Any ol’ excuse for a Brandied Eggnog + Books, updates and fun sites

What is new in your part of the world? December is cruising along at breakneck speed and you know what, we don’t have a tree up and decorated yet. It’s the 12th so I wonder if it’s worth it…….then I immediately think, oh yeah it’s worth it!

We both love having a tree up and the decorative goat ornaments. Plus it’s a great excuse for a mini party (of two) with decadent appetizer foods. Screw diets, forget the cholesterol for an evening and lets decorate and tip back some eggnog with brandy or dark rum. Let’s eat bacon wrapped shrimp, cocktail sausages, corn fritters and mini pizzas. Reason will prevail and we’ll have a big fat salad too…just to get some healthy fare in the tummy. Maybe a risotto with veggies.

In an upcoming post I hope to share photos of a decorated tree and at least some of the aforementioned appies. Here is a photo of the tree and some of the ornaments from 2011. Blast from the past....



On other news fronts, we were walking one of the dogs this morning and saw all these expensive vehicles lining up in a neighboring field. The young men looked like they were embarking on a group trip to an upscale party or prep school. If you knew where we lived you would know this is an unusual sight and non-typical of our rural residents. Think GQ meets Green Acres.

They waved at us, friendly guys. More cars started pulling in. By the time we made our circuit with the dog one of the men came up to us and said they would be shooting a commercial on our road. It was for Farmers (I think) and involved filming a group of runners jogging down a country road.



So..if you see such a commercial let me know. We don’t have satellite or cable and do not get television feed at all so, we will never see it unless we are at a restaurant with TVs and it happens to show. I would be curious if our property gets in the shots.

Interesting sites

This year I have stumbled across some interesting websites ( sites previously unknown to me) and have had success with the recipes, enjoyed the reading and in some cases made acquaintances with people I would love to meet, yet know I never will. They are fun to banter with anyway :-)

The Pie Patch was discovered via Twitter as I was nattering on to my friend Jo. The best recipe I have tried from The Pie Patch (so far) was the lemon chicken tray bake.

I have been using the tips there on meal planning and appreciate the emphasis on budgeting, using leftovers to create other meals and the humor that is interspersed throughout.

On the bookish front, Beth Fish Reads has daily book reviews and the occasional giveaway. My list of to-read books is growing exponentially and much of that is based on reviews by Beth Fish. Actually her site isn’t new to me but I have been frequenting her website about 5 days a week this year. Perhaps it’s an addiction. More on book challenges here.

There are lots of places I like to visit and when time permits, I make comments there. So little time to read, write, cook, garden…………..

I leave you with a snap of our driveway. This was taken from the front step on a foggy morning last week. We still walked but it was damp and chilly that day. Reminds me of a day in the mountains. Would you believe it's north Florida?



Stay warm out there!