Have you ever planned for a really big event—perhaps a wedding, a birth, or something monumental? All the days leading up to the happening you are so excited and it’s taking all parts of your mind as you make these elaborate plans. The day of the big occasion comes to pass, and the following days are just “blah.” Well, this is the letdown feeling I have after Christmas, every year.
We begin our decorating the day after Thanksgiving, sometimes before Turkey Day, and it goes on for days or weeks before the holiday celebration. Our house looks so festive and believe me I know...it’s over for another whole year. How gloomy and desolate my clean orderly rooms appear. How in the world do you follow the most decorated holiday of all? The first holiday in January is Martin Luther King’s birthday and I don’t put up decorations for his special day. I don’t go to any trouble to adorn our house for Ground Hog’s Day. It’s too soon for Valentine’s Day and I don’t decorate for the lover’s holiday anyway. And, oh my goodness, spring is ten weeks and four days away so no colorful flowers until then.
So, what do I have sitting on and adorning my tables and counters? Books, bowls, and a couple of pottery chickens. I guess it’s okay as my husband, ever the economy minded bill-payer that he is, has the curtains pulled most of the time in order to conserve energy. Consequently, it is mostly dusk all day long anyway.
I won’t invite you to come sit on my back porch and have iced tea right now unless you enjoy the chill. We’ll have to wait 10 weeks and four days.
In the meantime, you can find me sitting in, probably my housecoat most days in front of the roaring warm fire reading a good mystery.
I love ham and Swiss cheese together.
HAM AND SWISS CASSEROLE
8 oz egg noodles, cooked and drained, 2 cups fully cooked ham, 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese, 1 cup of condensed celery soup, 1 cup of sour cream, ½ cup chopped green pepper, ½ cup chopped onion
Spread ½ of ham, noodles, and cheese in a 13 x 9 dish. Combine soup, sour cream, onions, and pepper and spread ½ on top of layer and then make another layer. Bake 350* for 45 minutes.
