Our Little Christmas on the Prairie

We had Eggs Benedict for breakfast, right after we opened up our presents. (I got a new Chinese cookbook, among other things).

One of our favorite cookbooks is called “The Little House Cookbook” and it contains recipes based on the Laura Ingalls Wilder ‘Little House on the Prairie’ book series. Emily likes to challenge me with something new from this around Christmas time each year. Here’s what we had for Christmas dinner this year:

Codfish Balls
Creamed Carrots
Fried Apples & Onions

I’ll put the recipes up over at Nellis.

For the Codfish Balls (which, by the way, Emeril Lagasse called “Fritters” and featured on his show a few days ago), we had to mail order salt cod from a store on the East Coast that features foods imported from Spain. In Spain they call it bacalao, but now that I’ve made it I think you could substitute fresh cod from the local market and skip the 48 hour soaking process.

We had oyster stew for supper. I’ve been very disappointed with the oysters I’ve been getting here the last few years. They taste good, but they shrivel up into teeny little bites. I guess that’s the drawback with living in a landlocked state.

Make plans, NOT Resolutions

I just finished reading Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” and one of the things he says is, “If you don’t tell your money what to do, it goes away.” And I guess I’ve been living the truth of that for the past half century or so. He recommends making a spending plan each month that accounts for every penny of income you have. So we’re working on that for this year. But the sermon at CBC last Sunday made me think that Ramsey’s statement is also true of my time; if I don’t plan what I’m going to do with it, it goes away. Our Pastor challenged us to try and envision what we want to have accomplished in 2008 when we look back on it, and then make plans to achieve that. He says we should ask ourselves every morning; “What do I need to do today, so that when ‘I lay me down to sleep’ tonight, I can declare this to have been a successful day.” And then plan out your day accordingly. (I’m paraphrasing, obviously. I can’t write down everything he said during his 40 minute sermon).
So, in an attempt to apply these principles to my meager little existence, here is what I want to look back on as successes when I reach December 31, 2008:
I want to have memorized 52 more Bible verses.
I want to be able to look at the pages of my personal journal and see at least 120 new entries.
I want to finish the short stories I started last year.
I have five quilt projects in mind to get finished.
I want to be able to ride Lucy – fearlessly.
I want to have added a certain amount of money to our savings account.
I want to weigh 20 pounds less than I do right now.
With all of these things in mind, I will plan my days accordingly.
Now that I’ve gone public with this stuff, feel free to hold me accountable and bring them up every once in a while for a progress check.

Hey, Joe!
Is it still snowing in Chicago?