Saturday Meanderings

Is it possible another week has gone by? It’s a glorious day here and I am so excited to share with you all the fun things that crossed my path this week. Welcome to Saturday Meanderings!

Reading List

Every night I try and read before bed. It is part of my winding down ritual before sleep. My latest book is rather enjoyable as the author has quite the way with words. It takes wit and skill to make a story about murder have humorous parts.

Fabulously Dead by Lindsay Maracotta is the first of a 3-book series. For a Kindle version it’s $2.99 on Amazon and greatly entertaining. Money well spent, at least in my opinion. Lindsay Maracotta’s style of writing is clever and I will definitely read all three books. Here is the link.

On my list of books to read during the holidays is A Keepsake Christmas. Every now and then you just need a sweet book. Here is the description: “8  special ornaments, 8 special women, 8 memorable Christmases. Bring the spirit of Christmas into your heart with this collection of all new sweet holiday romances set in the popular series of eight bestselling authors”. In light of the uglies of the world, don’t we all need a sweet holiday book? Find it here.

Another one of my favorite Christmas stories is The Christmas Club by Barbara Hinske. Barbara is one of the 8 authors in A Keepsake Christmas too. Barbara is a friend, a neighbor and a lover of old homes like me. I know you will love this a heartwarming story. You can also see it on the Hallmark Channel, however, the book, in my opinion is much better. With the Hallmark spin, the plot is different and not as interesting as the original script. Link here.

A Few Things to Make before Christmas

Last year, near Thanksgiving, we made our very first batch of Alton Brown’s Classic Aged Eggnog. Quite honestly, it is delicious, not like the store-bought egg nog you get out of a milk carton. This recipe can be made 2 weeks in advance, a month or two would be better.

You can drink it right away as well, but we found that when made near Thanksgiving it is very drinkable at Christmas. For the last 11 months (as we made a new batch in January) it has been sitting in our refrigerator and I cannot wait to try the 1-year version.

You are probably asking the same questions I did….eggs, milk and cream sitting for a year? But trust me, there is enough rum, cognac and bourbon to keep it from spoiling. See the recipe below.

This week I am beginning the process of making Mary Berry’s Christmas cake. Being a big fan of the Great British Baking Show, I am attempting Mary’s cake, which can be made up to 3 months in advance. Yes, it is a take on fruit cake, but I am altering the ingredients a bit to eliminate glacé cherries (which I don’t care for). As I am writing this it is baking in the oven for 4-4 1/2 hours! The dried cherries, raisins, sultanas and currants spent 3 days soaking in brandy. And the kitchen smells heavenly!

Since the cake will sit until Christmas soaking up brandy, I will let you know if it is a success or not!

Our Beautiful Time of Year

When many parts of the country’s landscapes are turning monochromatic, the fall and winter here in Phoenix are lush and colorful. Our winter lawn looks like an Irish spring as it is so green and velvety. With cool morning temperatures and warm days, everything is perking up nicely.

We have two of these Hong Kong Orchid trees which are in bloom now. Their brilliant pink flowers give off a faint sweet scent and I love how the petals look on the grass when they drop from the trees.

And it is chilly enough in the mornings to make it feel like the holidays are coming.

Mini Charcuterie Boards

These mini boards are so perfect for individual servings in our pandemic anxious world. Wouldn’t they would make great party favors for a themed event?

The ones I ordered may be a bit small but I did have fun experimenting with them recently. For one person, the board does hold enough for a quick appetizer. The dimensions are 9″ x 3.5″ and relatively thin at 5/16″.

Using them for a dessert and espresso or hot chocolate would be a cute idea too. Who else loves these Biscoff cookies? It’s a treat to dunk them into coffee! I am thinking of all the ways to use them….serving sushi, small continental breakfast?

The mini board size fits nicely at a place setting. And you can also add a seasonal ribbon through the hole at the top to make it more decorative. Here is the source of my mini boards. They are 4 for $11.94 at Amazon here.

Helping the Community

I’m not sure I mentioned that I serve on a neighborhood board in our town. For the last two years, our police precinct has a Turkey drive to help our local food bank stock up on turkeys for the holidays. This year, we raised over $800 and happily delivered 35 turkeys to the refrigerated truck at our police station. I feel blessed to live in a neighborhood where people are generous all year, but especially during the holidays.

Arlington Ladies

Thank you for your wonderful feedback on the post last week about the Arlington Ladies. I finally have a picture of my friend, Joanne, performing her duties this week for this amazing organization. If you haven’t read it, please do. It will make you feel good to know this group of women do so much to support our country behind the scenes. You can read the post here.

If you are looking for some great Thanksgiving recipes and missed Wednesday’s blog post, check it out here. We are still enjoying our turkey leftovers from our early celebration and will be cooking another bird next week. And if you need any table setting ideas and inspiration, you can see my Thanksgiving table past and present.

As always, I so appreciate you joining me on Saturdays and best wishes for a fabulous weekend!