Casseroles vs. One-dish dinners

I have an aversion to casseroles. I don't like them. I never have. If you try to bring me a casserole, I will very kindly accept it and then make Bill eat it. All of it. If it doesn't have tuna in it, I may have a small bite. But that's it.

On the other hand, a one-dish dinner? I'll eat those by the mouthfuls. One-dish dinners are my bag, baby. I dig [into] them.

Casseroles? *blech!*

One-dish dinners? Yum!

Maybe if you just called the casserole a one-dish dinner you could get it past me. Maybe. Only if it doesn't have tuna in it.

One of my favorite one-dish dinners is this one. I add a smoked sausage, cut into pieces, just for fun. I've also added shrimp, but we like it best with the sausage.

Let the waiting begin

It's all done.

The decorating. I can't believe it. I even carried the last of the two thousand gallon totes up to the bedroom (yes, they still have to go to the attic, but they're half way there).

The tree is decorated in snowmen, snowflakes and a few other special ornaments. We have three trees in the dining room (all small). You could say, it's the tree-fecta.

One is full of the planes Bill has collected, one is just white with a few small colored glass balls (I think they're greens and blue), and the third tree has the miniature ornament collection.

The mantel is my favorite decorated surface. It has a lit garland and the church ornaments. I am going to have to try to take pictures. Warning, they never turn out because I don't want to use the flash. But I'll go charge the camera battery and perhaps on a sunny day I'll be able to snap a few pictures. Of course then I have to remember to post them here.

And the sun has to return before Christmas...

So the waiting has begun. The Advent season is in full swing. We are prepared (although if Christ shows up before next weekend, he's not getting any cookies. The cookie baking isn't happening until then). We will spend the rest of Advent waiting, anticipating. Being full of hope and wonder.

For now, I'm just waiting for Bill's big Sunday breakfast.

Oh Christmas tree...

In response to Bill's blog from yesterday, I would just like to point out that we have come upon an agreement for the outdoor lights/decorating that greatly reduces the amount of time needed to spend on the lighting/decorating (wow, that was a long sentence).

We purchase two wreaths from my high school band, which sells the wreaths as a fundraiser. They are made in Danville, Indiana so they started out local (please ignore the carbon footprint in which we made bigger by driving to get them). We hang one from the attic window and one in the porch gable, point two spot lights at them, and voila! The outside is done and it looks beautiful.

Here's a photo from last year.

Simple, right?

Beautiful, no?

So there, Mr. Scrooge. For all the decorating we do inside (which I continue to scale back), at least the outside is easy. And I hope your heart will grow each year just like the Grinch.

cards, cinnamon pumpkin rolls and snoring cats...

As I work on our Christmas cards, I'm not only listening to the radio, but also the dulcet tones of our snoring kitty.

Juliette is just so sweet. I love that she snores (even if it has woken us up in the middle of the night) and that she likes to be near me.

Last night was our Quota holiday party. We are asked to bring either an appetizer or dessert based on the first letter of our last name. Being a "U" that typically means dessert. I made these.

Cinnamon Pumpkin swirls. They were a big hit and they are delicious. It's the first time I'd ever made a rolled cake. Other than the filling being a little too runny, once it set in the fridge, it was perfect!

Here we go again

It's time for the next chapter.

You spoke up, and I listened!

I could run for President...

Okay, I couldn't, but because six out of six votes were to keep blogging, I'll not let you down!

My dad pointed out it would be okay if I didn't have a post for everyday. I explained that if I get lazy and say, "oh I don't have anything to write about today." Then it might happen again the next day and the next... and I'll have fallen back out of the swing of things.

So, here's to another year. For all the good posts and bad, please keep reading!