Home at Last Farm...: books and movies to enjoy over the holiday week

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

books and movies to enjoy over the holiday week

Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas. We did. Mass at 4:30 Christmas eve...home to pulled chicken sandwiches and homemade potato chips with lots of Chocolate Chip cookies to munch on while waiting for Santa to arrive!

Joe and I were watching The Namesake when we realized that it was barely 9pm and every single one of our children was in bed!!! LOL Santa was able to come and go at a reasonable hour this year! Though we did leave a note NOT to wake up the mama or the daddy before 6!

About 3:30 am Joe hears the television going. 4 of the 5 are watching cartoons, grinning from ear to ear and counting the seconds until the chaos of unwrapping might begin!!!! At 6 am the daddy and I appeared at the top of the stairs. All 5 of the children shouted Merry Christmas! And, after taking a short break to make the traditional Mimosas EVERYONE dug in!

I think it was a particularly successful Christmas, because we only bought things we KNEW they wanted, instead of just spending money for the sake of spending money. We had a wonderful breakfast and everyone enjoyed their new things. Everyone laughed a lot and ate a lot and we had a wonderful, wonderful day.

The books and movies are some I've enjoyed the last few days. I thought maybe you might too. I lovely sappy movies, but didn't think I'd enjoy the holiday, but I really did! I hate romance novels, but always love Maeve Binchy's writing. The Namesake is about a boy who's Indian born Bengali parents come to America and raise an American boy who tries too hard to push away his heritage and then, perhaps, tries too hard to embrace it. I thought it was very good...but then I am fascinated Indian culture. The other books are "homey" books that I got from the library and have loved reading.

Hoping your holidays are as relaxing and enjoyable as ours are! God bless!

2 comments:

Paula said...: I bought The Holiday this year because I enjoyed it so much! A really fun movie.
Our kids are getting so old now that we were actually up this year for the first time before anyone else. I made the coffee and rattled around before the sleepy-eyed teenagers started appearing in their doorways. Kind of sad that those days are gone...; 11:46 PM
Kerri said...: Oh I love that beautiful family photo!
I'm so glad you had a wonderful time.
Seeing the books and movies makes me want to spend some time doing both those things. I love this quiet time after Christmas.
Happy New Year to you all, and I hope 2008 is a year filled with rich blessings for your family.; 8:58 PM

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mac and cheese

Ingredients
Butter, for greasing dish
12 ounces wide egg noodles
2 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for pasta water
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups (packed) grated Fontina
3/4 cup (packed) finely grated Parmesan
3/4 cup (packed) grated mozzarella
4 ounces cooked ham, diced, optional
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Butter a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Drain well, but do not rinse.

Whisk the cream, milk, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper in large bowl to blend. Stir in 1 cup Fontina, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella, ham, if using, and parsley. Add the noodles and toss to coat. Transfer the noodle mixture to the prepared baking dish. Toss the remaining 1 cup Fontina, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and 1/4 cup mozzarella in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the noodle mixture. Bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheese melts and begins to brown on top, about 20 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.