The End of Christmas....Almost

I really can't believe it's Monday already. I know, I say that all the time. We had a great weekend. It started off with the Cotton Bowl party we went to Friday night. Lots of friends, great food & an LSU win made it a fab party. This could also be the last game that Les Miles coaches as a Tiger. Rumor has it he's going to Michigan. We should find out in the next couple of days.

Saturday, I had a hair appt. My roots were awful. I didn't understand why they looked so bad until I realized that it had been 12 weeks since my last highlight. I NEVER go that long. I guess that's what happens with the holidays & vacation. I went with low lights this time as to not become a total blond. Not that there's anything wrong with that but my natural color is about as dark a brown as you can get. So now my roots are all good, I got a trim & feel much better! Don't you always feel better after having your hair done?

Once I got home I managed to get a lot of ornaments off the tree before we left for Mass. The Saints game was on when we left & they were winning & all was good with the world. After Mass we went to Sammy's for dinner with our friends, the Smith's. We all love Sammy's & they have about a million TV's that we knew would all be tuned to the Saints. Well, they lost. Ugh! Now that LSU & Saints football is over we can't wear jeans to work on Fridays anymore. That's a real bummer. Do you know how easy it is to throw on a pair of jeans & grab a shirt on Friday morning? It's one of the things I love about football season!

Once we were home I got back to work on the Christmas decorations. This was stuff from the tree in the kitchen.

And the big tree.

That's why I call it the big tree. I think I got 4 boxes of ornaments boxed up before calling it a night. Sunday morning I was back at it. I am happy to say that all ornaments, garland, bows, nativities, EVERYTHING is boxed up.

Notice I didn't say anything about Christmas trees. That would be because they're still standing. Once I got all of this stuff boxed up I wanted a break. So I took one. For the rest of the day. It was really cold & started raining. Perfect napping weather. So I took one. Only a short one. Like an hour. We watched football & I read. It was a great day. So, today when I get home from work the trees will come down & all of the boxes will go in the attic.

Reading update: Remember I said I was going to read actual books at home & my Nook away from home so that I could get through the bag o'books I have?  Well, I finished "Secret To Happiness" by Sarah Dunn. It was interesting. I liked it & it was a very easy read but it was different. I came away thinking that Holly, the main character, was kinda weird. Still a good book. Sunday, on my break, I started reading "Family Ties" by Danielle Steele. I like a lot of her books & there are a lot that I wouldn't even attempt to read. This one is really good. I'm so curious to see what's going to happen. I'm hoping to finish it tonight. 

Toodles! 

Shrimp Dip

I told y'all about the shrimp dip I was making for the Cotton Bowl party we're going to tonight. I forgot that I posted a recipe for this shrimp dip awhile back. The one I made for tonight is entirely different. Y'all I know it's not often that I post a recipe but this is really good & even I can make it. This is what you do.

2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce
2-4 Tablespoons of Hot Sauce - This depends on how spicy you like it. I use 3.
(2) 8 oz. packages of cream cheese.
Garlic - I used granulated garlic because it's what we had. You can use fresh or that stuff in a jar.

Layer 1 - Mix all of these ingredients together & spread it on the bottom of a platter. I always use a platter with a lip around it since it's a layered dip.

Layer 2 - A bottle of cocktail sauce. I use Louisiana because it's our fave. Spread it on top of the cream cheese.

Now everytime I make this I misread my recipe & end up layering things in a different order. I don't think it matters but the order I'm giving you is the order that the recipe calls for.

Layer 3 - Boiled Shrimp. The recipe says 1 -1 1/2 lbs. Peel them & layer on top of the cocktail sauce. I usually cut some of them up & leave some whole, depending on the size of the shrimp.

Layer 4 - An 8 oz. bag of shredded/grated mozzarella cheese

Layer 5 - Grated Parmesa Cheese. I forgot to buy it this time so I just used parmesan in the can. I've done this before & it's fine.

Layer 6 - 1 Chopped bell pepper

Layer 7 - Green onions. Just put as many as you'd like

Layer 8 - A Roma tomato cut up. I normally make the dip the day before I need it but I wait until the day I need it to put the tomato on. I don't want it to make the dip soggy.

I serve it with Wheat Thins or Sociables but any crackers will do.

This is what you end up with.



Looks good huh?

We're off to the Mitchell's to hopefully watch the Tigers beat the Aggies. Then things will get interesting with the coaching situation. Les is rumored to be one of the top candidates for the Michigan job. We shall see.



Geaux Tigers!! Isn't my shirt cute??

Toodles!!

An Update

So I got a lot of response from my last post about reading. I'd love if everyone would send me their favorite authors & books. Leave a comment or email me. I'm always looking for something new to read. The Nook has this great feature (I'm sure the Kindle does too) that lets you make a wish list. It can be done directly from the Nook or if you're on the computer on Barnes & Noble's website you can add stuff to it there & it will be on your Nook as well. I took some time the other day & made a list. That way when I'm ready to download a new book I'll have some to choose from. Like I said, I do better with a list. Last night I downloaded Emily Giffin's new book, Heart of the Matter. Well, it's not really new but her newest. It came out at the beginning of 2010. I love her books.

I've done really well on the Dr. Pepper intake. Granted it's only been 3 1/2 days but still. I haven't had one in 2 days. This wasn't really done on purpose, it kinda just happened. I made some sweet tea (sweetened with Splenda) & I've been drinking a lot of that.

Tomorrow is the Cotton Bowl. Seems like forever since LSU played a football game. Dean & I are going to our friends, The Mitchell's, to watch. It's going to be a Tapas party. I'm making Shrimp Dip. Yeh, I know. Not exactly Tapas but this is something I know how to make that is good. It's a favorite of mine. I'll share the recipe & a pic once I make it. The great thing about it is it taste better if you make it the day before you're going to eat it. I guess it gives the shrimp & all the other flavors time to blend together. I'm very proud of myself for getting up this morning, getting ready for work & leaving early enough to go to the grocery store & get the ingredients. Yay for me! One less thing to do after work.

Something I've noticed in the last couple of weeks is that I'm getting emails from Match.com on a regular basis. Like, every day. I don't know where they got my email address. I have a match. I don't need them.

Oh, I almost forgot - The washing machine is fixed!! WOOO HOOO!! Dean Rocks! The new timer came in yesterday & it took Dean all of 10 minutes to install it. Now, I'm really annoyed that we paid the service guy $70 to tell us it was the timer when that's what Dean thought it was to begin with. Still, $70 for the service call & $80 for the part is a whole lot better than buying a new one. To me washers are like tires. I hate spending money on that type of stuff.

Well, this was all really random. Oh well. GEAUX TIGERS!!

Toodles!