One of my New Year’s Resolutions – among many, fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it – is to really get back into freezer meal preparation (see In the Kitchen link). It makes a huge difference because: 1) we’re not scrambling for something to eat and then opting for Tommy’s (our favorite local hot dog joint when we get desperate, 2) it’s a healthier alternative to eating crap :) and 3) it’s great on the wallet; and as we all know, it’s rough out there right now with the economy, so every little bit counts.
So, I’ve been plowing through Internet sites and books at the library to add to my freezer meal binder (something I recommend – very handy). I’ll be posting the recipes shortly, as well as some PDFs of labels that I made that can be affixed to the freezer bag/container; the labels provide meal-day instructions for preparing the specific meal – this keeps your freezer organized and also let’s you know what the heck you have in your freezer – and it’s pretty amazing how quickly your freezer can go awry with various meats and meals forever disappearing into the freezer abyss!
Once I post a particular recipe, I’ll make note if there is a corresponding freezer label. If you would like to receive a particular label set, just email me your request with the name of the particular recipe and I will send you the file – my email address is located under the My Profile/Email - just click on View My Profile for my address.
New Year’s Resolution: Fall in Love with Your Freezer...Again!
Christmas 2009
Christmas was a wee-bit quiet this year: poor Larry developed bronchitis, which you know is something, because he never gets colds! On top of that the Chicago-area, in particular, Crystal Lake, got hit yet again with snow and ice. So we ended up missing the annual festivities at Brett and Carol’s and at Mom and Dad’s.
We improvised and had a lovely little celebration with Jack the Cat at home: opening our presents and watching It’s a Wonderful Life (albeit, with an obscene amount of commercials), having wine, cheese and snacks and avoiding the cold and snow.
Since we always do something for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the cupboards were bare – not really a situation you want to be in on Christmas – you want the day to be special and all the stores are closed – so you are out of luck if you did not prepare ahead of time. Luckily Brett gave Mom and Dad leftovers of the Christmas Eve feast for Larry and me - a lobster stew and mussels – my favorite! The meal was fabulous (thanks Brett!) and we ended up having a very nice Christmas, feast and all!
We, of course, missed being there for the Vassallo Christmas, celebrating when you are under the weather is never fun and the snow continuing to fall (read “dump”) made the staying at home the logical choice.
On Saturday, December 26th, we did manage to get out for a couple of hours for the May Family Christmas. The snow kept coming, ALL DAY, which made for an interesting ride to and from the party – we were just slip, sliding away.
That evening, although the snow accumulation made it look suspiciously like a blizzard, we did manage to see Scott and Gwen (who were in from NJ) for our annual holiday get together. We opted to stay local for dinner and opted for Cucina Bella Due. (www.cucinabellaalgonquin.com/) in downtown Crystal Lake. We’ve actually been there before with Scott and thought we’d try it again – it’s pretty good – but I think Larry and I are partial to Mia Francesca’s (www.miafrancesca.com) in Dundee – which is just plain YUM! But I digress…
Anyway, the restaurant was nicely decorated for the holidays and the food and wine hit he spot, but due to the weather (read “ridiculous accumulation of snowfall”) it was just our group of 4 and one there group. I initially thought this would put a slight damper on our evening, but not with us! We get to chatting and all hell breaks loose! Honestly, we could be hanging out at a 7-Eleven with Scott and Gwen and still gave a great time, but having wine and good food to boot doesn’t hurt!
1st Anniversary of A Farmhouse Revisited
November/December marks the one year anniversary of our blog! What started out as a need for a little distraction from the day-to-day stressors has turned into a full-fledged fun hobby of mine. I’m still a newbie at this, but I’m having a ball learning how to do things on the blog and adding new gadgets etc. I’m hoping to be able to expand my repertoire of skills so I can make it the best it can be. There are so many great blogs out there and they have inspired me to really work at this.
One thing I’m hoping to finally add is more information on what Larry and I have planned for the house in terms of projects, as well as more recipes etc. I think I was actually putting it off because I want to add pictures etc with those topics and I’m just slow – I’ll admit it.
What I learned this year is that all of this blog-learning business definitely had a steep learning curve! I was originally thinking I’d be able to knock out posts after posts on a daily/weekly basis, but life (work/home) tends to get in the way. :) So I’ve learned to pace myself and in doing so I think I was able to pick up the pace a bit, plus I’m getting a little more techy and maybe just more comfortable in general with learning new things. It’s funny, as a kid, I’d be all over this, but learning new things as an adult, you realize your limitations and sometimes that can be frustrating. But I suppose when you just throw caution to the wind and just relax and have fun with these little projects/hobbies…well it all falls into place.
So I hope you continue to enjoy what we are sharing. We love to have comments and suggested on our projects etc, so please keep the comments coming!
Thanks & Happy Holidays!
Ladies Night Out on the Square – December 3rd
For the past 4 years Mom and I have taken part in the Ladies Night Out on the Woodstock Square in Woodstock, IL. Woodstock, for the non-locals reading this, is where they filmed the movie Groundhog Day - completely cute town with so much charm. Ladies Night Out basically it’s a night out just for women to shop, eat and enjoy themselves and presumably do a LOT of shopping. The merchants typically have specials, and appetizers and wine tastings etc. We’d been going every year except for last year when I believe the area was just pummeled with snow and cold – so Ladies Night Out went out the window!
The event always seems to draw a nice crowd, but I swear this year was a banner year – there were a ton of people on the square. It was really nice to see everyone just having a nice time.
As an added bonus several of the stores in Crystal Lake had open houses that night, including my favorite, The Perfect Pear (more on that in the next post), so Mom and I bolted to downtown Crystal Lake first, then headed to Woodstock for some shopping and dinner and then back to Crystal Lake to do a little more shopping before everything closed.
So we headed to Woodstock, parked and shopped in high gear because we were starved.
We went to dinner at Le Petite Creperie (www.lapetitecreperie.net). We've actually gone there a couple of times for this night - it's this great french bistro right on the square - I think the owners even have a vineyard in the area - fabulous food. Mom had swordfish and I had Coq a vin - so good!
One of my favorite spots on the square is Cobblestones on the Square (www.cobblestonesonthesquare.com)- a bevy of womderful finds: ice cream, candy, gourmet food, housewares, wine, candles, clothes etc. Love it!
After dinner we stolled around a little more, but then headed back to Crystal Lake to do a little more shopping - a whirlwind night and we were probably a littl eworse for the wear but so much fun!
Turkey, Football & Great Conversation - November 27th
Thanksgiving always seems to come up on me, but this year I was prepared. You should have seen me…I was a planning/decorating/cooking/baking whirling dervish!
Unfortunately, after all the whirling I was doing, by the time the turkey was ready and I was actually ready to entertain, I was exhausted! Actually my downfall was due to me running around on Wednesday looking for water goblets – never found the right kind – and paid the price for running around like a chicken with its head cut off!
We had Mom and Dad V and our cousin Eric (who’s a senior at the University of Notre Dame) for the festivities. They arrived early so Mom and I could work on the food prep. Thankfully, there was football on and I could “kick” the guys out of the room – too many people/cooks in the kitchen and you’re asking for trouble! :)
Honestly, the day/evening was just perfect – great conversation and yummy food. Mom made green beans with onions, butternut squash, her wonderful cranberry relish, and fabulous apple and pumpkin pies. I made the turkey, gravy, stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, mini pumpkin cheesecake and some quick appetizers.
Of course we always plan for leftovers, because the Vassallo side of the family (me too!) love to make sandwiches the next day with turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce.
Larry and I love to entertain (OK maybe I like it a little more than him, but I think Larry still loves it) and our little Thanksgiving was just a wonderful day at the May household. On top of that, you can’t beat the fact that we had a long weekend, which Larry and I used to head to Madison for Friday, Saturday and Sunday – what a great weekend!
A note about the centerpiece: This was very simple to do...found a fantastic vase at TJMaxx for just $10 (and it was huge!). I put some mixed nuts in the base and then placed a plastic cup filled with water in the center. Place the nuts around the cup to disguise the cup and fill the cup with flowers and twigs - very simple and I think pretty elegant. Voila!
