Afternoon Open House

Hot Spiced Cider with or without Rum (Pum Pum Pum)

    An afternoon open house is the perfect party ...  No main course.  Everyone's gone by dinner time...  And folks show up because  other commitments are for evening.  Few dishes to wash.  Food that's easy to prepare ahead. Your goal:  everything out and ready for guests to help themselves.  Your reward:  To be able to enter your own party! 

Ginger cookies, Chocolate Snowballs, Date bars--Made ahead and frozen

Fave Cookies-A Repeat Post

 Raspberry Shortbread Sandwiches and Valrhona Chocolate Shortbreads 

 Last Year on Christmas Eve, I posted the recipes for these cookies.   As they are among my favorites, I thought them worth posting again!  Happy Cookying, my friends.

Merry Christmas, Friends, Family and other Loved Ones

Homemade Tomato Soup and Fried Cheese on a Snowy Night or How's the Second Week of Advent Goin' for Ya?

The story goes that tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches....  Actually, I don't know that story.  If you do, tell me.  I just can't remember when I didn't eat that comforting, homey classic Saturday noon meal.   My kids grew up eating it, but mama's got a brand new bag.

This time around, I made the tomato soup myself.  No sugar, sweetheart.  Just a drop of honey to counteract the acid in the tomatoes.  And...no grilled cheese sandwich.  Not for me.  Dave had one.  Instead, I fried my cheese and gently topped my soup with it.

It was creamy, crunchy and fulfilled all those grilled cheesey longings while I skipped the bread on a cold, cold night with the snow flying across the piano window:

 

Turkey Pot Pie or Last Ditch and Best Effort for Thanksgiving Leftovers

Turkey Pot Pie

You might have lived when pot pies were a regular feature of your mom's menus.  Maybe you had them instead of TV Dinners.  I have a sketchy memory of frozen pies from the grocery @10 for $1. This undoubtedly dates me in an unkind way.  I did not have a mother who refused to cook; she cooked a lot.   That didn't mean we never had a frozen pot pie.  I remember liking them, though I maybe haven't tasted one in fifty years.

If you go out to eat at any number of restaurants these days, you'll find homemade pot pies are on lots of menus and people order them over and over.  Definitely comfort food.  Certainly fattening.  But oh so filling and often luscious.  They're full of all kinds of things--poultry, vegetables, roast beef, sea food, etc.

Kathy's Apple Pie

Kathy's pie

My hairdresser works about a half-a-block from my house.  Her name is Kathy.  I chose her because... she works about a half-a-block from my house.  When we moved here, I cried at leaving Jen, my hairdresser of 13 years in Colorado.  So I didn't even look for anyone special; I just chose the closest "girl" and tried her.  I mean, you've seen my hair.  What could go wrong?  And, if it did, how much time would it take to grow a bit?  Luckily, everything has worked out fine.  My hair's just right.
When Kathy did it the first time, I sent Jen a pic on my cell phone.  "She's got the color spot-on, but it's a wee bit short," said Jen.

Take your Toys to Dunn Brothers and Shop OXFAM

Take your toys to Alyce's favorite coffee store:  Dunn Brothers.

  Beginning November 1st and ending December 15th Dunn Bros Coffee shops nation-wide will be drop-off destinations for new and unwrapped toys for the Toys for Tots program.Help us reach our goal of collecting 16,000 toys this Holiday Season!

Bring new, unwrapped toys or books to your neighborhood Dunn Brothers and leave them in the Toys for Tots drop-off box.

Toys for Tots Mission

The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.

Note: Some toy drive end dates will vary based on shop location

 

Go Dunn Brothers!


OR....WANT TO SHOP THE EASY WAY?  TRY OXFAM:

 

Choose from over 70 unique gifts that help fight hunger, poverty and social injustice.

Think seeds, manure, art supplies for kids, books, a healthy herd, a school meal program for one kid...and so on.

 Oxfam America Unwrapped is part of Oxfam America, a non-profit organization committed to creating lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. We rely on like-minded people like you to help us give poor people the support they need to change their lives. By purchasing our charitable gifts, you are making a difference. Give gifts that do good...and...

 

Do it all with joy and sing a new song,             

Alyce

Timpano II and Other Journeys There and Back Home

I have some really good friends in Colorado. That puts it lightly.  We never need a reason to get together, but...

Last year, we had a party we called "The Big Night" after the movie "The Big Night"  starring Stanley Tucci, Tony Shaloub, Isabella Rosselini, Marc Anthony, Minnie Driver, et al.  In this cult film-lover's movie, two Italian brothers try to save their New World restaurant (and their lives) by throwing a huge party to which Louis Prima is supposedly invited.  I won't spoil the story, but while Prima is the no-show star, a dish called "Timpano" (Italian for timpani) does make an appearance and steals the dinner scene. (See my post on our first Big Night, October 29, 2010.)