Christmas Dinner – 2024

Christmas Dinner attendees for this year were the four of us (Bev, Pat W, Cindy, and me), our neighbors Pat L and Steve and special guest granddaughter Madison (also her birthday) and the one thing I wanted to do for sure was smoke a ham half and a turkey breast on my yet-to-be-used pellet smoker.  As Bev and I discussed menu items many things popped up and the two things we knew we wanted for sure was gravy for the turkey and homemade bread.  Then we considered many side dishes such as dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, etc. until Pat L pointed out it could be simpler and healthier to just make green beans rather than the casserole.  Then Bev and I realized we had plenty to eat without the dressing and our favorite way to cook sweet potatoes was to simply bake them and so a menu was born that was way easier and much healthier - smoked turkey breast and smoked ham, gravy, green beans, baked sweet and Irish potatoes, salad, and homemade bread.

The table is all set.

Rich Chicken Stock And Broccoli And Cheese Pasta Ala Kevin

Our Christmas menu included gravy for the turkey and I like to make it ahead of time - made it on 12/23.  My original plan was to roast turkey wings then I realized I had a chicken carcass from Cindy’s roasted chicken meal so I baked it at 350F for about 45 minutes then added it to a pot with an onion, a couple of carrots, celery ribs and garlic cloves covered it with water and simmered a few of hours.  I used the recipe from Simply Recipes as a guide. 

Christmas Trees Present And Past

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS

WE WISH YOU 

Delicious Lunch At The Lemon Grass And Cindy Chicken

We met some friends, Vicki and Wayne, for lunch this day at the Lemon Grass Thai Restaurant in Maryville to celebrate the sale of our apartments as she is also the realtor who sold them.  The restaurant is not particularly fancy from the outside but the inside is very nice as we got to see by being the first of the lunch customers.

TTers Luncheon, Lamp Post, Posole

Our RV club has been the Tennessee Travelers Chapter of FMCA (Family Motor Coach Assoc) but this summer we decided to dis-affiliate with FMCA and just be a group of friends who like to travel together.  So, our last official chapter event was a Christmas lunch at the Chop House in Knoxville attended by 13 members – here we are around the tree.

Totally Delicious Greek Skillet Chicken And Breakfast Scramble

If you’ve been following, you know I’ve had lots of fish while Bev is in Florida – I didn’t even post about my batch of hearty and delicious Manhattan Clam Chowder – but I decided it was time for a break so I opted for some chicken to use the rest of the package from making dog food (previous post).  When I want baked chicken, I often look to “Closet Cooking” blog.  I really like Mediterranean flavors and in looking for lo-cal meals in my recipe file, I discovered the recipe for Greek Skillet Chicken from Kevin – not baked but only 319 calories per serving.  I was cooking for myself and didn’t want too many leftovers so I cut the recipe in half to get the one below.

Homemade Dogfood And Almost Bald

Our dogs are getting fussy about their normal food of a little chopped chicken mixed with kibble and I had seen a spot on TV espousing the benefits of homemade food over store bought kibble, so I made up a batch using this recipe.

Fresh Trout Two Ways For Breakfast - A First Time For One

While picking up the seafood for the cioppino, I noticed some good-looking dressed fresh trout in the case and since this is another fish that Bev won’t eat, even fried, I bought a couple that weighed 10oz. each.

Awesome Easy Cioppino (Seafood Stew) And Baked Crappie

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and got home safely, especially if you got caught up in the snow.

Beverly and her sister, Pat, did not grow up in a seafood/fish eating family and to this day they only eat a limited variety of fried items, except salmon for Bev, so while they were in Marco I cooked fish for Cindy and me including a dish I really like but rarely eat - Cioppino.

This seafood stew is basically seafood boiled in a tomato broth so it doesn’t fit my girls desires but it works well for Cindy, good buddy Joe, and me.  I used the recipe for Easy Cioppino (Seafood Stew) from “Damn Delicious."  The site says this about the dish - “The BEST ever seafood stew, loaded with clams, mussels, cod, shrimp and scallops. So cozy, so hearty, so easy.”  The recipe is for four servings which I followed for the broth but I just used enough seafood for three servings.

Our Annual Trip To Marco Island, FL – Village Brewhouse And Flight To Home Sweet Home

My girls go to Marco Island each year for three weeks and I went the first week this year to help with the drive down then I flew home on after a week.  My suitcase stayed in Marco and I used an old Lands End bag to bring home my important stuff so it contained my laptop, charger, and mouse; my hearing aid charger; my phone charger; a container of pills; my sandals; and I was able to cram in my coffee cup.  I can only imagine what the TSA screener thought of my unusual collection.

Before going to the airport, we went to Punta Gorda’s Fisherman’s Village for lunch.  The village is a pretty long wharf full of shops and with several restaurants.  They are getting ready for Christmas.