Good morning! Can I interest you in a warm holiday beverage? Step right over here, to the Warm Holiday Beverage Station.
I decided the best way to embrace Marthcember was to arrange my home in a manner suggesting that a Christmas party may break out at any moment. I have no plans to host a Christmas party, just to be clear. But if you do show up at my house in the next two weeks, please expect a seasonal mug of hot chocolate and a bowl of mixed nuts to be foisted upon you. This serves the dual purpose of creating a festive atmosphere and distracting you from the tree.
I have also leaned pretty hard into serving only party foods for dinner. It's brunch-appropriate casserole week!
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| Hash-brown casserole |
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| Baked vegetable omelet casserole |
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| Steamed whole cauliflower with paprika brown butter |
Okay, that last one isn't really a casserole, but it was still well-received.
I also backtracked and filled in the Martha's calendar items I missed last week. Party foods just make me really productive, I don't know what to tell you.
December 10th: "Stake tomatoes in the greenhouse." I kind of tried to drape the more alive-looking bits over the existing tomato cage.
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| Outstanding American Gardens, cont. |
December 11th: "Collect newspapers and pinecones for kindling." No pinecones here, but I'm fully prepared to destroy all evidence of HEB's sale on blackberries.
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| How many cents per pound?? future scholars will wonder. |
December 12th: "Friend Susan Mogrino's birthday. Service vehicles and inspect tires." Tires looked alright. Happy birthday, Martha's friend Susan!
December 13th: "Horseback ride; buy Christmas tree from a nearby farm." STILL DON'T OWN A HORSE, GUYS. As far as live Christmas trees go, I have already put in my time with those suckers, but I did buy some holly from a nearby Trader Joe's.
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| Its smells terrible! Is that normal? Hey, do I maybe just...hate plants? |
December 14th: "Friend Susan Warburg's and nephew Chris's birthdays." Happy birthday Martha's friend Other Susan and nephew Chris!
December 15th: "Trim Christmas trees [Ed. note: MULTIPLE CHRISTMAS TREES]; send out holiday cards." Done and done-ish.
Official Martha Craft #2: Make a lot of stuff out of foil.
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| This is going really well, thanks for checking in. |
Unofficial Martha-ish Activity #2: Bake chocolate chip cookies while listening to Christmas music.
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| THE SECRET |
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| INGREDIENT |
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| IS ENTHUSIASM |