What did you do in the garden today?

[ChocolateMouse]

Wow, you're really going all out! I love making my own things too. I'm currently working on an altar cloth but not sure I'll get it finished before then. I do a major cleaning of the house from top to bottom and that's taking a lot of my time right now. I purge all the junk that has accumulated throughout the year too.

I often make a Spanish turkey soup for dinner with an orange salad and fresh bread or rolls. We also candy orange peels and make crystalized ginger.

Will you have guests, or are you solitary?

Well, the nice thing about the tablecloths is that it's just one piece with a hem around the edge. And I'm lucky enough to have an almost-mother-in-law who buys me at least one very expensive item a year for the holidays and a few years back it was a heavy duty Singer sewing machine. I hope your altar cloth gets done! That sounds really nice!

We always make Yule about quiet prayers in the morning (over the log) and a big party in the evening so we're going to be having some 20-25 people over in a small house. Yule is kind of my big middle finger to all the conventional obligations of the holiday season even though they have a lot in common. It means I get to spend my holiday season with the people I love and care about and give all of my holiday labor to them instead of people I'm obligated to interact with. (I don't have such a great biological family.) I take it from your desire for simple you're gonna have a more solitary or immediate household only sort of Yule?

How funny, we're actually working on the top to bottom cleaning of the house too right now, and getting rid of a lot of old stuff we don't need also! I need to reach out to my local Purple Heart chapters and throw some boxes of donation items their way. It's fairly clean around the house right now because we unexpectedly hosted my aforementioned MIL for Thanksgiving this year, but we still have things to purge. Decorating starts on the 1st when we set up the tree.

That soup sounds nice. I know we're doing a potato and leek soup this year... I have leeks out in my garden, silently existing under the light blanket of snow, still surprisingly alive! They did rather well for my first time growing them and I like to cook as much from my garden for Yule each year as I can so we thought it would be nice and hearty and a good use of a vegetable that's not common for us.
We're also using some of the winter squashes from the garden this year (crown pumpkin and honey-nut butternut), but I'm not sure where yet. Usually I'd halve and stuff them with mushrooms and rice but these ones got very beat up so I'd rather chop them up and use them that way.

 

[PouleChick]

Look forward to hearing all about your yule adventures - the butternut sounds like you will do something yum with it!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Been busy here all morning making 4 loaves of bread, fresh mustard green pesto.. with fresh basil, parmesan cheese and black pepper dry in a jar that goes in the freezer hydrate with olive oil as needed also making ham and bean soup for dinner. Went cleaned both coops trimmed Muds top knot she was so good for it sold every egg I had last night two of my most reliable customers showed up 2 - 18 to one 2 - 12's plus a banty to the other cleaned me out but girls handed me 7 before breakfast

 

[igorsMistress]

Well, the nice thing about the tablecloths is that it's just one piece with a hem around the edge. And I'm lucky enough to have an almost-mother-in-law who buys me at least one very expensive item a year for the holidays and a few years back it was a heavy duty Singer sewing machine. I hope your altar cloth gets done! That sounds really nice!

We always make Yule about quiet prayers in the morning (over the log) and a big party in the evening so we're going to be having some 20-25 people over in a small house. Yule is kind of my big middle finger to all the conventional obligations of the holiday season even though they have a lot in common. It means I get to spend my holiday season with the people I love and care about and give all of my holiday labor to them instead of people I'm obligated to interact with. (I don't have such a great biological family.) I take it from your desire for simple you're gonna have a more solitary or immediate household only sort of Yule?

How funny, we're actually working on the top to bottom cleaning of the house too right now, and getting rid of a lot of old stuff we don't need also! I need to reach out to my local Purple Heart chapters and throw some boxes of donation items their way. It's fairly clean around the house right now because we unexpectedly hosted my aforementioned MIL for Thanksgiving this year, but we still have things to purge. Decorating starts on the 1st when we set up the tree.

That soup sounds nice. I know we're doing a potato and leek soup this year... I have leeks out in my garden, silently existing under the light blanket of snow, still surprisingly alive! They did rather well for my first time growing them and I like to cook as much from my garden for Yule each year as I can so we thought it would be nice and hearty and a good use of a vegetable that's not common for us.
We're also using some of the winter squashes from the garden this year (crown pumpkin and honey-nut butternut), but I'm not sure where yet. Usually I'd halve and stuff them with mushrooms and rice but these ones got very beat up so I'd rather chop them up and use them that way.

I'm solitary. My family is pretty much agnostic so they don't care what we celebrate. I bless our tree and do the cleaning and purging. The morning is mine, but I gather the kids and grandkids for dinner. I usually have them exchange their gifts or whatever when they're here. This frees them up for other holidays with their significant others and prevents hard feelings.

Nice find under the snow! I prefer leeks to onions in many dishes. There are some awesome squash soup recipes too, I've thought about making that for something different this year at dinner. My daughter used butternut squash for a soup and it was so good. I think there was coconut cream, yellow curry, chicken stock and garlic. Then she pureed it and added a little basil. It's a great way to use the ugly squash.

 

[pennyJo1960]

We buy gifts between the three of us nothing of real expense. We are not church goers here either opting to find him under a tree or beside a rose all having our own beliefs.
another note last of the year Mustard green and sage still surviving in garden used both in my new pesto .. anyone interested they are so easy to make I do not add oil until I use mine it stays in the freezer until then ..
Pesto
Green Leaf of any nature
seasoning to join can be basil or chives or onion
any nut or seed ie... pine nuts, almonds, peanuts or flax seed
1 cup parmesan
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all in food processor I have small jar ball brand I store mine in then spoon out add olive oil to use

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I'm solitary. My family is pretty much agnostic so they don't care what we celebrate. I bless our tree and do the cleaning and purging. The morning is mine, but I gather the kids and grandkids for dinner. I usually have them exchange their gifts or whatever when they're here. This frees them up for other holidays with their significant others and prevents hard feelings.

Nice find under the snow! I prefer leeks to onions in many dishes. There are some awesome squash soup recipes too, I've thought about making that for something different this year at dinner. My daughter used butternut squash for a soup and it was so good. I think there was coconut cream, yellow curry, chicken stock and garlic. Then she pureed it and added a little basil. It's a great way to use the ugly squash.

That sounds like a really nice curried squash soup. I'm used to making butternut squash soup as just sauteed onions and garlic in butter, chicken stock, heavy cream and squash all cooked until bubbly and thick, pureed, and then a pinch of black pepper and nutmeg on top. But since we've got the leeks, and we're hosting so many people, it'd be best to only have one soup for us. Gotta pick and choose what dishes to do.

Last year I did curried squash stuffed mushrooms, the year before I did four mushroom stuffed squash... I wanna do something a little different this year and I'm not sure what.

It's definitely nice to have an alternative day to do a gift exchange on. It can also be nice to have the holidays open for work/travel without it getting in the way of your celebration and faith. Like, my partner is now managing at a well-paying grocery store and they need him on holidays. It's really easy to take the 21st off, and even the days around it. It's much harder to take time off on and around the 25th. Definitely a nice difference.

 

[jerryse]

Seed catalogs are arriving . I have recieved 2 so far . Time to dream of spring .

 

[pennyJo1960]

I have had that so far also

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I actually received a seed catalog this year from my usual seed supplier. I don't remember requesting one but there it is. It's nice to have paper to page through, but I prefer the online catalogs still.

Know how I was bragging about how easy the tablecloths would be to hem? I broke my sewing machine needle trying to hem it when I hit a pin. First needle broken in years. Had to go get a new one. Maybe I'll try sewing again today or tomorrow.

 

[pennyJo1960]

need to make a light quilt for BF