Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2006 in Christmas

It's here, it's Christmas!  Last night we celebrated my friend Neil's birthday in addition to singing a few carols and one more round of Lasagna.  Today we fly off to Seattle to spend Christmas with my family.  Hopefully, the airport will not be busy.  This year will be a little different.......Murphy's girlfriend is coming with us and my Mom's new significant other will be with us too.  My family is so small, I'm looking forward to expanding the family celebration to include them.  My mom's relationship with Paul has been going strong for the last year now - so it's not really new - but new to have him at Christmas. 

Murphy's girlfriend (Anna)is a vegetarian (fish and dairy are OK), so my sister, Julie, has kindly planned a Crab Lasagna for us.  (Lasagna seems to be big this year!) And Uncle Ray (her husband) makes us his delicious Smoked Salmon every Christmas.  In fact, it wouldn't be Christmas without that tradition.  Ray caught both the crab and salmon  (the Seattle advantage!).  Sorry, I think his recipe is secret - but I really think it's his "touch" and years of experience that makes his the best I've ever had. 

Tomorrow we've planned to see the new Ben Stiller movie (A Night at the Museum) and since I grew up in Seattle - I get to party with several old friends on the evening of the 26th.  OK, well enough of my plans - I need to get to the airport and I better leave now! 

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Love Debbie

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My Favorite Holiday Movies

December 22, 2006 in Christmas, Movies

My FAVORITE Holiday Movies List

#1 - White Christmas (as in, "I'm Dreaming of....")

starring: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney (George's aunt), Vera Ellen

Others that I watch at least once every season:

• Love Actually
• It's a Wonderful Life
• Miracle on 34th Street (both versions) 
• The Family Stone
• Little Women
• A Christmas Story

I also love it when I catch the PBS special of all the old Andy Williams Christmas specials.  I wonder if you can buy that anywhere??

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Happy Friday before Christmas

December 22, 2006 in Christmas

It's the Friday before Christmas.......and no wild and crazy Christmas parties at my office (like they have in the old movies!).  I always thought it would be fun to attend one of those - they pull a pitcher of martinis out of the bottom desk drawer, streamers fall continuously from the the ceiling and the boss and "secretary" dance the "watusi."  We did our celebrating earlier in the week over Ham, Au Gratin potatoes and OK, maybe a touch of champagne.  Just enough to make the afternoon a little more lively!  I've had a tradition of making gifts for my staff for several years now - and it keeps getting harder to come up with ideas.  For the ladies this year I made bracelets in their favorite colors.  See them showing them off for the camera.  Tom (not so much into bracelets, but loves music) got a CD instead.  On their packages I selected a trio of ornaments that I thought suited their tastes and personalities.  It was fun picking them out. 

It was a nutty week, but we met all our big deadlines and we're all ready for a nice holiday break - especially my staff!  And they deserve a nice break.  Don't we all!  Tonight's about last minute shopping, wrapping and parties - the Christmas weekend begins!  I'm feeling under control and does that feel good.  Maybe I'll have time to watch "White Christmas" again....... it's my all-time, hands-down favorite Christmas movie.  I watch it MANY times every holiday season.  This year they sold the soundtrack at Starbucks too - I was first in line to pick that up. 

Three days until Christmas - Have fun!

Debbie

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Murphy's Escapades

December 17, 2006 in Family, Games

My son braved a bitter cold (17degrees) night camped outside Best Buy last night so he could purchase himself the Wii!  A buddy of his had managed to get one in the first shipment and Murphy was hooked after a few intense sessions.  (anything to avoid studying for finals!)  Last night around 9:00 PM we were running around like crazy looking for thermal socks, long underwear, hats, blankets and a thermos that I was willing to part with if it didn't make it back. He, trying to convince me ... "I'll be fine, Mom."  And me throwing extra blankets and coats at him as he was trying to make his escape. Murphy and his two buddies were in good position as 6th in line.  I called him at midnight to make sure he was set up to survive and said goodnight.  I kept stirring all night and looking at the clock just hoping he wasn't freezing his tooshy off. But somehow, I still managed in sleep in (after all, it was Sunday morning!). When I did wake up - I peeked in his room to find him with a down comforter tight around his neck and a space heater turned up full blast.  And luckily, there was the Wii box sitting on t he kitchen counter.

So tonight we got to play.....it is fun!  Murphy and his girlfriend and I all took turns.  Yes, even a 50 year old woman can learn to play video games on a Wii.  You make characters that resemble you and then actually simulate playing tennis and bowling and golf (you know, games you've actually heard of).

Hopefully, I won't wind up in physical therapy with tennis elbow. I'm not kidding - I had to stop because my arm was sore!

Debbie 

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Love those Satsuma Mandarin Oranges!

December 10, 2006 in Food and Drink

My son describes them as the perfect fruit - and I think he's right.  They peel in seconds, there are NO seeds, the sections break apart easily and they are delicious!! I've had several this weekend.  Anytime a fruit is as easy to grab as junk food, now that's a pretty good thing.

I have had quite a week.  Well, really more of a "lost" week.  I had the stomach flu to end all stomach flus.  At least in my experience.  Stomach flu does have a way of getting us on our knees for a variety of reasons -  one of them being to pray that you're not dying. I actually called the Dr. this time - just to confirm that I would, indeed, pull through.  I was supposed to travel at the end of the week and I had to cancel.  I didn't have the strength to move underwear from my dresser to my suitcase two feet away.  I figured that was a sign.  If I couldn't pack or bathe - then I probably couldn't make it to the airport.....And I was trying to think of others - it's not bad enough that someone would be flying from west to east coast in a middle seat - but then if they had to sit next to me "moaning" - now that just would have been cruel. 

After a full week, I'm almost back to 100%. Now the one positive consequence of the stomach flu is weight loss.  I was pretty excited that after days of dehydration and gnawing on little more than a few saltine crackers I expected my loss to be significant.  Even though I have a lot of work to catch up on and my son has no groceries - in my head I was planning when I could get away to purchase new jeans in the next size down....... so with great anticipation I got on the scale. ......Yes, it was shocking all right.  My disappointing loss was only 1/2  pound.  How could that be??

I'm over the shock and disappointment, and will work hard not to gain back that 1/2 pound!

I'm bringing a box of those oranges into the office - YUM!!  Debbie

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Easy Lasagna Recipe

December 2, 2006 in Recipes

Debbie's Easy Lasagna 

This is great for a group because you can make it ahead. Consider making enough for a couple of dinner parties at one time. I just get the stuff and put it together, so I don't have exact portions of the ingredients.  It's certainly not gourmet - but it always turns out tasty.

Lasagna Noodles
Lean Ground beef
One can each of mushrooms and sliced black olives
2% Cottage Cheese
package of Swiss cheese
package of Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Jars of Spaghetti sauce (I like Prego)

1. Cube Swiss and Mozzarella cheese
2. Cook lasagna noodles until al dente. Rinse and let cool.
3. Fry ground beef in large pot and drain off extra fat.
4. Add spaghetti sauce, mushrooms and olives to the ground beef and heat to a simmer.
5. Alternate and layer the spaghetti sauce, lasagna noodles, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese and Swiss cheese in casserole dish (usually about three layers of sauce and two layers of all the other ingredients seems to take you to the top of the dish).
6. Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese on top.

Bake at 375 degrees (for 1 to 2 hours! - Ha!) Serve with a green salad and garlic bread for a satisfying and simple-to-make dinner.

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Party Time

December 2, 2006 in Christmas, Food and Drink

Last night I had my annual gathering at my home with my staff to celebrate the holidays.  I served my famous lasagne that seemed to go over with the group.  Of course after a two hour cocktail hour, they would have eaten anything!  Lasagne always seems to take longer in the oven than you think.....I made it last weekend and froze it.  I thawed it in the frig for 3 days and it still took two hours to heat up.  (good thing I had lots of appetizers!) We did a fun little gift exchange that Kris (my assistant) found on the internet for us to try.  One at a time everyone draws a Holiday themed Trivia question.  All the gifts have answers to the questions.  So when you figure out the answer, you take the gift that has the answer on it.  Many of the questions had to do with Christmas Carols, which instigated much singing! It was fun  - gifts always seem to put a smile on everyone's face.  I got a gift card to Jo-Ann Fabrics - lucky me!

Today is recovery day - I tried to sleep in.  Why is it that when you really want to sleep in, you can't?  I received a new piece of exercise equipment today.  The treadmill gets a little boring all winter long - so I decided to get an Elliptical machine.  I'll let you know what I think. 

I'm hitting the mall with a friend later today for more Christmas shopping.  Give my lasagna recipe a try....I hope you enjoy.

Happy Shopping!  Debbie

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