I just splurged on 4 glass food-oriented Christmas ornaments--they might arrive after Christmas, but no matter. I'm thinking of decorating another tree with just my favorite ornaments though it would entail moving a chair into another room or getting rid of it? I dunno. My foodie Christmas tree might then just be up next year.
Before my wreath decorating, I had mixed up ground beef with ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay, granulated onion, granulated garlic and panko into footballs then browned them in a little canola. I removed the meat from the cast iron and set it aside. Next I softened and caramelized chopped onion and mushroom (forgot garlic! but that's okay it was inside the meat though in powder form) in the meat drippings with additional butter and fresh picked thyme. Added flour to the onions and mushrooms and broth to cook down and thicken into a gravy. Turned off the stove and plopped the meat into the mushroom gravy and covered the cast iron with a glass lid. Cooked an additional hamburger patty sans onions or salt or spice for my dog. Peeled and cut potatoes for boiling. Mixed frozen French cut green beans and some French fried onions with a can of cream of chicken soup and a few tablespoons of milk in a glass casserole dish. ALMOST done dinner.
I had bought two pineapple ornaments last year that dismayed me--they were rather large and disproportionate for my pencil tree. I decided to use them to instead embellish two Christmas wreaths for my nephew and niece. I decorated a wreath for Josh already last weekend, but it looked a bit barren. Balls! It needed more balls. Better I think with more balls. I also hot glued some more citrus slices. Josh will also get a boozy gift basket for making more piña coladas.
For my niece I used the girly pink pineapple and wanted pink glass balls, frosted and matte and shiny, to further decorate but alas could find none. I saw some wooden DIY ornaments at the craft store and decided to break out my pink acrylic paints and find pink glitter.
I really like them. And they light up. Win win. I found live wreaths for only $20 at Grocery Outlet and bought 3. I want to turn them from meh to marvelous. That bow had to go!
Cute methinks but I think it still needs something something. Therefore, I'm picking up some glittery pink balls I found online this morning at Target.
And since I'm here in my school's city, I'll stop at its Target and look for more rose-colored glass balls. I've got two more wreaths to decorate--a rustic Christian-themed one for my brother and a rustic and muted pink or pale rose one for myself with a couple of embroidered samplers of Christmas greetings like "Home (in quarantine) for the Holidays" and "fa la la la la, la la la la" and "Merry & Bright." You get the idea.
And then it was time to get dinner on. Every dish except for the mashed potatoes just had to be put into the oven.
Green bean casserole because when one has only cooked Thanksgiving for two and reduced it to turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and one green vegetable, one brings into the rotation after the holiday those sides that were missing. Also one has to improvise when you don't have cream of mushroom soup and why am I writing in third person? I think my can of cream of chicken soup was for another recipe, and so I was happy to shop my pantry. Also I already had mushrooms in the Salisbury steak.
All that prep allowed me to pop the green beans and Salisbury steak into a 450 degree oven for 30 minutes. The mashed potatoes actually took longer than the half hour I anticipated. What the heck? It actually took 40 minutes to get these dishes on the table though I did also chop chives to sprinkle atop the mashed potatoes.
This time I actually cleaned the rim while plating. And spooned cranberry orange relish on to my plate to continue that Thanksgiving vibe.
And now what am I gonna cook tonight? I do have more mushrooms and some leftover cooked Italian sausage, which will make for a tasty white pizza. I can bring leftover soups and a bit of crab to lunch tomorrow and make a seafood pasta dinner for tomorrow evening with the rest of the crab. My obsession on what to make for dinner occurs alongside my need to craft. More wreath decorating tonight.
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