planning – Page 33 – A Measured Life

So You Want to Host Your First Christmas Dinner

So maybe you’re not the most confident cook, but you’re stuck at home over the holidays while family is far away. Maybe you want to try having a few people over and sharing in that holiday spirit. (Okay, maybe this my MY story, except it ain’t my first rodeo. But I’m stuck at home AGAIN this year, so instead of spending the entire day in my pajamas pouting I invited my friend Sharon over for dinner!) So I thought I might write up a little tutorial on how to plan for a small holiday dinner party.

Step One

Keep it small. Starting off with too many guests is a recipe for disaster. We’re just having one guest, but I’d say if you’re in a couple, choose another couple and stick to just the four of you. You’re going to enjoy yourselves even if it’s a small group, and only having to worry about one or two extra people really helps reduce the stress, especially if you’re close friends! Bonus if those people are willing to be involved in the prep.

Step Two

Keep it casual. Please do not decide you’re going to make beef wellington for a dozen guests. This is the definition of insanity. I’m an intermediate cook, and beef wellington is HARD. Choose dishes that don’t require you to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, out of sight. I plan on making a lot of things that can be prepped ahead of time. Here’s my menu:

Baked Ham
Cheesy Potato Casserole (Boiled potatoes, cubed and mixed with sour cream, cheese and chives)
Brown Butter Balsamic Green Beans
Russian Black Bread
Pear, Pomegranate & Spinach Salad

The only thing that needs to be prepped last minute are the green beans.

I’m also not going to worry about fancy place settings or courses. Everything’s going on the table at once, and we’ll help ourselves.

Step Three

Make it personal. Do you have an ethnic family recipe that you can share with your friends? I plan to make potica for dessert, as long as I remember to ask my grandma for the recipe! Sharing your cultural background with friends is a great way to show you care. What about a family tradition you can share?

Step Four

tumblr_l8x5t3B5h01qcf7tn — Okay, maybe not this much fun. Source

Make room for fun! Do you have board games? A Wii? Be goofy and have some fun!

So, are you hosting anyone for the holidays this year? What are your tips for keeping your cool? Let me know in the comments!

What Do YOU Do With Thanksgiving Leftovers?

Image: Flickr member presta licensed under Creative Commons)

Please forgive me, folks! Work is ramping up for the holidays and I find myself barely able to keep my eyes open after dinner. I’m definitely working on new content for next week, but this will be short and sweet. (Plus, Bingley is slowly killing the circulation in my left arm. Help!)

I’m contemplating the concept of making my leftovers into a savory pie with a stuffing top crust. I’m salivating just thinking about it!

Any extra ideas? Stuffing muffins? Cranberry pie? Sweet potato S’Mores? 🙂 Let me know in the comments!

Welcome, August, the Month of Homemade Snackage PLUS Low Cal Homemade Iced Mocha

Phew. August is flippin’ here, people! Can you believe it? My July was a bit crazy. I slacked off on food a bit, I couldn’t run, and there was this general sense that I was being super lazy. I hope to remedy that in August! Here are my goals for August, and with that, a hint of what’s to come here at A Measured Life!

– A month of homemade snacks – Creamsicle Yogurt Pops, Homemade Pudding Pops, Pumpkin Pie Dip, Turkey Roll Ups, Cucumber Hummus Rollups, copycat Sargento Balanced Breaks, since I can’t get them for practically nothing anymore. YES I will share recipes!

If I'm lucky I'll get pink ones! — If I’m lucky I’ll get pink ones!

– Buying new running shoes – I ruined mine at the mud run, but they were pretty much dead anyway, and were probably what caused my foot to hurt. I’m going to hit up the Road Runner Sports where the Adventure Run is held and get sized and everything, since they have a 90-day return policy on all the shoes! Josh has mentioned not one but TWO 5Ks he wants to do in the fall, one in October and one in November, and there may or may not be a third one somewhere in there.

– Get back to running so I don’t die during previously mentioned 5ks.

– Regrowing my fingernails – I MISS THEM. I cut them before the mud run, and it was a very good idea. They used to look like this:

And now, sadly, they look like this:

Boo. I has a sad.

– Renaissance Faire costume! I got a great deal on a corset. I wanted to get an overbust, because it *cough* enhances my chest region pretty nicely, but those START at $200, and I am not very good at spending that kind of money on a single item I might wear twice a year. I spent less than half of that on this one, and decided that since I’m starting to get some definition above the knee (specifically my vastus medialus, which is a teardrop shaped hunk of muscle that helps keep your kneecaps in their patellar groove, so it’s GROOVY, BABY, yeah) that I’d make myself a skirt! I saw a pretty awesomely colored goatskin for a reasonable price, so I picked that up, too. Here’s a preview:

The leather looked more red in the photographs but I think it’ll work just fine.

I will not be wearing the khakis!

I also got some black leather boots that come to mid-calf and look like this:

– Get a flipping haircut! Seriously! It’s just one of those things I keep putting for no real reason than I always seem to have something to do on Mondays when my favorite stylist is in the shop. My hair is starting to get really long and unruly. I don’t plan on chopping it all off, but getting it relayered.

Anyhoo, July was super duper hot here. Many days in the 90s. It makes a gal crave iced coffee! (Amirite?) So, for a while I had been pouring the leftover dregs of coffee from the pot in the morning into an ice cube tray and throwing it in the freezer. Those coffee ice cubes came in handy! The other day I really wanted a mocha, so I hauled those babies out of the freezer and made myself an iced mocha!

Ingredients! Coffee, coffee ice cubes, coconut almond milk.

Stick the coffee ice cubes in a cup! (This is a 32 oz. Wawa cup, so I recycled!)

Add coffee and almond coconut milk.

Mmm, chocolate syrup!

A couple tablespoons of this!

Click through the photos to get the “recipe” but it’s pretty self explanatory. Less than 100 calories in this giant cup, and super refreshing on a hot day. Not shown: me enjoying it’s maximum deliciosity. However, I do have a pic of me smiling at a stoplight. I’m a weirdo.

I got those earrings at the West Orange Renaissance Faire!

So those are my plans for August. What are YOUR plans?

Also, superfluous Bingley snuggling!

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