One of the all time BEST things about Mr. FixIt is this…he LOVES to have guests over as much as I do. I know it’s hart for you to believe but…I love to talk with people and learn about them and visit and tell stories. We had dinner guests three times this week. What a blessing it is to share a table with friends and family.
We started with an appetizer of baked brie en croute with fig jam. It sounds like something complicated but it wasn’t. I bought it at Sam’s, baked it at 375 for 20 minutes. Done!
Our dinner guests brought salad and I served it with hot rolls and an aioli of crushed herbs, salt, pepper, more of that wonderful Chardonnay Garlic infused olive oil drizzled over top, and a small pool of both Mango pulp and Blueberry vinegar. Yummmmm!
For the main course, I roasted two chickens. I did something completely different. I stuffed them with whole garlic cloves, quartered onions, and wedges of lemon. I trussed them up with kitchen twine, rubbed the sling with Chardonnay Garlic Olive Oil and sprinkled them with fresh ground pepper, ground pink Himalayan salt, more garlic, rustic herbs, and crushed rosemary. I placed a parking rack in a roasting pan and baked them at 350 for a little over 2 hours. OMGosh! When I cut into that chicken and the aroma of lemon and garlic hit the air? Wowza! It was awesome.
I accompanied the meal with fresh steamed broccoli with mashed potatoes and gravy (Sam’s ready made Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes and Teay’s Valley Cream gravy made this part of the prep fast and easy.)
Dessert was homemade Gluten Free Bread Pudding with a dollop of French Vanilla Ice Cream. It was pretty heavenly!
Served with a Pinot Noir or my personal favorite, Fré dealcoholized wine, this was a meal fit for royalty. And it really wasn’t that difficult, or expensive, to throw together.
Here’s the recipe for the dessert. Bon Appetit!
Gluten Free Bread Pudding
6-8 slices of stale gluten free bread, cubed
4 eggs
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons Splenda blend brown sugar
1/2 c. Stevia for baking
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Apple Pie Spice
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 big handfuls of raisins
About 2/3 c. chopped pecan4 T. butter, melted
Cube bread and place in prepared baking dish. In this case, I used an 8” iron skillet sprayed with Baker’s Joy.
Add raisins and pecans.
Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour over bread. Using a fork, press the cubed bread down into the egg mixture to moisten it thoroughly. Drizzle the melted butter over the top. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven till the top begins to brown and the filling is springy to the touch. Serve warm with ice cream.
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“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
Revelation 3:20 ESV
This is great that you included the recipe.
You make entertaining sound so lovely!
I’d like to be at ease with it as you are and enjoy it…
That is one of my New Years decisions! Invite folk over to get to know them.
Thank you for daily encouragement ! Gini
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My mouth is watering. It sounds amazing. And yes, Sams (and Costco) make it a little easier to entertain. I looked at the mashed potatoes but wasn’t sure if they’d taste homemade so I didn’t buy them. I think I’ll try gthem now.
I’m a people person too so you’re not alone. I’m glad your honey likes the same things you like.
Happy New Year and looking forward to your latest adventures every day.
God bless you!
My mouth is watering. It sounds amazing. And yes, Sams (and Costco) make it a little easier to entertain. I looked at the mashed potatoes but wasn’t sure if they’d taste homemade so I didn’t buy them. I think I’ll try gthem now.
I’m a people person too so you’re not alone. I’m glad your honey likes the same things you like.
Happy New Year and looking forward to your latest adventures every day.
Glo, I have had good success with the mashed potatoes in the past but had never tried the Yukon Gold. I was not impressed with them. I felt they were a bit dry and lacked the flavor of the others I had purchased. I won’t buy that variety again, but the others I’ve really enjoyed. ❤️
Thank you for the GF recipe!
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My kind of meal, thanks, will copy wy not!
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Is there anything you can’t do? Amazing!! God definately has blessed you with wonderful people in your life! Hub’s is shining down on you being jealous!
Happy New Year! God bless!
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Ginny,
I’m so glad, relieved almost, that a friend pointed me to you. I lost my husband, the love of my life, Nov. 8, 2017. It’s gut-wrenching. I’m really trying not to question God’s wisdom, but I truly don’t get it. He was a beautiful soul, loved everyone and took such great care of me. He was hit head on by a drunk/drugged out young lady on his way to work. He had no health problems and I truly thought and planned that we would grow old together.
So I said all of that to say this, how do you cope? How do you deal with daily life? I find many normal daily activities unbearable. Tears come in a heartbeat, out of nowhere. Since his death, there was Thanksgiving, his birthday, on which my daughter (his step) graduated from college, Christmas (which used to be my favorite), and now New Years. All without him. How did you, do I, deal with it? Feeling lost.
Sincerely,
Tammy
First, let me tell you my heart is with you, dear one. You are SO fresh on this journey and it’s so difficult. Having all those firsts, one after another when the ink is hardly dry must be unbearable. I can’t tell you how to grieve because it’s such a personal thing. I can tell you how I dealt with things and hopefully it will help you as well. If you haven’t yet, do go to Marshmallow Ranch on Facebook and see if you can scroll back to the early days of my blog. You will find much more relatable material there. I started the blog in January 2013 as a way to promote jewelry I was making. Then Mr. Virgo died in March. That’s when the blog morphed into an online grief journal. I know that’s a lot of material to sort through, but it just might help.
At your stage of this journey, let me say this…there is no rule book. Don’t let anyone say you should do it this way or you shouldn’t do it that way. Do it your way. You will make mistakes. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Be careful…extra careful with your money. Get plenty of rest, eat right, and exercise as you can. Avoid drugs and alcohol…they are nothing but bandaids that put off the hurt. That goes for new relationships. I know, I know. I thought that was crazy too till I got involved with someone just five months after my beloved died. I just wanted the pain to go away but when I pulled that bandage off, dear God…it was worse. Feel your feelings. Cry when you need to. Laugh when you can. There’s an actual condition called grief brain. You can’t remember squat and it may be scary as the dickens. Don’t worry…it does get better in time. You never back to baseline, but better. You won’t be in this fog forever and eventually you will feel joy. Don’t feel guilty for that. I found the services of a grief counselor to be extremely helpful. I had PTSD from watching the CPR for hours so I had EMDR treatments which helped immensely.
Remember…you don’t “get over” this…you get through it. But, you will never be the same. Once a pickle, always a pickle…you don’t get to go back to being a fresh little cucumber again. Whether you become a sour or sweet pickle is largely up to you. I realized early on that he died, I did not. I owed it to his memory to live…actually LIVE the days my husband was not given. So, since we were looking at campers when he died, I went out and bought one and joined Sisters on the Fly…a women’s adventure group. I also belong to Girl Campers. These are all empowering groups that helped me become brave and strong.
One last word of caution. It’s ok to mattress surf once in a while but don’t live there. Get up every day, splash water on your face, brush your teeth, and get dressed. Make your bed. You’re not as likely to climb back in. Scrub your kitchen sink. A clean sink sets the tone for the day in my world. Even if you just move from the bed to the couch…you’ve moved. Keep moving. One step, two steps. Eventually you will be able to take a deep breath again. (That’s also a thing. Physiologically, grief causes you to sigh a lot which makes you try to take deep breaths and it’s difficult. You almost feel like you can’t get a deep enough breath. Unless you are passing out or have chest pain or prolonged irregular heartbeat or cold, clammy sweat…this sensation disappears after some time.) Tincture of time. That’s how I dealt. Move forward…and pray, a lot. You may not feel Him there, but God is with your every step. He holds you in the palm of His hand and He weeps for your pain. Let Him wrap His feathers around you and take your rest there. Come back anytime you need some support. You may send me private messages at any time and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Prayers for comfort and strength, dear one. This is a club we didn’t ask to join. You will learn how to perform magic like tap dancing around that husband-sized hole in your heart without falling in… every…damn…time. Grief comes in waves. At first it knocks you down. Eventually you learn to expect them and you can lean in and keep your footing.
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