More baking to do

So now comes the time to start the preparations for Christmas Dinner. Took the turkey out of the freezer today to begin the thawing process. I learned many years ago that it takes days for these things to thaw completely. One year I did not start the thawing process early enough and Thanksgiving morning I was greeted with a still partially frozen turkey. I had to put the turkey in a dishpan and run water over it for a couple of hours. Our dinner schedule was completely thrown off that year. Needless to say I learned my lesson. I now move my turkey from the freezer to the fridge 3-5 days prior to the big event. On the morning of the holiday I have a completely thawed and totally cooperative bird to work with. In addition to the turkey I will be cooking a beef roast. I've had my yearly quota of turkey and couldn't possibly eat any more. I wanted beef, but Randy loves turkey and since I have one in the freezer, and I have access to two ovens, I might as well cook them both.

We have several items that we plan to bake over the next few days. The cookies were such a big hit, both with my family and with my co-workers, that we have decided to bake several more batches. I have received quite a few compliments from co-workers raving about the cookies that I gave as Christmas presents. I'm just glad to have given something that is appreciated. Personally I would rather receive a gift that I will use. I'm just too practical for anything else.

I plan to make a blueberry pie and a coconut cake for our dessert on Christmas Day. I still have a few quarts of blueberries in my freezer. At one time I did have about 5 gallons of blueberries, because I have a couple of cousins who have blueberry bushes and they offered me the berries. I have had the luxury of plenty of blueberries for such things as jams and jellies, pies and blueberry sauce for ice cream. Home made pies are usually so much better than anything you buy. The only thing is, I don't make pie crust, so I have to buy that. Other than the pie crust, everything else is from scratch. I even make my own whipped cream to top off the pies. I have never made a coconut cake, but I'm going to try one this year. If my cake tastes anywhere near as good as the cake I sampled last Sunday it will be great. We'll probably start baking some time tomorrow, especially if we intend to make cookies to eat before Christmas.

Randy is not doing much better. He is still having a really hard time breathing and his ankles remain swollen. He spent a good deal of the day in bed today. That is how he has spent the last couple of days. Jeremy changed the brake pads on the truck by himself and then Randy helped when it came time to bleed them. Since Jeremy had to be to work for 2:00pm both yesterday and today Randy drove him and I've been going to pick him up. Jeremy will have to work tomorrow but then will have the next two days off. Maybe he will have a chance to make some progress on the CRX since it's obvious that Randy will not be able to work on it. If we can just get the CRX back up and running then we won't have to worry about taking Jeremy to work and then going and getting him at night. It will be less stress all the way around.

I will have 4 days off in a row. With the exception of vacation time I never get so much time off, especially not all together. I have a 4 day weekend because I do not work on Sunday, we are closed Monday and Tuesday for the holiday and then we are closed Wednesday, which is our normal day to be closed. Then I will work 2 days and be off next Saturday to take Randy to his physical. My check for that week is really going to be pitiful.