Friday, December 28, 2012

Christmas, etc

I made a photobook for Greta and you can see it here on Picaboo

We drove to Boston on Thursday, a day earlier than originally planned since the weather wasn't going to be too good on Friday.  I stayed with Laura and Larry stayed with Michael.  Laura worked on Friday so I hung out with Larry in the afternoon and Laura came over to Michael and Doris's after work as did Karen and her family.



On Monday we went to Greta's where we had our annual Christmas Eve dinner at Abis.  Tucker was a star at breaking the egg.


Christmas morning before presents were opened.
One of the pieces from the selection Myles played for us.

We took a long walk around Tod's Point
A lovely dinner at Erin and David's
Back to Greta's and into our traditional Jingle Jams from Laura (slippers from me).

Thursday, December 27, 2012

UPS Overworked???

Just getting back to posting again so I have some catching up to do.

Do you think UPS was a little overworked this holiday.  A package I was supposed to get from Amazon in guaranteed 2 day shipping was in Buffalo but must have wound up in the wrong bin because it took a trip to Latham before returning to Buffalo and making it to our house a day late.  Fortunately we weren't leaving until the day after that.


Champagne Cocktails

Mimosa
Combine equal parts champagne and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Bellini
Combine 2 parts champagne or Prosecco with 1 part peach puree.

Kir Royale
Combine a splash of crème de cassis (black currant liqueur) with champagne.

Black Velvet
Combine equal parts champagne and stout or porter beer.

Bubbles 'N' Blue
Combine equal parts champagne and Hpnotiq liqueur.

Midori Sparkle
Pour ¾ oz. Midori liqueur into a glass; fill with champagne.

Blushing Saint
Combine 1 oz. St. Germain liqueur and 1 oz. cranberry juice in glass; fill with bubbly.

Perfect Pear
Fill a shaker with ice and add 1 oz. pear vodka and 1 oz. pear-flavored liqueur. Shake well, strain into a glass, then add a splash of bubbly.

April in Paris
Fill shaker with ice, 1 oz. Creme de Violette liqueur and ½ oz. simple syrup. Shake, strain into a glass and fill with bubbly.

Champagne Julep
Pour ½ oz. ginger syrup (found in the gourmet aisle) into a glass and fill with bubbly. Garnish with fresh mint leaves.

French 75
Fill shaker with ice and add 2 oz. gin, 1 tsp. sugar and ½ oz. fresh lemon juice; shake well. Strain into a glass half full of ice and then top with champagne. Garnish with lemon slice.

Champagne Cocktail
Place a sugar cube in the bottom of a flute glass and add a few dashes of Angostura bitters. Fill with champagne and garnish with lemon twist.

Hummingbird
Drop a sugar cube into a flute glass and add 1 oz. Hum Liqueur and 1 oz. ruby red or pink grapefruit juice; fill with bubbly.

 from http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20657221_20656397,00.html

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Fisher Event

We went to the most elegant event last night at the Wegman Conference Facility celebrating the success of the Vision 2020 Campaign for St John Fisher College.  The facility was decorated beautifully and from appetizers (they could have been the meal) to dessert everything was delicious.
 This was the entry way into dinner.


Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Good to follow directions

Clear Care is my favorite contact lens cleaner.  I could do a commerical for them.  You don't have to rub the contacts with the cleaner, just put them in the container and let them sit overnight.  BUT do not put the liquid anywhere near your eye because it contains hydrogen peroxide.  There are warnings all over the bottle and I've been using this for years so

Addicted to Dexter

I heard about the Showtime show Dexter sometime in September before the start of Season 7.  I saw that Showtime on Demand had all of Season 6 available and watched them and was instantly hooked.  I started watching Season 7 weekly.   After we came back from vacation and I caught up on the episodes I missed I decided that I needed to find out the back story to all the references in the current season.
The day before Thanksgiving, I took Season 1 out of the library.  The library only allows 1 week for a DVD but since there are only 12 episodes, unlike 24 which had 24 (DUH!!) it's pretty easy to watch in two days.  I did take off Thanksgiving day and couldn't watch that much while Laura was here but after she left I finished it before my week was up.  That was about a week ago.  I'm now on the 5th and final season.  I took off yesterday and didn't even have a DVD to watch but today I actually drove 14 miles each way to the Greece library to pick up Season 5.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Chicken Curry Pot Pie

This is my version of Nadine's recipe that I didn't have a chance to make with the turkey because there just wasn't enough so today I made it with chicken.
 
Ingredients
2 pound(s) roasted skinless boneless chicken breast, cooked and cut into chunks 
1 pound(s) uncooked baby carrots, sliced
1 large uncooked onion, diced  
1 cup fat-free, chicken broth  
6 oz cooked, portabella mushrooms 
2 Tbsp butter  
4 Tbsp all-purpose flour  
1/2 cup(s) fat-free skim milk
2 teaspoons curry powder or to taste
2 teaspoons dried dill or to taste   
1 package of 10 Homestyle Biscuits - 100 cal for 2  

Directions
Preheat oven to 350º.
In a large glass bowl, covered with plastic wrap, no water added,  microwave the carrots and onions on high for 4 minutes, stir, then microwave for an additional 4 minutes. Add mushrooms and microwave for 4-6 more minutes.

To make the roux put the flour and butter in a pot over medium heat, and using a whisk,  stir until you end up with a thick paste. With a whisk, add the chicken broth and stir until you have a thick sauce. Add the milk and continue stirring.  Add the curry powder and dill to taste and to get a nice golden yellow colored sauce.

Mix the cooked veggies and gravy with the cooked chicken, and pour mixture into a casserole dish.  Cook 1/2 hour then
place biscuits on top and cook for another 15 minutes or until golden brown.

10 servings @ 6PP

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Tree is up

While I was at Yoga, and cooking and out for coffee with the girls Larry decorated our tree and the mantle.  I did help with fixing the lights on the first day but he did all the rest and a really great job.  This year is a white and red year.
I did the table a few days later.