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Monday, December 12, 2022

Dinner for a Holiday Decorating Party That Almost Didn't Happen


In past years, we've had a family tree decorating party, where I make a dinner of snack-y foods, and we all help decorate the Christmas tree. This year, we decorated the Christmas tree immediately after Thanksgiving dinner with our son and daughter-in-law. But my household was missing having that special snack-y dinner, so we planned on doing the house decorations along with this special meal. Our house holiday decorating consist of hanging a garland, putting artificial poinsettias out, setting up the caroler figurines, getting out the Christmas tablecloth, etc. We did this on Monday after work. And we ate in the family room with the Roku set on the Yule Log via YouTube.

The menu

sliced summer sausage
sliced cheddar cheese
homegrown carrots sticks
cheese-yogurt dip
hummus dip
black olives
dried apricots and cranberries
rye crackers
mixed nuts
orange segments
two kinds of holiday cookies
and that perennial party favorite -- roasted turnips

Monday morning, I wasn't sure we were going to do this. I was tired and not feeling it. I thought the dinner would entail me making a special shopping trip to pick up a few foods. And that made me want to do this even less. So I began getting foods out for a normal dinner and set carrots and turnips to soak before scrubbing the garden dirt off.

Both daughters really wanted us to decorate the house soon, so I began to nudge my thinking into the possibilities using what I had on hand. I had already bought the summer sausage at Grocery Outlet back in November with the plan to use it when we decorated the tree and house. But I didn't think I had much else. After rummaging in the fridge and pantry I came up with everything else on the table. The vegetables were washed and then cut. I oven-roasted the cubes of turnips and we used toothpicks with them. The cheese-yogurt dip was yogurt I strained then mixed in salt, black pepper and cheese powder. My family said it was quite good (I can't eat any of it, due to dairy). To drink, my husband and daughters also made themselves some hot cocoa using the homemade cocoa powder I keep in a jar on the counter this time of year. I'm a water person when it comes to meals.

The meal came together once I adjusted my thinking.



6 comments:

  1. I'm sure the meal that you pulled together with what you had did not disappoint. It looks delicious. I hope you're feeling better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Live and Learn,
      yes, thank you. I've had a few nights of poor sleep, which really impacts me during the day. But doing better today, and we did enjoy the dinner and decorating.

      Delete
  2. It looks fun and festive to me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Kris. It all worked out and the meal was a fun way to do dinner, making everything as snacks.

      Delete
  3. What a fun tradition!! Glad you felt better and your spirit lifted.

    Laura

    ReplyDelete

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