How do you spend Boxing Day?

When I was growing up, Boxing Day was the big after Christmas clearance sale at US stores. My mom stocked up on gift wrap, bows and cards on that day.

For me, I prefer to take a day off, and not go out shopping.

On the 24th, I stopped at the public library and checked out a stack of back issues of Martha Stewart Living and The English Garden magazines. I'll be spending today with my nose buried in magazines. I do this one day per year. We eat leftovers from the previous couple of days of cooking, and kids have always been very entertained with their new belongings -- the perfect set-up for me to have time to myself.

Have a great day!

Christmas Day Menus

Merry Christmas! Were you able to sleep last night? I am like a kid, I lay there half the night waiting for morning to come. Wherever you are today, I am wishing you the merriest of Christmases! Every year, I think to myself, "Christmas just gets better and better each year." New friendships, maturing older friendships, a growing up family -- all those those things make for Christmases that get better with each year.

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Today, I'll take 1 meal off, and we'll only have a brunch and dinner. I am told that all the clean-up is covered, so that after I cook, I can just go put my feet up. Now that's a Christmas present! Brunch is actually the bigger meal to prepare, today. We'll snack on brunch items throughout the day. My dinner menu is fairly simple (easy on the cook), and much of it was prepared in advance.

The menus for the day:

Christmas Brunch

pineapple chunks

apple-dried fruit-nut salad

overnight herb and cheese strata with marinara sauce

sausages

bacon

Austrian almond braid bread

mini blueberry muffins

orange-pineapple juice

coffee

cocoa

Christmas Dinner

baked ham

au gratin potatoes

pumpkin souffle

pear mousse gelled salad

carrot sticks, green bean pickles, bread and butter pickles

cookies

As I said, most of these items were made ahead. The pineapple chunks were canned. After draining, I added the liquid from the can to the orange juice. The marinara sauce was left over from batch cooking over the weekend. I pre-cooked the sausages the day before, then simply heated them through this morning. The bread and muffins were baked earlier in the week. The pumpkin souffle was made, ready for the oven, yesterday afternoon. And the gelled salad was prepared on Monday.

I like to have an easy day, too. A little preparation ahead of time goes a long way. Merry, merry!