Had a chili cook off at church today and I took cornbread. Doesn’t it look cute in my old aluminum bread holder. 

Ed got a new toy for the fireplace. It is a cast iron back plate   It is there in back shaped like a headboard. Supposed to hold heat. 

Book Club at Jill’s. 

Homemade tomato soup and grilled Brie and fig sandwiches. 

And the much anticipated pavlova. Served with strawberries on top. 

We all liked this thriller. 

Wood management day. Looks like someone took a break in back there. 

Resting after. 

Ed caught this one.  

Quiche Lorraine for dinner. 

Southern question

How do you make macaroni and cheese? I make it like my mom made it. Baked with egg and milk poured over. 

Cook the mac. Mix in cheese. Pour egg and milk mixture over. Cheese on top.  Bake until set. 

Makes those little curds and sets up nice and firm. My sister makes it with a cheese sauce. 

Either way , perfect with ham, peas and cornbread. 

Peas made better with Sophie’s pepper sauce. 

And this. 

January birthdays

Lots of them. Paul , Linda, Ryan, Mamaw. And…

…my friend Julia. Her sweet daughter paid for she and two friends to go to lunch. I was a lucky one.  This is she (middle) , Celeste and I at Crazy Cat. 

It was great. That is my shrimp remoulade on the right.  So good. 

Dog stuff

Someone stole my chair

I claimed it back for reading. It’s too cold to go out. 

Just started this one. Great premise. But you can’t always trust Jodi. She has written several of my favorites and some stinkers too. We will see. 

Ending

What a sad sight. 

Nothing signals the end of the season like the bottom of the last bit of Chex mix. Fortunately that sad silver glow waited almost to Epiphany to show up.  Always like the Epiphany celebration. The world has moved on to Valentine’s Day but us Christians have a little bit more up our sleeves. The Wise Men show up give us one more little part of the story. I’ll post the display once I get it done. 

New Year’s Day

Don’t really believe in superstitions. But when they are delicious, why not? Greens for prosperity, black eyed peas for luck, ham for something, cornbread to soak up the pot liquor, chicken cause it’s good and Sophie’s pepper sauce over all for flavor. Yum and good luck in 2025. 

Sweet kids.

Got to see my grand nieces and nephew from Indiana. They visited Mamaw. 

We went for a walk in the neighborhood. It was great until the wheels came off. Literally!! One of the wagon wheels broke. No one was hurt. 

Back home for a little art time. Grateful for a chance to do bad artwork. 

Kerplunk is still fun. 

Fireworks had Coco shivering in my lap. 

Remember salmon croquettes?

Amy’s cat Binx loves the printer when it runs. 

Everyone happy this New Years morning. Coco is chewing on her cocoa toy. 

Lap time.