t-24=CRAZY

tomorrow my mother is coming over with my sister, her husband, one of my nieces and my great-niece. we are going to do a gift exchange. yes, i bought a few snugglies and starbucks bags of coffee. i scaled christmas down, but i am still buying for the kids.


i am making dinner- diner sliders, kinda like the little square burgers from krystal or white castle. i even have the tiny buns. i can make 12 in each pan and i think 24 will feed all of us. i am also making chocolate shakes and cheesy tatertots. i have coke, dr. pepper, diet coke and lemonade. if you can't find something to drink, just suck it and drink water.
my niece is bringing a lemon pie. i can't wait! she is a great cook and i am proud of her. when she was little, we would give her a bowl of water and a tiny egg beater. she would beat the water to death, then i would measure it out and add it as needed to whatever we were making, she was always so proud of her contribution.

she was also invaluable when making chinese dumplings. she was a "good dumple maker" in her own words. she was a whiz at folding them and painting the seams shut with water, and only 4 years old.

she plans on going to medical school when she graduates next year. she's turning out real good.

so i should be cleaning and premaking the sliders. i will post the recipe tomorrow. it's not really a recipe, it's more of a list of technique. UPDATE: HASN'T HAPPENED YET!

i still have christmas to wrap! lots of items from the dot shop (dollar aisle at target) are still unadorned.

i also have to bake the 2 cherry pies for thursday. i am going to two "old lady dinners" and i promised each of them a cherry pie. i use two kinds of cherries, one sweet and one tart, so they balance each other out. i take a lot of time and make a really elaborate crust for the top. it doesn't cost more and it makes the pies extra special.

but it takes time, which i am running short on right now.

have a warm day! stay away from the mall!