WIAW 93 – Christmas is Coming

I’m sure that somewhere, there is a goose getting fat… but not here.

I am pleased to say that I am feeling much better, and have managed to not only catch up (I think) but also start to plan ahead… sort of. I mean, Christmas is in only two weeks! So right now, I seem to be immersed in All Things Gingerbread… having, apparently, set that as my project for this year.

Somehow or other, I managed to eat neither muffins nor waffles for breakfast yesterday… One reason I like the bean tacos so much is that they’re pretty much the fastest breakfast I have, both to fix (as long as I’ve cooked the beans) and to eat, so when I’m busy, I fall back on them. This time I didn’t even bother with egg – just added strips of cheese to melt into the beans. Super fast, super simple – and I do like them. (And cumin is a nice change from ginger, sometimes… )

We’re well into soup season. I cooked a pound of split peas into – well – Rich did mention “that container of green sludge in the fridge…” And then I used the foundation recipe method to make a couple of different soups this week – one with the last of the ham in the freezer, and this one, with the end of a head of Savoy cabbage, and some allspice. (Note: When you carefully pick out the whole allspice as you eat your soup, and then drop it, the Little Cat thinks you’ve just given her a lovely toy… it rolls. Yes, I got it before she put it under the sofa.)

Now, it seems I couldn’t go a whole day without doing something gingerbread – writing yesterday’s post I decided it needed an example of an immediate use for the Gingerbread Spice Blend. Oh, poor me, I needed to eat a gingerbread apple… Cut it up, sprinkled a bit of the spice mix on it, microwaved… I’ve usually done that in the past with just cinnamon, but I really liked the blend.

And then – well, I was halfway through dinner when I said “Pictures!” So this is a half eaten dinner… I cooked a whole pork shoulder the other day (so I’ll have the cooked meat on hand, as I’ve discussed…) And I had part of a butternut squash left that I wanted to finish. I sauteed onion and curry powder, added the peeled and cut up squash, and then water to simmer. Tossed in pork after a bit, and frozen peas just before serving over rice. (It was a bit soupy when I served it, so I took a spoon – but then the rice absorbed all the liquid.)

And that is the kind of really fast and easy dinner we all need, at this time of year. Most people seem to be a bit busier right now (and some are really running crazy – this is the first time in years I don’t have any gigs in stores, but I’ve done stints of 60 hour weeks, repping products in December! The joys of retail…) So fast and easy food, that sustains you,  is especially important.

So anyhow, Jenn’s WIAW party is over at Meghan’s – for the last time… awww… Don’t worry, the party continues, and Meghan has a wonderful reason to be entirely too busy to host these days, so it’s really all good news – but we’ll miss her on Wednesdays…

(And today they started renovations on the apartment next door. Which, they tell us, may last for Six Weeks. So if I lose my mind along the way, we will know it got thrown out with all the 50 year old kitchen cabinets they are trashing. Loudly. I’ll try not to complain every Wednesday…)