to FL to get there the *evening* of Thanksgiving? And then have to leave about 36 hours later to come back to VA?
Do we *really* want to eat Thanksgiving in our dinky little corporate apartment by ourselves? Knowing that it's our last Thanksgiving in the states for a while?
I hear you, girlfriend.
But I can help you with the turkey!!!
Buy yourself a meat thermometer. Digital. A digital meat thermometer that stays in the turkey while it's cooking and has a readout outside the oven.
Digital meat thermometer = perfect meat (turkey, chicken, etc.) every time.
Something like this:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/all-clad-digital-oven-probe-thermometer/?pkey=e%7Cmeat%20thermometer%7C7%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C3&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules
(But it doesn't have to actually BE that or anything.)
It's all you need, dearie. The perfect turkey will then be yours.
p.s. Buy some of the costumes for home use! Ahem.
I saw a hat in Ikea at one point and should have bought it. It had a pot with flowers on the top. Then I could have been a "pot-head" for Halloween! I have seen one person get some fake armpit hair and a really hairy wig. Then he tied pots and pans together and wrapped them around his shoulders and was "Harry Potter".
You just need to come here for Thanksgiving! I don't like to cook either but together I am sure we could figure something out. I will make the rolls and we can have mashed potatoes and pies. If I can find turkey slices we can have those too because I don't think I will have much luck finding turkey in Israel! Does that sound like a plan? If dinner doesn't turn out right, we will just head to the Old City and forget about it! :)
Well, my first thought is that nothing in that menu from Real Simple magazine seems very simple. What happened to cranberry sauce from a can and Pepperidge Farms stuffing?
I'm sure that if you really want to cook a big meal, you could find more than enough people to help you eat it. There are maybe even some single guys at post that would be thankful for a homecooked meal, even if it didn't turn out perfectly.
And if you want to wait to do it until next year, I'll be happy to help you eat it. :-)
oh man, I just realized I'm going to have to learn to cook Thanksgiving dinner. It's not really that hard, I don't think, since we go for the classics and not that fancy stuff you are suggesting (which sounds delicious! But time intensive!). I always go to my mom's. :) I'm sure you will receive either an invitation or friends to celebrate with in Tijuana! good luck!
I think I'd rather eat macaroni and cheese than have to cook a thanksgiving dinner. Oh man, rainbow jello is my favorite (I'm guessing it's similar to your 12 layer jello). It was a staple at our thanksgiving dinners growing up. Yummy!
I was on the road when you sent your request for costume suggestions. I really don't have any good ideas for couples costumes, but one year I was gum at the bottom of a shoe. I wore a pink velour tracksuit and pinned a flip flop to my hood. I thought it was brilliant, but I got TONS of confused looks.
We have fallen in love with sunday naps at my house because while Abe naps, Eli and Eden will watch a movie and they know that they are capable of entertaining themselves quietly.
With Eden being old enough to make sure nothing dangerous happens, we can both nap for a little while. This will all go away when we switch to 1:00 pm church though. Until then, I look forward to my sunday nap all week long!
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