Christmas Countdown - 2018

[Edge612]

Good Morning, Creatures of Habit.

And what a happy habit we have here each day, tuning in to see the latest count numbers and tracking our reletless approach to one Milestone after another.

Let's look at today's data installment:
Days to the Season: 225
Days to Christmas Day: 267

And our habitual next step is to check out the next pending marker.
(Or, in this case, markerS.)
Yes, two of them are approaching on back-to-back days!
The 1/3 point to Christmas Day arrives on April 26 (LESS than 3 1/2 weeks away now) and the second on April 27, that one being the 200-day Season Window.
(Binary markers = twice the fun!)

Still beautifully pleasant weather, the only drawback being the pollen.
No sooner had the cold temps departed than the thick pollen arrived like a powdery yellow blanket, covering everything.
How do you know there's too much pollen? When you raise a small yellow cloud every time you take a step outside. (Also when you can barely see out of your car windows!) We could use a little rain to wash this away.
The current conditions? Cloudy, with a temperature reading of 60 degrees.

Have a Marvelous Monday, Folks!
Enjoy the NCAA Basketball Championship game this evening.

Thanks Crown! Have a great Easter Monday!

 

[SnowflakeMom]

Happy Monday...snow is still falling out there. They are saying 3-5 inches but it should melt pretty quickly. I heard another rumbling about a storm this weekend. I hope they are wrong.
Our Easter was nice with a lot of food and laughs.
Hope you all have a great day!

 

[Bradmac]

Happy Easter everyone!
I ended up having to cancel our plans for today because I’m sick. I feel bad, I never had to do this before. I am still going to cook a big meal since I have everything in the house, my daughter is going to help me. I guess we’ll be eating leftovers for awhile.
I hope everyone is well and has a beautiful day!

View attachment 43556

I hope you're feeling better today!

 

[MerryCarey]

Happy Monday, everyone!

We're expecting 1 to 3 inches of snow this morning, but it shouldn't affect the roads much. It's kinda pretty, but the heavy cloud cover is casting a gloomy air over it.

 

[Bradmac]

Good Monday morning, Christmas friends!

I finally went to an Immediate-Med facility on Saturday, since I was feeling even worse. I've never been to one of these before, and I'm glad to report that it was a very professional and friendly place. I was assured that I didn't have the flu, but was on the verge of pneumonia. I was given a shot of steroids (love it!) and several prescriptions, and I was in great shape for Easter yesterday! I've spent the morning Lysol-ing every in² of my office LOL.

It's a beautiful day here in Bellville, sunny and going up to 85°F!

I hope y'all have a great day!

 

[NovaMan]

I love this forum but I am finding myself mixing up my holidays. ha ha

Just like these 2!!

 

[SnowflakeMom]

Good Monday morning, Christmas friends!

I finally went to an Immediate-Med facility on Saturday, since I was feeling even worse. I've never been to one of these before, and I'm glad to report that it was a very professional and friendly place. I was assured that I didn't have the flu, but was on the verge of pneumonia. I was given a shot of steroids (love it!) and several prescriptions, and I was in great shape for Easter yesterday! I've spent the morning Lysol-ing every in² of my office LOL.

It's a beautiful day here in Bellville, sunny and going up to 85°F!

I hope y'all have a great day!

Oh wow!! Pneumonia is scary! Happy to hear you are feeling better..have a good Monday!

 

[Holiday]

Good morning MMC! I hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend!
I woke up to a winter wonderland this morning! Soooo pretty!!! The sun is shining bright now & it's supposed to hit 51º today, so it won't last long. But I sure am enjoying the view now!

 

[Holiday]

This was moms patio this morning...

Pear Tree & icicles...

It snowed like crazy last night!
Everyone have a great day!!!! Monday Monday...

 

[Holiday]

Thanks Holiday!
Rocky’s appointment went well, he’s almost 5 pounds! We’re sending hugs back your way. Hope you have a beautiful weekend!!!

5 pounds! What a big boy! Too darn cute!!!

 

[Holiday]

Good Friday morning, literally! This will be one of the busiest days of the year at work, but I will leave two hours early since I prepared documents from work yesterday and I'm claiming that time (usually I don't but this time I am). The ham from yesterday is sliced up and ready to go for our brunch today at work. David said it was delicious. It's funny, I'm a vegetarian and often get stuck cooking meat for these events but I can't even taste my own cooking, so David is my tester. Hope everyone enjoys a wonderful day!

That is funny that a vegetarian ends up making the meat! It sure sounded delicious!!! Hope you had a nice weekend!!!

 

[Holiday]

Good Morning. It's a cloudy, dreary looking day out today around these parts, but the geese are really loving it. There's a field directly across from us and the geese is having a grand ole time, munching away on the grass. They are coming in low, right over the house, honking away as they are landing in the field; its a pretty sight.
Today is a holiday for us, and we are going to go to church today, then run some errands and then I think I'm going to try and cook a pork loin for dinner tonight.

Ok, I confess, I'm not a cook, nor can I, but I am trying to learn and do it. So, if anyone has a great way, that I can cook a Pork Loin in the oven (meaning what to put on it, how long to cook it per lb., and what pan do I cook it in, do I cover it with foil, etc...) I will take any help that I can get. I kinda want to show off for my Mrs.....lol!

I'm late in my response, but here are some good ones I've made.... *Pork Roast with Rosemary I made in the oven - and on the grill. Turned out great both ways!


Pork Roast with Rosemary – Kelly



2 ½ - 3 lbs. pork loin roast
2 Tbls. Fresh rosemary
4 Cloves garlic
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbls. Butter
1 small onion chopped (1/4 c.)
¼ C. olive oil

Heat oven to 350º. Trim fat from roast. Finely chop rosemary & garlic together. Make 8-10 deep cuts, about 2” apart in pork. Insert small amounts of garlic mixture into cuts. Sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Heat butter in shallow roasting pan in oven. Sprinkle with onion. Place pork in pan; drizzle with oil. Cook uncovered 1 ¾ - 2 hrs. or until thermometer registers 170º F. Let stand 15 min. before slicing.
______________________________________________________________________


Kelly’s version: Instead of putting in the oven, he put it onto a large piece of foil. Put the onions, oil & butter in the foil with the roast & then made a foil pouch & put on the grill for about the same amount of time as the oven. If he were to do it again, he would open the foil pouch after an hour so the roast would brown a little. (He has a Holland grill).

Slow cooker version from Gooseberry Patch:


Tangy Slow Cooker Pork Roast


1 large onion, sliced
2 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin roast
1 cup hot water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
dash hot pepper sauce, or to taste

Arrange onion slices evenly over the bottom of the slow cooker, and then place the roast on top of the onion.

In a bowl, mix together water, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, and hot sauce; pour over roast.

Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours, or on High for 3 to 4 hours.


And THIS one has been everybody's favorite!!!!


Bourbon Pork Recipe - Jeri

In a large pot of boiling water, place the pork loin and let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove pork, it should be white on the outside but still pink on the inside. Poke several holes all over the pork. Then place in marinade overnight in refrigerator.

Marinade:

1 cup bourbon
3/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
9 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 large onion sliced (optional)

Mix or whisk to blend.

Depending on the size of the pork loin, sometimes I double the marinade.

Grill for approx. 20 minutes per side using the marinade to baste. It will appear brown and crisp. Remove from grill, slice in 1 inch pieces, serve plain or with buns. Take the rest of the marinade and bring to boil, it will come to boil quickly. Use this as a side to the pork or pour over pork to keep it moist. You can make this ahead and then warm in microwave using the marinade.

I baked this for 1 hour covered & 1 hr 15 min uncovered. Maybe could have been baked a little longer. (4.2 lb pork loin) I put potatoes, carrots, bell pepper under the roast. Or can be made in the crockpot.

 

[Martine]

Good morning MMC! I hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend!
I woke up to a winter wonderland this morning! Soooo pretty!!! The sun is shining bright now & it's supposed to hit 51º today, so it won't last long. But I sure am enjoying the view now!

Beautiful pictures Holiday. Snow-covered trees are magical. It's just not for me at this time of the year. Hope you had a nice weekend.

 

[Holiday]

Thank you both, unfortunately it’s the flu. I started an antibiotic and Tamiflu, hopefully the meds will kick in quickly.

I hope you are feeling better today. What a bummer you had to cancel your Easter plans. Better safe than sharing germs though. I'm sure they all missed your wonderful meal, but were happy you didn't share!!!
I'm sure Rocky was an excellent male nurse!

 

[Holiday]

I just saw that a huge arctic blast is coming down. And they they are talking about snow from Maryland up thru Mass. on like Monday - Tuesday time frame. After that last weather forecast, I think this time, i’ll Believe it, when I see it.

Winter is still trying to hold on!!!!

They are tracking another snow storm for next weekend here. But 1st tonight & tomorrow we are supposed to have strong thunderstorms, wind... EEK!

 

[Holiday]

I can’t resist...I post this every Eastertime.

View attachment 43528

LOVE this! Every year. And believe it or not, it's the 1st time I've seen it this year!! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Holiday]

Well, guess what, my (2) pork loins came up of the oven just beyond wonderful! I put salt, pepper, cumin, parsley flakes, garlic salt on both sides, then baked in the oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
My Mrs told me it was very yummy! I was beaming!

Kudo's!!!!!

 

[Holiday]

Good Saturday morning, friends! Just sitting here enjoying the calm before the storm. We have a church Easter egg hunt at 12:00 (10,000 eggs) and then my inlaws have Easter today. After that, we have to come home and dye some eggs for our family tonight. Going to be a good time, that's for sure.

Hope y'all have a great day and enjoy your Easter festivities. See yall later!

I dyed some hard boiled eggs over the weekend too & put the stickers on them & the plastic wraps. LOL! Kid at heart! I also dyed the egg whites for deviled eggs. It was fun!
Hope you & your family had a nice Easter!!

 

[SnowflakeMom]

Good morning MMC! I hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend!
I woke up to a winter wonderland this morning! Soooo pretty!!! The sun is shining bright now & it's supposed to hit 51º today, so it won't last long. But I sure am enjoying the view now!

Happy Monday, Holiday!! Your winter pics are beautiful and love to see Lucy!
Hope you have a good day!

 

[Holiday]

Well I didn’t hit the mega millions. Has anyone heard from Jayish or Minta this morning though? Lol!!

Lots of cooking for me today. 2 desserts and 6 sides to make up. It’s worth it to make tomorrow stress free though.

I hope everyone has a great Holy Weekend!!

Holy smokes!!! You had a lot of cooking to do. I'm sure it was all tasty!!! Hope you had a nice Easter!!!