Low, Slow and So Worth It! (Our New Series)

Low, Slow and So Worth It

I would like the following for my family in 2013.    More love.
More presence.
More income... and less outgo.

One of the ways I hope to achieve those is through comfort foods.   Using inexpensive cuts of meat, slow cooking methods and time  I'll be serving full flavor for less time.   (Less time of me actually being in the kitchen, that is.)

Braising.
Roasting.
Slow cooking.
  I'll be cooking up slow-cooked meats, veggies and desserts in our new series,  "Low, Slow and So Worth It!"

I can't wait to show you what we just pulled out of the oven.
Here's a sneak peek of our Cider Braised Beef!

  So, tell me.
What is your favorite slow cooked food?

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Update: How Does Your Garden Grow?

How Does Your Garden Grow?

We've talked about my indoor garden here and here and here.

And, I certainly never expected...

 to have anything green and alive on December 28th. 

Yet, here she is.

Miss Basil  - tanning in the south-facing window.

Catching some rays.

I'm not quite sure how long she'll last in the Chicago winter.

Even being an indoor cat - I mean plant.

We'll see.  

I'm loving being able to snip off a few leaves 

and toss 'em in pasta without having to pay $3.50 for a box of fresh basil.  

(Especially when half is usually slimy.  Gross, but true.)

Fingers-crossed we'll still have some fresh basil in the new year.

That...makes me happy.

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A Gift From An Angel

Serendipity.  Luck.  Coincidence. Blessing.

I'll just call it a gift from am angel.

You see, this morning a girlfriend posted on her Facebook page about a family in need.  A twin bed, microwave, dishes, silverware were at the top of the list for a single mom and her kids who are sleeping on the floor.

So, I tested our spare microwave to be sure it still worked.  (When you get married at 42 you tend to have some duplicates.)  Then I started thinking about other household items we might have available.
  As I dug through the closet I came across 2 boxes labeled Christmas.  My interest was piqued as I hadn't seen those boxes for years. (Can I just tell you that if I still have boxes I haven't opened in years, I need to get out my tacky kindle stand and re-read Jen Hatmaker's book 7. Talk about excess.)

I pulled the boxes out into the middle of the living room and dug in.  Oh, isn't this carousel horse ornament cute?  "Christmas 1992" read the little brass flag trailing from the pole with imaginary wind. Yank, tug - the little flag went into the trash.

Oh, isn't this little San Francisco trolley ornament cute.  Keep.  Oh, isn't this carousel horse ornament cute?  Wait a second!  1993. 1994.  Gosh, I was really into carousel horses, wasn't I?  Thankfully, they still bring fond memories and make me smile.

There were lots of those cheap-o brass ornaments.  (Tossed 'em right into the recycling bag.)  There were those puffy ceramic ornaments which give the impression of being quilted if the painter has some skill.  Oh wait. This will help.

  Each year we put out those reindeer - which, I admit are a little tacky. They were *ahem* hand-crafted by a sweet lady named Mary.  She was a co-worker and sold them as a hobby/side job.  I bought them back in 1986 or so.  Yeah, silly, I know.  But, I know they were made with love.

(Side note.  When I left for college, Mary arranged for me to meet her son who attended there.  While I'm sure she might have had hopes, there were no sparks of romance.  However, her son walked me through the student union past the organization mailboxes.  I had a question about one of the clubs and I left a note in the mailbox.  The president of the organization called me.  And, 25 years later we were married.

Luck?  Serendipity?
I'll just take Mary's referral to meet her son as a blessing.)

Back to the box I hadn't opened in forever.
Pouring through the ornaments I realized  how long they had been tucked away.
I think it was 1998.   When my mom passed away.

Wanna know what I found in the bottom of the box?
I should tell you that mom bought for the future.  As in, she bought all of the Disney VHS tapes when they came out...for my kids.  I wasn't married. And I didn't have kids.

  (The movies were later donated to a local church for their children's ministry.)

So, what did I find in the bottom of the box?
A wedding ornament.
The one in the photo above.

An ornament that probably puzzled me when she gave it to me.
I honestly don't remember.
Since i liked vintage-y things and things with ribbons I likely smiled and said a polite thank you.

But now, 15 years after she passed away, finding the ornament was like mom giving us an anniversary gift.  Or, a Christmas gift.  A wedding ornament for our tree.
Serendipity?
Luck?
I'll call it a gift from an angel.

Thanks Mom.
And a  very Merry Christmas to All.

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Pretty. Simple.

Pretty. Simple.

Do you still have presents to wrap?

Frustrated with thin wrapping paper tearing all the time?

Is your budget tighter than Grandma's Christmas sweater?
 ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

This has been our standby for 3 years now.
And, I love it!

Dollar Tree craft paper!

No joke. 

Thick, wonderful, festive red gingham wrapping paper...

For a buck!

Not a fan of gingham?
Around here the Dollar Tree also has craft paper with red balloons,
or black paw prints, or white lacy flowers.

(BTW, Dollar Tree has no idea I'm mentioning them.
Not getting a penny for the plug.
I just love their paper and want the world to know it.)

How are you bringing inexpensive style to your Christmas this year?

Tell us!

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Creating Family Traditions. (Doing Less, Doing More)

  Creating Family Traditions

Let me start by explaining that ours is not a traditional family.
And, yes, I am referring to the fact that we like to crawl through the cavates at Bandalier National Monument. And, can't help ourselves so we just right in to keep the World's Largest Bat from falling. (We're nice that way.)

And, yes, we might have made a Christmas Pez Tree - replete with Santa Yoda Bobble-Head.
And it was really fun!

Yes, we might have turned our kitchen into a Jimmy John's.
But, it's seriously. cool.

No, when I say we aren't traditional, I  mean that we got married in our 40s and we are making new family traditions!  I mentioned in our Untangling Christmas post how our focus is less - less stress, less gifts, less chaos.     We are also doing more.   More intentionality. More giving.  More focus.
More family traditions.

It's funny, the 15 year old didn't think we had any traditions - until we started to decorate and he realized that "this GOES here."  It just does.  Like, the little bronze bell that hangs from our tree like an ornament.  It goes on the bottom branch to the cat can play with it. 

Then there's the Santa and Mrs. Claus animated stuffed...thing.  It was my mom's.  (She used to have her home filled with animated Christmas dolls.  Some huge, some smaller.  Most of them stopped working long ago.  Yet, this one remains.)  You press the button and Santa snores while Mrs. Claus sings "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" in Dat-da-da da's.  Our tradition?  If someone presses the button we all have to sing along.  Or, snore.  Either one, really.  It's just something we DO.

The Pez Tree?  Yep, that's a tradition.
We did that tree the first year and last year we did the green M&M  wreath above.  (Sorry for the yucky nighttime photo...it's from our Cafe D Facebook page last year.) I'm not sure if we are going to do a candy creation this year - but we might.  Because it's a tradition :)

Each year we go to Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.  We visit the exhibits and take a pretty family picture next to the BIG tree.  Then we take a completely goofy pic.  Can we be real here? It's expensive.  And, finding a whole day without obligations can be a little awkward.   But, it's worth it.  We value it.  It's tradition.

Traditions should be fun - not a burden.

I know that might seem simple.  It felt pretty strange typing something so obvious.  Yet, sometimes traditions are continued just for the sake of carrying it on - sometimes LONG past when it was fun.  Or, maybe convenient.  Or, even appreciated.

My challenge for myself this year is to listen to my tone.  If I say, "And, THEN we HAVE TO..." I want to stop for a second.  "We have to..." Hmm.  Do we?  Can we choose not to?  Can we do it this year, make the most of it, then stop doing it?  Did it used to be fun and now it's not?  Would it be fun again if we did it every couple of years?  Perhaps never is too soon.

It's time for some new traditions in our home.
I think I want to find a something tasty for breakfast for Christmas morning.   I'll check our Pinterest boards - I'm sure something on the Brunch board will be perfect!

And, I think I'm gonna see what how the fam feels about having OUR Christmas before we head out of town.  That way, if anyone gets any *cough* new PJs *cough* we can wash em and wear em right away.  Also, it means that we won't rush through our Christmas when we get back.  It's been having a little "last and least important" feel to me...and I think that's just because we are tired from traveling when we've been opening our gifts.

This year Chex Mix came up in a few different conversations.  My husband used to make it at the holidays years ago.  We have tons of Chex right now because it was $1.88 a box - even less with coupons, so I stocked up.  So, this weekend we made Chex Mix.  That might end up a tradition, might not.  We'll see if we enjoy it next year or if just gets to be "one more thing on the list."

If so, we'll toss that one off right OFF the list!

Oh, I almost forgot!  I need your help!     We love listening to audio books when we travel.  This year I was thinking of getting a Christmasy story for the road.  We might just grab Dickens and listen to A Christmas Carol. I'd LOVE hearing any other suggestions you might have!!

How about you?
What traditions  do you love?
What traditions would you like to ditch? ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~ 
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Untangling Christmas

Untangling Christmas

The Christmas season seems so short.
It's December 1st and I'm already wishing I had changed over from autumn to Christmas sooner.

But, one thing we're trying hard to not bring out this season?
Stress.

Maybe if we unpack the stress we can finally toss it in the can where it belongs.
(Unpack, get it.  This thing on?)

This year our family sat and we had a little Christmas pow-wow.  We talked about what some of our favorite memories are, favorite traditions, least favorites traditions, favorite foods, etc. Basically, we pared down what we were really looking for this season - since we can't do it all.  And, trying will make you bonkers!

We put a huge paper Christmas tree on the back of our door and wrote down some goals.  Things we want to do, people we want to spend time with, food we want to make - or eat.

  Sure, we talked about gifts and lists.
But, we also spoke a lot about Presence, not Presents.
    One thing our the 15 year old wants is a real Christmas tree topper.  While we really liked last year's tree, he's hoping that we can find an angel or star that captures the true meaning of Christmas.

Charlie Brown and Linus would be so proud.

Guess that means the Santa Yoda Bobble-Head which we stole off our festive Christmas Pez Tree just ain't gonna cut it this year.
He kept asking when we were going to light the candles in our Christmas Nativity.
He said he knew it was special to me and he asked if he could light them. That touched my heart.
  We 'rents are looking forward to establishing some more meaningful traditions this year.  And, looks like we'll be making a lot of Chex Mix and baking cookies.

The idea for the Christmas sit-down came from a new e-book called Untangling Christmas.    While I've only read a couple of chapters so far there have been a lot of ideas about thing to do - and things to skip - this year.  There's a focus on the season and tips on how to help your family get the most out of whatever it is your family wants form the season.

(The authors don't know I'm giving 'em props,
This is just my own little Random Act of Kindness.)

What are your tips for Untangling Christmas?
What are some non-negotiable traditions, foods, etc. for YOUR family?
Tell us here or on Facebook   ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

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