The house was gorgeous, as always! And the food was fantastic. I made a pork roast with an apricot glaze, whole wheat rolls, and sweet potatoes with ginger and honey. I was a little worried about the potency of the ginger so mom got me some unsweetened apple juice to tone it down before we heated it up for dinner. Everyone loved it...so, no worries! That is not to say that the heat from the ginger completely disappeared however...it means they loved the flavor and it was not as potent as it was the night before when I first made it. Thank goodness!!! It is a lovely dish and I will have to remember it for next year, but I will cut the ginger some and be sure to add the apple juice up front. Recipe modifications...yes, I am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl. As a matter of fact, I usually don't even bother with a recipe but I have been trying to be a good girl lately. I have been attempting to measure so I can write a recipe so I know what I have made and how I made it in the future. The family would really like that. ;o)
We completely skipped out on Black Friday because none of us are great fans of commercialism. I know it is when businesses attempt to get sales from the red to the black, but I've never cared for shopping to begin with so the rash of violence which has ensued in recent years makes it even less appealing to me than ever. Forgive me if you disagree, but is seems to me that all we have learned from the death of that poor Walmart employee back in 2008 is how to keep manslaughter out of the criminal charges. Yes! I really do mean that. And as far as businesses are concerned, they have been more careful than ever to make sure they can't be slapped with wrongful death suits for not having enough protection in place to protect their employees from situations like what happened at the Walmart back in 2008.
I don't understand the reason why a fight over $2.00 waffle maker should happen or why one consumer feels the need to pepper spray another consumer or why a grandfather should feel so intimidated by masses of shoppers that he attempts to grabs his grandchild to protect him from the onslaught, placing dvds and cds in the waistband of his pants for lack of any other safe place to put them...and he is brutally beaten by store security before he can reach the child. The last example happened locally in Arizona. My mother-in-law told me about it.
Sorry about the soapbox. I didn't know I felt this strongly about this subject before I started writing. I love the holiday season and all that it stands for. What I do not love it commercialism and the greed and lack of civility that people show to each other. I feel like the merchant egg it on like Jerry Springer by only having a very limited quantity of items on hand for consumers at special reduced prices. Right now people are already in dire straits and businesses are not helping. I digress...enough of the soapbox. Sorry but I am venting. People are worth so much more than this! You are worth more than this and so am I. That is the real reason I do not participate in Black Friday...despite the fact that I am a rare woman who hates to shop. My adventures in shopping are simply that...adventures.
So...after we left Phoenix, we came home and I worked in the garden instead of shopping. I think I planted at least a hundred daffodils of various types. I have decided to naturalize them as a border in the front flower bed. Yes, I guess I am being a lazy garden. So glad you did not notice. I did select interesting varieties. I have ice follies, salome, replete, and one or two others. I planted part of the tulips also. Thank goodness for Arizona's wonderful temperatures!
Ah! Here we go. I took some pics of some of the bulbs I needed to plant.
I still have some tulips to go, but I can do that soon, I hope. Those angelique tulips should be lovely!
Today I attempted whole wheat tortillas for the first time. They turned out pretty good. I made them exactly how the recipe said to this time. I think next time I will start modifying the recipe. They dry out very easily and need more moisture when I get to the rolling stage. I also would like to modify the recipe to make it a honey whole wheat recipe. Hmmm...and I made them almost paper thin this time. I think I want them a little thicker next time. I should try doubling the recipe.
Classes are moving along. I am ending week five, Pantheism. My next class is Marketing. Should be interesting. At least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I can only hope that as the other members of my current class mature they will come to have a greater love for people around them with diverse opinions and not just Christians who agree exactly with what they say and believe. I do my very best to point out the good in what they have to say and to ask them question which require them to think deeper on other worldviews, but the truth is that most students are only doing the minimum amount they have to pass the class. It is the simple, honest truth. They are there for a grade, not to expand their mind. Hopefully in the end they get a little bit of both.
That's it for me. Sweet dreams!
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