The Bard said it best in his play "Twelfth Night"
"If music be the food of love, play on"
Let's skew his meaning a bit and see just where the love of food and the love of music takes us.
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Monday, January 27, 2025
Oh no just 48 weeks until Christmas
The 48th week until Christmas has passed, and I honestly did little, except to make one more "rule" for me to follow as I get ready for the Big Day.
I decided I need to read one Christmas themed book a month, just to experience the "feel" of the season. I still have 4 days left in January to read one, so it will most likely be one of those cozy mysteries that I can read in about an hour. I will do better in February. My only codicil about finding a book is that it has to be available through my Libby app. There is no way I am going to go in to the 3-D library just to get a Christmas book and I dang sure am not going to buy one.
Meanwhile, I will move away from this last Christmas, which really did leave me feeling "less than"", especially compared to other Christmases we have experienced.
So just exactly what did I do toward Christmas 2025 prep last week? I found and ordered 2 more carolers, leaving just 1 brunette female needed. The hunt is on!
Both of those I ordered had minor imperfections, well if you consider one with the back of his head missing minor. His hat is mostly intact and I think I can figure something to use to fill out the missing part of his noggin. He was extremely inexpensive, and I have a lot of time before I need him. If it is a total bust I will have lost just a few dollars, and if it works, I will have a huge score on my hands.
The other was just missing the coating on his nose. I am becoming quite proficient building "flesh" with nail polish, and unless you look very closely you really can't tell where the repairs were.
I have also used my Libby app to look through more Christmas magazines. I found several ideas and took screen shots of them. I will revisit the pics and decide later if I am really interested in them or if it was just a passing fancy. Anything that makes the final cut will be printed off and put in my Christmas folder for later.
For the recipes though, I am writing them down in a notebook. Years ago Walmart had composition books for 10 cents each, around Halloween. I am sure they were having a fire sale on the remaining back to school merchandise. My gain! I bought 20 of them and have used many, but I still had about 8 that had never been used.
It is the perfect size for copying the recipes I am interested in trying before Christmas, and the composition book easily fits in my Christmas folder.
If, after the trial bakes or makes, I decide the recipes are worth adding to my annual Christmas foods, I will copy them in the journal where I have kept hand written Christmas recipes* for over 30 years. If anyone (family or friend ) wants to find a recipe that we traditionally have enjoyed it can be found in the brown book.
The upstairs room and the decorations closet? Well that is another story. At the rate I am avoiding it, I might just finally get to it by summer!
Now on to the 47th week before Christmas . . . Oh no!
*The recipes in the journal have all the adjustments and changes I have made over the years and accurately reflect what the family is familiar with.
One of the book I bought at the used book store, was Christmas related. I have not started reading it yet, as I am reading a gardening book and one other currently. I have tried a few recipes, and hope to post them soon.
So far they have just appeared when I have been looking for them. It might be because my standards are low and I don't mind doing a little repair work, so I am getting those no one else wants.
We just finished up some additional wooden Christmas trees we will give away next season. After I find a box to store them, I think we'll be done with Christmas things for a while. Oh, actually, we need to go to my FIL's house and take down his Christmas things.
I like the size. One of them is my grocery list. Each week I just date below whatever I had on last weeks list and add to it. I think I have about a year and a half worth of lists in it.
I did that with both my mom's and my MIL's recipes and cookbooks, because you just can't keep everything. I did keep the cookbook my dad bought as a Mother's Day present from me on her first Mother's Day. I know it only mean nothing to anyone but me, but for now it is one of my favorite things of hers.
Hooray for finding two more carolers. I wonder if you could use some sort of clay to fill in the back of the head and use your artistic talents to colour it? Good luck!
I think I can use some of the Crayloa air dry clay to fill his head, then cover it with the hat. I am going to need to do a little repair work on the hat also, but it is minimal.
I had the founder Christmas and enjoyed reading and eating chocolate while I was comatose on the couch. I had bought a little white tree at DG they the lights didn’t work but I decided ai liked it better without blue and pink lights. That tree was the extent of my Christmas decor… lol. I doubt I do much better next year. I do enjoy looking at everyone else’s decor. I like lights but I am usually too cold, tired, or sleepy. to brave going out looking at lights. It is on my list of things to do when I fully retire. Cindy in the South
I know I made fun of your first post about your year-long Christmas planning, but I really like the idea of a Christmas recipe book and folder! In reality I've been looking at cute Christmassy things to sew and will probably try a few throughout the year - so yeah, shame on me for making fun of you!
My mom takes notes on Christmas the day after. She also has many notebooks where she writes down recipes, and also things like serving dishes per item. Before Christmas, she has a staging area where she pulls out all serving dishes to ensure anyone (e.g. those less familiar with how she wants things done), can all run downstairs, grab the proper serving dish for each item & get things plated. It sounds small, but it works really well. (Hawaii Planner)
Hey y'all thanks for leaving a comment. They are much appreciated. I read them all and do my best to respond to them, except for trolls, spam, and AI. I delete those suckers forever.
That sounds like a VERY successful week.
ReplyDeleteI actually figure if I average a minimum of 1 thing toward Christmas each week I am not going to beat myself up.
DeleteI may not get 2024 put away since I have no one to help! You have good plans.
ReplyDeleteYep but my plans are not helping me getting the room upstairs and the decoration closet in order. I have been very skillful avoiding that.
DeleteOne of the book I bought at the used book store, was Christmas related. I have not started reading it yet, as I am reading a gardening book and one other currently. I have tried a few recipes, and hope to post them soon.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to hearing your reviews of the new recipes you tried.
DeleteYou are making great progress on collecting your group of carolers!
ReplyDeleteSo far they have just appeared when I have been looking for them. It might be because my standards are low and I don't mind doing a little repair work, so I am getting those no one else wants.
DeleteWe just finished up some additional wooden Christmas trees we will give away next season. After I find a box to store them, I think we'll be done with Christmas things for a while. Oh, actually, we need to go to my FIL's house and take down his Christmas things.
ReplyDeleteSo you still have a little more Christmas to contend with. I hope you will share pictures of the trees .
DeleteI have two of those composition notebooks from Walmart. They are the best!
ReplyDeleteI like the size. One of them is my grocery list. Each week I just date below whatever I had on last weeks list and add to it. I think I have about a year and a half worth of lists in it.
DeleteYou've just given me an idea to identify and segregate special recipes from my mother's and grandmothers' cookbooks merely occupying real estate.
ReplyDeleteI did that with both my mom's and my MIL's recipes and cookbooks, because you just can't keep everything. I did keep the cookbook my dad bought as a Mother's Day present from me on her first Mother's Day. I know it only mean nothing to anyone but me, but for now it is one of my favorite things of hers.
DeleteHooray for finding two more carolers. I wonder if you could use some sort of clay to fill in the back of the head and use your artistic talents to colour it? Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI think I can use some of the Crayloa air dry clay to fill his head, then cover it with the hat. I am going to need to do a little repair work on the hat also, but it is minimal.
DeleteI had the founder Christmas and enjoyed reading and eating chocolate while I was comatose on the couch. I had bought a little white tree at DG they the lights didn’t work but I decided ai liked it better without blue and pink lights. That tree was the extent of my Christmas decor… lol. I doubt I do much better next year. I do enjoy looking at everyone else’s decor. I like lights but I am usually too cold, tired, or sleepy. to brave going out looking at lights. It is on my list of things to do when I fully retire. Cindy in the South
ReplyDeleteWe did some serious looking at lights during the holidays, but there are a several folks around me who give a whole new meaning to outside decor.
DeleteI know I made fun of your first post about your year-long Christmas planning, but I really like the idea of a Christmas recipe book and folder! In reality I've been looking at cute Christmassy things to sew and will probably try a few throughout the year - so yeah, shame on me for making fun of you!
ReplyDeleteMy mom takes notes on Christmas the day after. She also has many notebooks where she writes down recipes, and also things like serving dishes per item. Before Christmas, she has a staging area where she pulls out all serving dishes to ensure anyone (e.g. those less familiar with how she wants things done), can all run downstairs, grab the proper serving dish for each item & get things plated. It sounds small, but it works really well. (Hawaii Planner)
ReplyDelete