It's been a busy holiday season!

With Kathleen out of school, we decided that we would do some Christmas baking together. Kathleen really wanted butter tarts so, on the morning of the 23rd, I set her to working on the pastry. She misread the recipe and added *cups* of water instead of tablespoons...the sloshing caught my attention.

She started over and, do to a little overworking of the dough, I had trouble rolling it out thin enough for tart shells. So, that batch of pastry was "re-purposed" into crust for a mince pie, using my homemade mincemeat. While at Safeway buying last minute groceries, I saw frozen tart shells. Needless to say, I bought them for the butter tarts!

Along with the baking, I made a chicken liver paté for a Christmas Eve get-together at Kim and Mike's.

On the 24th, I prepared my main contribution to Christmas dinner: Spinach and Cheese Strata.

Today was a pretty laid-back day. We slept late, did the rip and tear, and then headed over to Pat and Deb's for dinner. We were home just in time to feed the dogs before they starved to death (or so they claimed they were about to starve...)

After buying collard greens for quite a while to feed to the dogs, I decided that I'd see what they tasted like for myself. I like kale and I did try some "greens" at the State Fair this year so thought collard greens would make a tasty side dish for dinner last night.

I washed and trimmed them, then tore the leaves in half. (Next time I cook them, I will chop them before cooking.) They went into a pot with some chicken broth and then onto the stove. I let them cook a lot, as I know kale only gets better when it's well-cooked.

I don't know about the rest of the family but I loved them! Okay, Kathleen hated them and wouldn't eat them. Wayde ate them without comment so I don't really know if he liked them or not.

My cold is lingering and I woke up this morning with much sinus pain. I guess I should have saved some of the veggie trimmings from last night...

"a fresh leaf [of collard greens] placed on the forehead promises to cure a headache"

Well, it's been a while!

We've been busy with the dogs and holiday preparations. So far, K. has made a batch of shortbread (eaten already) and I've made a stollen (also eaten, but shared with friends) and a batch of mincemeat. I left the mincemeat a little late to make so it won't be ready for cooking for another week or 10 days.

I've also spent one week, dragging my butt around the house, sick as a dog. I'm just now starting to feel better so hopefully my blogging will continue at its previous pace ...