Empty Nest #67

Thanksgiving weekend was fun, but not without its share of challenges and I am glad its in the books.  Sometimes, its more fun to look forward to something than to live it.  I didn't make that rule up.

I had a really nice birthday month!  These slippers were part of it, as were some beautiful gold earrings from my girl, lots of eating out, and a Cricut from Hubby. 

I definitely felt the love.

Monday - Grilled Chicken Breast, zucchini with peppers

Tuesday - Eggplant Parmesan, brocc/cauli with carrots

Wednesday - Pulled Pork Baked Potatoes, chop'd salad

Thursday - BBQ Pork Chops, green beans

Friday - Salmon, veggie couscous

Saturday - free choice {might visit my mother}

Sunday - Turkey Redeaux {two wine club pick-up parties today}

*almost all of the veggies this week are frozen with the exception of the eggplant and the zucchini.  I sure am glad I thought to add some to my last chopping trip!

Gina

5 thing Friday - Christmas tree, muffins, Cricut, turkeys, kitchen

Remember that back in September I started getting the Christmas tree together? 

I added more lights to it, took that reindeer off, and added more greenery to help fill in.  The Girl voiced a firm no on the ivy, but I like it.  When its all dolled up, it will be elegant and festive!

I need to stop buying bananas.  Since I shop on Thursday or Fridays now, they go bad over the weekend.  They make delightful muffins with mini chocolate chips, however.  I'm not a big baker, but I do love having these in the fridge to warm up for breakfast.

Hubby bought me a Cricut for my birthday which was very generous of him!  However, it will be some time before I actually get to sit down for an afternoon and PLAY with it to learn it.  My mother sent birthday cash so I need to go get some supplies for it.  This time next year I will be personalizing Christmas gifts!  It fits perfectly next to my computer desk and printer.

Wild turkeys on our county road in Burnet.  I love seeing them.

I make a giant mess in the kitchen each morning as I prep for dinner, pack lunches, and arrange breakfast.  I really don't mind - its a creative thing for me.  And by the time I leave for work, its back to clean and pretty.  Can't wait to get it dolled up for Christmas with a hot chocolate station and some holiday touches.  Stay tuned!

Gina

Preppin' it today

Its prep day for me which means I will have more time to spend with my peeps on Thanksgiving Day.  This year I am doing what I did last year, because I found it works so well!  Brine the bird on Tuesday, roast it on Wednesday, then pop all of the pre-assembled sides into the oven on Thursday.  {a couple of the sides are all ready to cook!} Dinner is on the table faster with less mess in the kitchen!  And though it may seem wasteful, I am using foil pans that I can simply rinse and place into the recycle bin to keep from having to kill the dishwasher!  

I had plans to do something different for the tablescape, but in the end, I just pulled out stuff I already had and arranged it a bit differently, adding in candles and some pretty new (paper) napkins.  {I added a couple of leaves to the table, planning for 9 people, but I'm still not sure if we will have that number.}  We will serve ourselves from the kitchen island then head to the table to eat, saying grace and toasting each other with a glass of wine.  This Thanksgiving may look different in a lot of ways, but we will carry on our tradition of saying what we are each thankful for.  And on Friday we will skip the tree farm and use what we have at home to decorate for Christmas.

Different, but OK.  As a family, we will get through the rest of this year!

Gina

Less Empty Nest Menu #66

I signed up for Apartment Therapy's "the cure" where they give you a task or something to do every day leading up to the holidays.  Then I realized - I already do most of those things....I'm somewhat organized and I clean fairly regularly and there are only two people living here! First up was getting the front room shaped up - I added two leaves in the table, added table pad and tablecloth, swept, replaced the felt chair feet pads, moved the potted plant and extra chair, hauled the tree in from the garage,  then STOPPED.   

You can't do everything in one day. 

It looks darker in here than it really is!

Monday - Crockpot Chili Beans

Tuesday - Dr. Martin's Mix

Wednesday - Take-out pizza

Thursday - Thanksgiving Dinner

Friday - Crockpot Pulled Pork for sammies, potato salad

Saturday - Day trip to Highlands where we will probably grill hot dogs

Sunday - Turkey Soup

The menus are purposely simple and I'm sure no one will go hungry...

Gina

A weekend full of this and that

Starting with working late on Thursday night, I was already tired by the time I got home from buying groceries after work on Friday.  But I had plans to go and do on the weekend and it couldn't be helped!  Also, it was worth it to work late on Thursday night so that I could get Bubbie to the ortho doc in the morning - so far, so good on his wrist.  He gets a custom splint ($$$) this week.  

On Saturday I drove to Brenham bright and early, intending to help my mother with some housework, then meeting a friend for lunch.  As it turns out, the friend had to cancel so I had even more time to spend with my mother, which is a good thing.  I made her a pie,

we enjoyed some chicken salad sandwiches, 

and after a very full morning of sweeping, vacuuming, scrubbing, and cleaning we ate pie and ice cream.  We got some groceries bought, her hair cut, and some laundry done.  There was still so much to do, but I felt like I had helped her make a dent in it.

I was way too tired to drive to Highlands, so Hubby was on his own until the next morning.  I showered, ate some take-out Mexican food, watched about 30 minutes of TV, then passed OUT.  The next morning I drove to Burnet with some cinnamon rolls.  Then we got some of that thicket near the barn cleared away, moved the grills back about two feet, and made plans to build a patio for them to sit on.  I also decorated the little $5 tree I put in the barn.

I placed it on a plant stand so it would be taller and hot-glued some corks around the pot it was in.  I think I will add a few more red ornaments to it.  It makes the Barn a cheery place - this is where we park the folding chairs to relax or watch TV.  We didn't go to a winery or brewery, staying close to Highlands the whole day and eating a charcuterie lunch.  Then drove home at sundown and enjoyed dinner at home.  And yes, I was also tired on Monday morning. 

I think I'm starting to feel the years! Welcome to 60, right?

Gina

Empty Nest Menu #65

I got the freezer mostly emptied out last week.  So I bought a big, fat, turkey and now I am laying my plans for Thanksgiving!

Monday - Crockpot Chicken Tacos with pico de gallo, cheese, sour cream, etc.

Tuesday - Tuna Salad Sammies*, the rest of some chips I found in the pantry

Wednesday - Pork Chop with onions, chard {put turkey in the fridge to thaw}

Thursday - Lentil Soup (never had this last week), corn muffins {dentist appt in a.m.}

Friday - Going to p/u take-out {I'm off today! Mammo appt, pick up Turkey Trot packets, put up Christmas tree, clean carpets}

Saturday - My 60th birthday!  I'm not cooking...{The Girl will be here, we have a wine club pick-up at 7 Creeks}

Sunday - Fried Catfish, California slaw, corn

*When I make tuna salad for sammies I load it up with diced red onion, celery, and pickles, dressing it with a little may and season it with lemon pepper.  It tastes better if it sits in the fridge for a few hours and makes a great dinner sandwich on Texas toast!

Gina

Getting the Thanksgiving stuff out!

In the midst of planning to get Christmas up earlier than I usually do, I am also pulling out all of the stuff I want to use for Thanksgiving.  Again, not buying anything new this year, just using what I already have.

I pulled out some burlap flags I found at a favorite thrift store and personalized them with glitter glue I already had.  Nothing fancy, just something to lay out on the table.

They looked too large so I cut them down a bit.  I love the look of burlap with a little glitz, though I'm not sure I will use those gold chargers.

Just a little crafty!

And the rest of the table will come together without me working too hard on it.

I was going to use cloth napkins and do neutral, but I saw these pretty napkins with their watercolor pumpkins and decided I would go colorful.  Now, all that left to do is set the table and pull out additional serving pieces.  The menu is set, my peeps will bring desserts and other things.  I have time off scheduled, and we are making plans for a fun and relaxing weekend. 

I am so ready for Thanksgiving Day!

Gina
 

Weekend re-cap: Chinese take-out, Christmas putseying, Highlands, snake!

We started off our weekend by getting take-out from our local Chinese restaurant before heading to Highlands.  Its been foreverrrr since we've had Chinese.

It isn't much to look at on the inside, but they do a rousing take-out business.  I almost never see anyone eating in there, just running in and picking up bags of food!  After we ate and I showered, we headed out.  We watched a movie at Highlands, fell asleep! in our chairs, and slept like babies with the windows open.  Ahhh....

On Saturday, Hubby made a pot of Mountain Man, then we putseyed.  I made a couple of Christmas crafts for the Barn, including this $1 sign.  I put up a small tree ($5) in a cute pot that I am covering with wine corks, and I bought a plant stand for it so it would be a little taller and off the floor.  Pics of it to come!  I also finished painting and I will show that soon, too.

The weather was perfect.

At lunch time we moseyed over to a place in the square that we have never tried, then shopped the square.  I had broccoli cheese soup, and he ate a chicken sandwich.  We both enjoyed it and decided we would come back again soon!

Hubby in particular is a big fan of onion rings and these were delicious.

We did some shopping in Marble Falls for projects around Highlands, then headed back in the late afternoon to hang lights.  And that's where things went slightly south...

As Hubby was working on the lights (at dusk) he almost stepped on this.

Look a little more closely...

Yes, its a rattlesnake.  Hubby quickly dispatched it with his shovel.  But it was a nerve-wracking 10 minutes or so and I had to run get the hatchet to help.  It looked full of mouse and since I noticed some shredded stuff in the storage unit, that meant that he was attracted to a food source.  Back to Lowe's to get some snake repellant and some mouse traps the next morning.  Next weekend, we will do a clean sweep of the barn and get rid of some clutter.  We will also have to greatly trim back a lot of the brush near the barn.  I knew I had smelled snake earlier in the day!

While at Lowe's the second time, we picked up more pavers to extend the patio.  Over time, they will weather and match the others.

Hubby finished hanging the lights along the upper edge of the barn - this will greatly help with visibility at night while not contributing to light pollution.  Then we sprayed snake repellant and treated for fire ants.  

We also extended the extra length of the lights to the front of the barn.  Its not fancy, but it is a sweet little spot to sit at dusk.  And we were so TIRED at that point that we did just that.  (you can see the bricks are still a little wet because we sprayed them down for ants earlier in the afternoon.)

Little by little, our tiny home Barn is coming along.

This Sunday: yard work!

Gina

Empty Nest Menu #64

 I would like to stay out of the grocery store as much as possible, so I will be "shopping" my freezer this week.  There is plenty in there and I need to use some of it up in advance of Thanksgiving.  I don't care what anyone says or thinks about it - I will be cooking a decent size turkey dinner and will probably cook some other good stuff that whole weekend.  And ALL of my peeps are invited!

Monday - (freezer) Eggplant Parm, corn

Tuesday - BBQ Pork Chop, (freezer) sweet potatoes, peas

Wednesday - Garlicky Chicken Thighs, (freezer) Hash Brown Casserole, the rest of a bag of turnip greens

Thursday - (leftover) Lentil Soup and (leftover) corn muffins

Friday - Spaghetti and meatsauce, broccoli and cauliflower

Saturday - Free choice! {going to Brenham}

Sunday - Salmon, mixed veggies, (freezer) twice bakeds

Gina

5 thing Friday - Gus, Bubbie, cookies, cheese tray, tuna bowls

I think the photos this week are slightly out of order from when they actually happened, but I kind of feel like that's a metaphor for life lately...

I visited my mother last week and as usual, I noted the lack of cleanliness - bordering on filth - and it gave me pause.  My mother is fairly adamant about staying put in her house.  But her living conditions are not the best.  If it were just merely a little messy with chores to be done here and there, I wouldn't fret about this so much.  She is taking good care of Gus, so there's that.

After taking Bubbie to get his wrist casted, we stopped by a favorite Mexican restaurant in San Marcos that Hubby and I frequented in our college days.  It all looks much the same as it did 35+ years ago.

About all of the mothering I can do for Bubbie right now is feed him and get him to appointments.  Which maybe he can do for himself, too, but a little extra love to him is never a bad thing.  He may yet have to have surgery on it.

A popular cookie company in Austin delivered hundreds of mini boxes to the hospital and I snagged one.  Zero guilt.  I'm not a huge chocolate chip cookie fan - they are just OK - and I can make at home same same, but I could not say no to cookies during a stressful week. 

Lord, I'm ready for this year to end.

Long story short:  I bought a gift certificate to a local cheese shop intending for Hubby and I to use it for one of their cheesy bus tours or a class, then Covid hit and they closed all events.  I was tired of waiting for things to open back up, so I just ordered a meat and cheese tray for pick up last Friday and we snacked on it all weekend.  Some of it went into the freezer.  $100 worth of cheese and meat is a LOT for two people.  

This week's tuna "bowl" incarnation involves romaine, white beans, Albacore tuna, yellow bell pepper, purple onion, avocado, and feta.  Lo-cal and delish and easy to prep.  I think some variation of it will be in the menus at least every other week going forward.

Gina
 

Weekend re-cap: Empty Nest Halloween, 12 Fox, Rising Sun

It was a very different Halloween {Scout's birthday}.

Much to Hubby's disgust, I wanted to stay a little closer to Rustown this past weekend.  I had a list of all the things I want to do around the house, including: cutting out a jumper pattern to sew, taking a birthday gift to Scout, making homemade cranberry sauce, ordering some stuff from Kohl's, giving myself a pedi...But around lunchtime we decided to head over to 12 Fox in Dripping Springs for lunch and a couple of beers.

The crispy pork tenderloin tacos (schnitzel!!) were the bomb.  We might also have eaten a warm cheese-topped soft pretzel too quickly for me to snap a pic of it.

And their pumpkin dark beer was so good.  The weather was perfect and the place was busy but quiet and just an all-around pleasant place to be!

We only stayed a couple of hours and we made a note to come back soon as there are two new-ish breweries along this same road in Dripping Springs that we want to try.  We enjoyed a firepit and a bottle of wine at Rustown, then watched Nightmare Before Christmas.  What a weird Halloween.  I'm hoping it will be different (in a good way) next year!

The next day I worked on a few putsey things around the house.  I am deep into holiday planning!  I want to have Christmas gifts purchased and made and wrapped by the end of November. I want to have time to make some treats from my kitchen, light some scented candles, listen to music, and RELAX.  

THAT IS MY PLAN.

Early afternoon we headed over to Rising Sun Vineyards in McDade.

The weather was just as perfect as the day before.  We enjoyed their first estate wine - a sparkling rose -  and Hubby bought a couple of cigars to enjoy.  They had live music, wood-fired pizza, and are generally the friendliest people ever - they remembered me from writing an article about them for the Texas Wine Lover website and we chatted them up for a bit.  We will definitely return later in the fall.  On the way home we bought half-price Halloween candy (for Christmas!) and a mum to pot by the door.  Then I fixed dinner and POOF the weekend disappeared like it always does.  But this coming weekend we will leave for Highlands on Friday and hopefully it won't be full of to-do lists and chores - just relaxing.  With probably some wine...

Gina

Empty Nest Menu #63

Monday - Buffalo Chicken, green beans, side salad* with bleu cheese

Tuesday - Tuna and White Bean Bowls with tomato, green onion, feta, avocado

Wednesday - Lentil Soup, corn muffins or biscuits

Thursday - Tater Tot Casserole (use ground turkey, mushroom, carrot, peas, onion, and homemade stock!)

Friday - No cooking today - heat up two leftovers meals from freezer

Saturday - Free choice all day

Sunday - Salmon, baked sweet potato, chopped salad

*I don't know what possessed me to buy lettuce last week - I would so rather have chard or kale

Gina