My Christmas holidays were awesome. Most of the week was spent in the Devine area with family, and all I can say about it is : “Wow, what a wonderful time I had, and what a wonderful family to celebrate with”. This coming week brings us into a brand new year and a brand new chance at life.
The past year, 2019, with its good days, bad days, cold weather, hot weather, snow storms, ice storms, rain storms, school shootings, riots, murders, home invasions, kidnappings, car wrecks, Presidential impeachment, and any other thing you didn’t like, is over and all the good and bad things are memories and a part of the past.
Most of my memories for the past year are good ones, with just a few bad ones thrown in to keep my life spiced up. This year, I have lost good friends and relatives just like everyone else has. I’ve spent time visiting friends and relatives in hospitals, nursing homes and rehab centers, and I’ve spent time at home alone, it’s all part of life. At my age, I’ve sort of learned to enjoy the good stuff and put the bad out of mind as much as possible, it’s past and done with and can’t be changed. My children and grandchildren are all super good to me, and my great-grandchildren are young enough to think I am perfect, and I love them the same way!
My trips, both coming and going were totally uneventful, luckily not much traffic on Monday, when I was going and only in spots on Thursday as I returned home. This weekend, my children and their spouses and some of the ‘grands’, along with some friends will be with me for Christmas at my home. With Christmas Day falling in the middle of the week, there are several in the family who have to work both Friday and Saturday, so we’re doing the best we can.
My daughter had Christmas at her house with all of her children and grandchildren on Monday. Tuesday, we went to visit my cousin at the assisted living center in Castroville, and then did some last minute shopping and had a very quiet evening at home just being together. My son had a house-full of us on Christmas day as his wife’s brother and family were in from out of state this year. We had a great meal and a wonderful time, including a ‘snow ball’ fight out in their yard! It was hilarious to see those white balls whizzing around…of course, they didn’t hurt at all as they resembled baseball size pompoms! So much fun and so memories being made.
It’s a little late to be giving you recipes for a New Year’s party, but maybe not too late. This recipe is great no only as a dip/spread for crackers and such things, but spread it on slices of hard salami and roll it up, cut them in half and you have a great little appetizer.
Good Seasons Dip
2 packages (8-oz each) cream cheese at room temperature
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 envelope Good Seasons salad dressing mix (garlic or Italian)
Beat chest and mayonnaise together; add the Parmesan cheese and salad dressing mix; mix well. Let stand for several hours to blend flavors. Serve with crackers or bread rounds.
The following is a great all-around dip that goes really good with almost any type of chip or cracker and even some vegetables.
Dip
1 package cream cheese (8-oz)
1/3 cup Kraft® French dressing
2 tablespoons catsup*
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons very finely chopped onion
Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat or stir in the remaining ingredients and mix well. This is a very good basic dip that also makes a great shrimp dip *For shrimp dip, I added about a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce and in place of the catsup, I used an equal amount of the bottled chili sauce and added a couple of teaspoons of prepared horseradish. For shrimp dip, drain and rinse a small can of shrimp, dice finely and stir in with the rest of the ingredients.