I hope your holidays are going well so far. This is a photo of the Jupiter Island Lighthouse that I turned into a watercolor!
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas
It’s time to finish all the food shopping and start all the cooking for Christmas Eve so I’ll be a little busy. I want to take this moment to wish you a very Merry Christmas with this throwback to Christmas 2020. Have a safe and healthy holiday!
Getting Ready for Christmas Eve!
It’s #WriteWed and I am writing on two different deadlines, but in between, I’m busy doing some cooking for Christmas Eve? Why you may be wondering? First, because I no longer have my big six-burner stove since hubby and I downsized. Next, because some things just taste way better when they get to meld together, like my yuca! Yuca (cassava in English) is a root vegetable very similar to a potato. You can make it in a variety of ways and we always make it boiled with a tasty citrus, onion, and garlic sauce for Christmas Eve.
We fry the leftover yuca and it makes delicious fries. Some interesting things about yuca: tapioca is made from the yuca root and it’s poisonous if you eat it raw or improperly cooked.
But when you cook it right: Nom nom.
I’m also busy cooking my black beans. They’re also better when you reheat them because they thicken up!
You can get my recipes for both the black beans and yuca at https://www.caridad.com/meet-me/cooks-treat/.
Treat Yourself This Holiday Season
If you’re like me for the holiday season, you’re in charge of most of the gift-buying, the cleaning, and the cooking! Whew! Maybe we should treat ourselves for all that hard work. What treat would you buy yourself? A book maybe? Well, if you love family sagas with independent women and a strong romantic element, please take a moment to check out The Family She Never Met. This is a book of my heart because it shares with you my family’s history and why we appreciate the freedoms and opportunities in this amazing country.
Love or Hate the Cardboard Christmas Tree?
In the spirit of discussing real or fake Christmas trees, what do you think about a cardboard Christmas Tree? This one in the Asbury Park Convention Center is drawing lots of comments from people. I was a little dubious at first, but I like it as a sculpture, not necessarily as a Christmas Tree. Even if they weren’t going to do the traditional pine tree, I thought some fake cardboard ornaments, lights, and garlands might have been fun in this re-imagining. What do you think?
P.S. – If you’re in the mood for a story with some Christmas elements, One Summer Night is specially priced at 99 cents. Yes, the title says summer, but a good portion of the story takes place at a NYC department store during the Christmas season.
Real or Permanent Christmas Trees?
For as long as I can remember as a kid, we had a live tree that we usually bought at a local Christmas tree stand. When hubby and I had our daughter, we started the tradition of going to the Anne Ellen Christmas Tree Farm to chop down a tree. Here are some photos from this year’s adventure!
But now for the important question! Would you rather have a Real or Permanent (Fake) Christmas Tree? For me, it’s always real, even though it’s been tough for us to find one that really fits in our downsized townhouse.
Most Excellent Book Giveaway
I’ve got some romance author friends with me today on my Facebook Page and they’ve got an awesome giveaway for you! To celebrate the release of their Candlewood Falls winter books, they’re giving away the fall books in the CF world. Just visit my Facebook Page and tag a friend and share the post for a chance to win a collection of their romance novels. You can check out the other books in the Candlewood Falls world at https://amzn.to/3pNJ6X8.
