Day 5 - Prep Day

Oh my gosh!  I let Hubs run completely out of muffins.  He is such a creature of habit.  Every single evening he has a warm muffin with a bowl of Breyers Natural Vanilla ice cream.  No other ice cream will do, no other flavor.  And although I've tried to appease him with cookies, cake and pie, it's muffins that he likes the best.   I try to keep a bag full in the freezer and seldom let the supply dwindle to nothing.  I suppose recent busy-ness could be blamed but it really wasn't.  I simply forgot to check the supply and, bless his heart, he never mentioned it.

So, my day of advance preparation for the party began with a batch of muffins in the oven.  Then came cookies.  You'll have to look at the photo from 'day 1' because my melting snowmen are not near as cute.  The icing was too stiff.  I couldn't find my piping tip and had to apply 'coal' eyes, mouth, buttons and twig arms with a toothpick.  The result was just a tad rustic.  But tiny wedges of candied orange peel for the carrot nose and thin slices of candied cherries strategically placed as a scarf around their necks, worked out very well.  If any of you give this idea a try, I'd appreciate it if you'd send me a picture.  I'd love to see someone have a more artistic result than I did.

The Orange Brownies are made and all the veggie chopping and cheese grating is done.  Since I'm using frozen tart shells and fillo cups, the plan is to just to line them up on baking sheets, drop in the fillings and pop them in the oven.  The same goes for the seafood stuffed mushrooms.  I'm using Ciabatta rolls for pizza crust and pre-made the spinach/artichoke topping so that should just be a matter of spoon on and bake.  The intention is no more than 30 minutes of fussing in the kitchen.  I'll let you know how that goes.

I think I've gotten over my waiting for the 'special package in the mail' doldrums.  It's so much nicer to be able to say, "It will be here when it gets here" and actually be alright with the thought.  And, mail time has gotten a bit better since a few Christmas cards have begun to come in.  How ashamed I ought to be since if anyone, like me, is waiting for cards and expecting mine,  they are not only not in the mail, I haven't even made them yet.  

Since Hubbs and I moved away from our Alaska family, we started sending photo cards 10 years ago so our kids could save them and watch us age over time.  In retrospect, it might have been a good idea for me to save one each year so we would keep tabs on our own degeneration.  I mentioned this sad fact to Hubs and he remarked that he didn't need to see it; he could feel it.  I suppose that's right.  I've threatened for years to write a book warning younger people of what later years have in store for them.  Then I wonder what I might have done differently had I been warned and the answer is "Nothing".  Still, it might have been nice had the maladies of aging not come as such a surprise...the gift that keeps on giving.   Yippee!

So, today was sunny and mild and tomorrow will be even nicer...a last minute shopping day.  I'll check in with you then.