It’s Saturday morning and I’m having a difficult time getting motivated.  Probably because I was up until 3 am last evening, putting together cookie boxes for my husband, cleaning the kitchen and watching the Titanic, a horrific disaster that rivets me.  

I need to finish decorating — we’re finally getting our tree this weekend.  However, prior to tackling that desperately needed task — it’s not quite yet looking a lot like Christmas in the Rivera household — I’ll share some thoughts: 

Nailed It:  One of the reasons I started this blog was to learn to become a better cook (if you saw how long it takes me to cut an onion, you’d understand my plight).  While the blog has seen it’s fair share of starts and stops, over the years my cooking has improved and last evening, I Nailed Dinner!  It wasn’t fancy — short ribs, pasta with broccoli and olives (Gluten free for those worried about Tony and his Paleo diet), and a nice salad.  A simple, yet oh-so-delicious meal which took 20 minutes to make.  No fuss, no muss and, yes my arm is hurting from patting myself on the back (I’m surprised I can type today). 

Sifting:  Don’t neglect the sifting of ingredients when baking.  I say this chuckling, because it’s a step I will put aside on occasion — when time is tight, I’m not trying to impress anyone, or I’m just not into whatever I’m making or, more precisely, whomever I’m baking for.  But sifting plays an important part of one’s baking endeavors — it creates a clean, smooth consistency of whatever it is that is being sifted and eliminates the ‘ick, I just bit into a ball of flour,’ embarrassments.  I first noticed the importance with powdered sugar.  When skipping the sifting step, inevitably, my icing looks awful, like there’s a bunch of tiny, tiny pebbles in it.  

The Grommet:  Not sure how new this site is, but they’ve been advertising on TV lately (I always chuckle when an online merchant turns to traditional advertising to reach the masses) and I decided to check them out for some ‘hmm what do I get her’ gifts.  They have a fantastic and quasi-unique selection of goods eliminating the ‘here’s 28,654 crafting options’ you sometimes have to wade through with Amazon.   The one downside, it appears that they work with multiple vendors and sometimes your items aren’t shipped together.  So my colleague’s box of cool crafting items may arrive at her doorstep piecemeal.  A con or a positive in disguise?  I’m not sure.  It could be kind of fun/funny to receive a mini, electric screwdriver one day, the replacement paint holder things the next, and a few days later the paint holder doohickey a few days later.  Even funnier if they don’t put in the ‘Thanks for all the support this year’ gift card request I made. 

I could continue with my musings and I’m confident y’all would read, attentively, clinging to every last word. But I must sign off so that I can attack the decorating.  

As always, I wish each of you safe travels, smooth sailings, and, of course, bon appetite.