Happy monday morning

Casadena · November 2018

My weekend was awesome, no plans at all and got like 90% of my Christmas shopping, wrapping, and decorating done and I feel so much less stressed about everything. I'm in charge of desserts for thanksgiving and am making a big assortment of stuff in small quantities so far I'm making: an apple bundt cake, peanut butter truffles and pumpkin truffles, ginger cookies, and chocolate covered fruit. We have a couple dairy/wheat/tree nut allergies so most of these things will work for most people. Starting on the truffles tonight since they're stored in the freezer anyway!

6fsn · November 2018

Can you please share the truffle recipe?! I have lots of cookie exchanges coming up and I’d love to do one big day of making them. I was thinking buckeye, but the chocolate peanut butter combo seems to happen a lot.

MNNEBride · November 2018

We had a very low key weekend and never left the house. I did laundry, cooked and cleaned out the dvr.

@Casadena , your sweets sound wonderful!
@6fsn, have you tried Oreo Truffles? Super easy and delicious.
https://www.snackworks.com/recipe/easy-oreo-truffles-95085.aspx

You do have to work quickly or refrigerate your "dough". I use milk chocolate and white chocolate "bark" for dipping.

short+sassy · November 2018

Speaking of TG plans, my H and I got an unexpected invite that we think will be fun. I don't know them that well, but we have neighbors around the corner who often hang out on their porch. My H occasionally hangs out there with them. When he did that last week, they asked him what our plans were for TG.

My H said we do a pretty low-key TG and we were just going to smoke a turkey breast. They invited us to "swing by". Not a dinner invite...which is totally fine and I think would have been odd...but both my H and I felt that was so nice and thoughtful. I'm looking forward to doing some socializing and getting to know them better. I'm going to bring some sausage and cheese meatball apps.

banana468 · November 2018

@charlotte989875 can you start to call the Thanksgiving dinner potluck to your MIL? She's no longer hosting it. She's creating a dictated list of dishes people bring and using her home as the venue. "Oh MIL it works so well that you're making Thanksgiving potluck now! You should try my pumpkin cake!"

FWIW, you can probably get pumpkin roll at the bakery in Wegmans too. Also, homemade cranberry sauce is the EASIEST effing thing on the planet. Make that and grab an orange so you can zest some on top and you'll look AWESOME.

GBCK · November 2018

charlotte989875 said:

Can I be petty about T-Day for a minute?

My MIL insists on hosting every T-Day dinner (in the evening) because it’s the only holiday H’a sister comes to town. Great. We always offer to take something and she will usually say appetizers or snacks. Also great.

Well this year she emails out a list list of all the sides, desserts, and wine/flowers that she wants and tells us all to pick something from the list. And the list is detailed (re: cranberry sauce—not canned, sautéed green beans with garlic and pecans).

So, like, I get it. Hosting is a pain, things are expensive, whatever. But I’m annoyed. She insists on hosting, specifically dinner, but then wants us to not just bring something (which I’m super happy to do!) but to being the very specific things that she wants to have at dinner. And I don’t even know how to bake a pumpkin roll but looks like I have to figure out by Thursday.

The recipe on the libby's can, and it's easier than it looks. a lot easier than it looks.
Just over-do the sugar you dust the towel with. TO much is better than not enough.

GBCK · November 2018

(and it is ridiculous and I felt bad in saying 'can you bring a fruit salad?" to people who asked what to bring. but I usually don't request specifics.)

Casadena · November 2018

6fsn said:

Can you please share the truffle recipe?! I have lots of cookie exchanges coming up and I’d love to do one big day of making them. I was thinking buckeye, but the chocolate peanut butter combo seems to happen a lot.

This is the pumpkin truffle recipe I use! https://buildyourbite.com/dark-chocolate-pumpkin-truffles/
- this is vegan and the only thing ppl may not have on hand I think is the coconut flour, I generally have it and they always turn out great.

This is the peanut butter: https://foodess.com/chocolate-pretzel-peanut-butter-balls/
- I usually use gluten free pretzels and whatever nut butter I have on hand (it calls for unsweetened PB) so it's very easy to tailor for wheat/dairy/nut allergies

And just because it is my absolute favorite and seriously the most versatile recipe ever I'm linking the base recipe for the apple cake. I make it for a pretty brunch coffeecake, dessert (with an easy milk/powdered sugar glaze), pretty much any time I'm asked to bring a cake or bread to anything.
https://alexandracooks.com/2013/11/22/applesauce-yogurt-cake-homemade-applesauce/
- I use whatever type of yogurt I have in the fridge, i almost always make my own applesauce because I like the taste better, and often cut down the sugar by up to half. It always turns out great.

ETA: in the comments on the cake recipe, there are lots of details about changing slightly to make muffins, or baking in loaf pans, etc. I have always used a bundt pan bc I think it looks really pretty, but I'm sure other forms would be delicious too!

OliveOilsMom · November 2018

GBCK - Do you have an insurance person at the office who can help you with this? Or does the insurance person use an outside insurance firm to review insurance options? There is usually a person who will help you fight the insurance company in instances like this.

Charlotte - Such a cutie pie! As for MIL - I would tell her I was making 2-3 things on her list, but I would make them in the way I want to make them and just show up with them. If it was brought up on Thursday I would just say "Sorry, MIL, I haven't made those things in X,Y,Z style before and didn't want to screw it up. So I made them in A,B,C preparations because I'm familiar with it and its delicious!"

S+S - We had a diabetic dog who also had thyroid issues (pills) and needed to eat prescription food. Her care did not cost $3k per year! This was more than 10 years ago though. The vet commended my mom on Murphy's lifetime because as a nurse, she could recognize when insulin needed to be adjusted. She lived a very long time for a diabetic dog. So your cat may be able to have a longer lifetime due to your knowledge of diabetes!

Sparkle - We have a no homemade food rule at school. If we bring in anything, it must be store bought with a label on it. While DD doesn't have allergies, this is the safest way to go so you don't accidentally cross contaminate. While I would love to bake something for the teachers, as part of a gift, I know it might not be received well. So a tub of ultimate chocolate cookies from Wegman's it is!

Weekend was ok for us. A girl in DDs class had the pukes and was sent home. I was waiting for it all Friday night and Saturday, but thankfully it stayed away! H did have some stomach related issues, which maybe he caught from DDs room - but it wasn't that bad considering it could have been the pukes! He also hurt his back on Friday bending over the sink while brushing his teeth (he hurts it in the most mundane ways possible!). So he was a sad sack all weekend. I convinced him to do some yoga to stretch his lower back and he said it helped. We finally have a working battery for the TENS machine, so he is wearing that today at work. Hopefully he will be all good quick!

I got some painting around the house done, but that was really it. I tried to sell an armoire but had no takers. I did find a Melissa & Doug metal shopping cart on a FB yard sale page for $20! Brand new it is over $50! So I picked that up at lunch today. It will go great with the little kitchen from Craigslist. Now I just need to buy some fake food and Santa's gift will be all set after thorough cleanings!

charlotte989875 · November 2018

GBCK said:

(and it is ridiculous and I felt bad in saying 'can you bring a fruit salad?" to people who asked what to bring. but I usually don't request specifics.)

IMO this is totally different!

If I had asked “hey what should we bring” and she said “bring a salad/appetizer/fruit salad” (which is what she has done in the past) I would have ZERO problem with it. But it was the specific list of things to “choose from” emailed to me and H, and the SILs/BILs (really without promoting) and how detailed it was (not just “green beans” but a specific green bean recipe) that is bugging me.

We always offer to bring things, and so do my SILs, so it’s not like we don’t help. I do love @banana468’s suggestion of calling it a potluck. Depends on how much wine I have on whether I’ll acrually do it 😂.

sparklepants41 · November 2018

charlotte989875 said:

GBCK said:

(and it is ridiculous and I felt bad in saying 'can you bring a fruit salad?" to people who asked what to bring. but I usually don't request specifics.)

IMO this is totally different!

If I had asked “hey what should we bring” and she said “bring a salad/appetizer/fruit salad” (which is what she has done in the past) I would have ZERO problem with it. But it was the specific list of things to “choose from” emailed to me and H, and the SILs/BILs (really without promoting) and how detailed it was (not just “green beans” but a specific green bean recipe) that is bugging me.

We always offer to bring things, and so do my SILs, so it’s not like we don’t help. I do love @banana468’s suggestion of calling it a potluck. Depends on how much wine I have on whether I’ll acrually do it 😂.

Also - this also bugs me - the flowers. FLOWERS. The fact that she requests flowers - and I assume she has a specific color/florist/type of flower picked out - is bothering me to no avail. FLOWERS. Flowers are something that I will get for my home to make the place look festive when I am hosting. Flowers are also something I think of as a hostess gift - something I will give and something I am pleasantly surprised to receive. But to expect them? *insert eyeroll*

charlotte989875 · November 2018

sparklepants41 said:

charlotte989875 said:

GBCK said:

(and it is ridiculous and I felt bad in saying 'can you bring a fruit salad?" to people who asked what to bring. but I usually don't request specifics.)

IMO this is totally different!

If I had asked “hey what should we bring” and she said “bring a salad/appetizer/fruit salad” (which is what she has done in the past) I would have ZERO problem with it. But it was the specific list of things to “choose from” emailed to me and H, and the SILs/BILs (really without promoting) and how detailed it was (not just “green beans” but a specific green bean recipe) that is bugging me.

We always offer to bring things, and so do my SILs, so it’s not like we don’t help. I do love @banana468’s suggestion of calling it a potluck. Depends on how much wine I have on whether I’ll acrually do it 😂.

Also - this also bugs me - the flowers. FLOWERS. The fact that she requests flowers - and I assume she has a specific color/florist/type of flower picked out - is bothering me to no avail. FLOWERS. Flowers are something that I will get for my home to make the place look festive when I am hosting. Flowers are also something I think of as a hostess gift - something I will give and something I am pleasantly surprised to receive. But to expect them? *insert eyeroll*

Yes! I couldn’t put my finger on why the flowers was bugging me so much, but this is it!

short+sassy · November 2018

I just came across this article and thought of you all, lol. It's titled:

"Trader Joe's Best Thanksgiving Foods for Lazy People"

http://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/seasonal/trader-joes-best-thanksgiving-foods-for-lazy-people/ar-BBPMz3p?ocid=ientp

Yummy sounding, good quality stuff at pretty cheap prices. I don't know if you have a Trader Joe's near you, @charlotte989875, but they sell a Pumpkin Chai Spice Loaf. Which sounds the same/similar to a pumpkin roll. Right down to the cream cheese icing. They also have a Fresh Cranberry Orange Relish.

short+sassy · November 2018

OliveOilsMom said:
S+S - We had a diabetic dog who also had thyroid issues (pills) and needed to eat prescription food. Her care did not cost $3k per year! This was more than 10 years ago though. The vet commended my mom on Murphy's lifetime because as a nurse, she could recognize when insulin needed to be adjusted. She lived a very long time for a diabetic dog. So your cat may be able to have a longer lifetime due to your knowledge of diabetes!

Good to hear! The vet knew I was diabetic because I told him as soon as he tested her blood sugar and I could see it was too high. He started her off on 5 units of insulin, but was concerned because he'd normally have her come back within a week to see how she was doing with that amount. He suspects she'll probably end up being 6 or 7 units/day. However, he is out of town for almost two weeks. I smiled and told him something like, "Well, hey! Tell me what her blood sugars should look like and I'll add one unit every few days, until I start seeing her in that range."

He said he has never had a cat who took more than 8 units/day and those were usually heavier cats. I promised I wouldn't give her more than 7 units/day, if it even comes to that, until we saw him again.

Some more asides. A normal blood sugar range for cats is 76-84...which is within the lower end of the normal range for people. But he warned me it will never be in that range and that's okay. Under 130ish would be a good range to shoot for. But that I also don't have to add a unit, unless it is regularly over 150.

And a "unit" of insulin for a cat is 3/10ths of a cc. Whereas, for a person, it is 1 cc. So she does have syringes that are measured out totally different than mine. I appreciate whatever super smart medical committee sometime/somewhere decided that the standard color for syringe tops for people is orange and for cats/small animals is red, lol. At least for these kind of syringes. Otherwise, I would be way more paranoid about making a mistake.

ILoveBeachMusic · November 2018

The weekend was pretty good and productive. H and I had a date night Friday. Went to our favorite Mexican restaurant then to the Pacers game. I spent the whole weekend decorating for Christmas since we will be gone for Thanksgiving. We were going to be having Thanksgiving dinner at SIL's parents but his grandfather had a stroke this weekend. He is doing pretty well but DD is hosting now. H and I will be doing most of the cooking. I just put a cranberry orange bread in the oven before I sat down.

Our Costco has had pumpkin rolls recently. I haven't had them but they look really good. I don't mind bringing things to family holiday dinners but don't usually want to be told specific recipes!

@charlotte989875 your niece is adorable! Glad your Friendsgiving went well @banana468. @short+sassy you are such a good cat mom - I'm sure she will have many years of life left.

GBCK · November 2018

well,I also get brownie points for calling said person back and telling her to bring NOTHING.
(She had emergency surgery last week. Which I"m super aware of because I called off work so I could do emergency babysitting)

I don't want her to work at stuff. Although I should make stupid green bean casserole for her--since she's the only one who eats it and I know it's a fave.But that might be to much to ask of me.

Happy monday morning

Re: Happy monday morning

Choose Another Board

Search Boards