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One experience I love each Christmas Eve day is to be alone in the house while Clyde is running errands or doing an airport run. I listen to the Tabernacle choir, busy with my meal or cookie prep. Every song reaches into my heart and pulls me into a holy place, a sweet feeling. I am taken back to the stable, that night, that family just begun. I feel the greatness of His gift, for me. I think of my own family, and the traditions we love to share. At this time even rolling a cookie is a holy experience. Love. Tears. Tenderness all my own. Thank you.

O Happy Day

Last night as I was folding laundry I heard a loud 'clonk' as my washer stopped mid-cycle. This made me sad, since on Nov. 24th we paid $209 to get a new timer replaced on our 5 yr old washer. Clyde returned from giving his final and when he heard the news, he started researching new washers - hours and hours trying to figure out which one would fit, front or top load, best price, etc. He went to turn out the Christmas lights on the outside bushes and said they must have burned out - already off! Before bed I bailed out all the water from the washer(any guesses on how much water fills a large capacity washer?) and it took forever. I removed the clothes, planning to take them to a laundromat in the morning. This morning, Clyde was researching more about washers. I went to dry my hair and my dryer would not work. Weird - it had not been having problems. I decided to take it to the kitchen plug, just to test it. Voila! It worked! The problem was the plug in my bathroom. I wondered if the washer problem was also electrical, since I could not get any cycle to work. I tried turning on the clothes dryer - nothing! It was an electrical problem! So I hurried to the guest bath to dry my hair, and had to push the reset button on the plug to get my hair dyrer to work. Clyde went downstairs to look for tripped circuits and find the one to reset. So I went in to the laundry to check the plug and tell Clyde when it was working. I tested the clothes dryer again and it worked!!! So did the washer!! We don't have to buy a new washer after all!! And just hitting the reset button in the guest bath plug did the trick. My laundry is on one side of the house and my bedroom bath is on the complete other side of the house! So we almost went to buy a new washer, almost called the repair man to complain about his work, and got lucky just in time. It pays to wonder sometimes when your hair dryer does not work - maybe there is a different solution?! Nothing else in the house made us think there was any elelctrical issue at all -- no lights were off, fridge and clocks running... O happy day - I don't have to buy a new washer. Clyde's favorite story today.

Cousins Dinner recipes

So it was mentioned to me that I should post the recipes for the meals I serve at Cousin's Dinner each month, with the hope that some cousins might actually cook them.
So here goes:

Creamy Meatballs

Use 12 – 15 frozen meatballs from Costco or target

Mix one can cream of chicken and 1 can cream of mushroom soup

Add ½ can evaporated milk.

Mix soups and milk together, then add meatballs. cook in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes so the flavor from the meatballs permeates the soup mixture. I usually add a tiny bit of water to thin.

Serve over rice

Can be doubled, cook in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes.

Also can be frozen and cooked later.

MIMI’S Corn Chowder

	(Yields 2 1/2 quarts) This is straight from their website!!
	4 tablespoons butter or margarine
	6 tablespoons onion, chopped 3 cups frozen corn, thawed
	3/4 cup celery, large dice 2 tablespoons sugar
	2 1/2 cups hot water 2 teaspoons salt
	2 cups raw potato, peeled and cut in 1/2" cubes 1 pinch white pepper 3 tablespoons flour
	1 quart Half & Half
	Method
	On medium heat, melt butter, then simmer onion and celery for 5 minutes until soft, but not brown. Add water, potatoes, corn and seasonings. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are barely tender. Whisk the flour into 1 cup of the Half & Half, and stir into the soup. Add the remaining 3 cups of Half & Half. Simmer for about 15 minutes until the soup has thickened to a creamy consistency. Correct the seasoning with additional salt and pepper if needed. In order to correct the consistency of the soup you may add a little milk to make it thinner. To make the soup thicker, simmer another 5-10 minutes. Mary’s Fajitas (Janice’s version) 11-24-02 One 3-4 lb sirloin tip or top round roast. Bake in slow oven (300-325) till very tender OR cook in crock pot on low all day Oven needs a little water to keep it from burning, crock pot will make it’s own juice If using the crock pot, Add a bit of the juice and tiny bit of oil to the dry packet of McCormicks Fajita seasoning. Pour over meat at end of cooking after you have shredded the meat. Cook sliced red and green peppers, onions in marg. Open can of black beans, sour cream, salsa, guacamole Slice tomatoes, lettuce, cheese Serve on warmed thick tortillas. You could also use chicken with this marinade – left over meat is yummy for sandwiches, and snacking. More recipes later.