Preparing for the Big Day!

The two short days that Jonnie spent out of town are over as we welcomed him back home on Friday night along with my mother in law. We filled our bellies with food from the local Chinese place and watched new movies that Jonnie got for Christmas.

Saturday began early as my mother in law was heading back to Kansas. I was up at 6 with a generous pot of coffee brewed in my new coffee pot. My mother in law didn't want anything to eat or any coffee before she left on her 11 hour journey. I treated Jon to "moons over my hammies" and he even said I did a good job at the breakfast sandwich he normally prepares. We had the family room TV tuned into the Noggin channel from 9 AM to 6 PM. I filled the crock pot with chunks of leftover prime rib, vegetables, and beef broth to make a beef stew for dinner.

I started thinking about what else I needed to prepare for the "big day" coming up in our house. For us, New Year's Day is simple - throw a pork roast and a jar of kraut in the crock pot. Jon makes mashed potatoes before we're ready to eat and we're done. The big day for us is my husband's birthday which is on New Year's Eve.

Too many times, I feel like Jon's birthday gets over shadowed by Christmas. Although I felt like a donkey on Christmas Day because I stuck closely to our $100 limit that we agreed upon, it was very clear that Jon went WAY over the limit. The funny thing is that Jon has no idea what he's got coming for his birthday! I tried to make his birthday gifts more special this year. While he was away on Friday afternoon, I wrapped his presents including the big, heavy box he told me not to wrap. I never knew how heavy a "corn hole" or "corn toss" game could be!

After mass today, we need to stop at the store because despite efforts to plan carefully, I missed an ingredient for Jon's birthday cake. I'm making Jon a two layer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I didn't have anything to store a round layer cake so when Jon was running around last week I asked him to pick me up a cake saver. Every year, I make Jon peas & pearl onions which he loves and I eat my required spoonful of peas. I found a recipe for caramelized peas & pearl onions that I am hoping makes the dish more tolerable for me! I'm making Jon a steak dish based on something I saw on Rachel Ray's show last week. I am making boneless rib eye steaks smothered in onions and Asiago cheese. Except for the peas, everything sounds really good to me. I just hope it turns out well as I'm not the best cook!

I'd better wrap this up. Midnight is sitting on my desk impatiently waiting to curl up and sleep in my office chair plus it's almost time for me to get my shower and rouse the others for mass.

Have blessed New Year!