# Christmas Shopping???



## karlabythec (Nov 9, 2008)

Okay, who is done? 

I am 99% done...YAY! I also have most stuff wrapped. It feels really good. 
Gracie is getting the monkey sweater and the monkey toy (from PetFlys)...I had to wrap it or I would have put her in it the last few mornings! Now it's under the tree and I can't be tempted. LOL So tempting to get her more, but dh would kill me...I've spent so much money on her since we got her! 

Now I need to figure out what I'm going to do for Christmas dinner...


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## Redorr (Feb 2, 2008)

I am 99.5% done! We were going to have a low-key, stocking only kind of Christmas. But my sister has a newly renovated kitchen/family room and when I saw it at Thanksgiving my interior decorator gene kicked in and I could not stop shopping online. She has posted on Facebook "stop with the packages already!" Hey, I have a business license for interior design = business expense!

Karla - easy route for Christmas dinner is a ham ... heat and serve! Pull in some yummy creamy scalloped potatoes, peas and pearl onions, and you are there. I am hungry!


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

well, we're done...but only because we are being bahhh humbug this year. Actually it has been kind of nice... we bought a few gifts for family who really wanted to exchange but mostly we have been making the gift of togetherness for the holidays. DH and I bought eachother a dehydrator (which we are already using) and we have been either going out to dinner or doing something simple at houses with friends and we say this is our present to each other.


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## karlabythec (Nov 9, 2008)

Yeah, I'm thinking ham...what do you do with the pearl onions?


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## Sissygirl (Aug 8, 2007)

I am done!!!! Yea!!!!

I have alot of wrapping to do. Thankfully DH and I are having a 
wrapping party tonight. He's a great helper.

DH and I bought new furniture this year but still exchanging a few
gifts. My daughter and her husband are coming in on Monday and
my precious son is coming in Christmas Eve. I am all ready except 
doing a little house cleaning this weekend and grocery shopping.

I have made a few of my desserts and froze them.

Feels good!


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## Alexa (Jun 17, 2007)

I have some, but not all...and now we are snowed it.....we are keeping it low key this year, too...the kids want new clothes and I can't buy those for them anyway, so I guess it will be gift certificates or something boring with a few surprises thrown in. 
And since my older one will be turning 16 next year, "all" she really wants is a car <g>


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

We're done, but like many of you, we're super low key this year. I'm still debating about whether to even put up a tree....
I finished shopping and wrapping for my mom, and my father-in-law, and those packages got mailed on Tuesday. DH and I decided that we really don't need any gifts so we're donating what we would have spent on each other to our local animal shelter instead. 
I did go overboard for the animals though. I have 12 new toys for the dogs and 3 for the cat. My mom sent a package and it made me laugh. She knows us so well. She sent one small gift bag for me, a gift card for DH, and FOUR, count em, FOUR gift bags of pet treats!


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## Redorr (Feb 2, 2008)

karlabythec said:


> Yeah, I'm thinking ham...what do you do with the pearl onions?


Three options on the onions:
Buy frozen mixed peas and pearl onions. season with butter and nutmeg.
Buy a bag of frozen pearl onions and cook them - saute for a little browning or boil, and mix them in with peas or broccoli. 
Or to be double decadent - Christmas, right? - make a lovely cream sauce with a touch of nutmeg and serve the onions in the sauce separately from the green veg.

And any of these would be good with some dried cranberries thrown in for color.

I have noticed lots of interesting frozen vegetables in the aisle lately. They are trying to get us to eat better.

Which reminds me of my favorite holiday side dish - I use frozen Petite brussels sprouts, frozen out of the bag:
4 servings

1 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved (quartered if large)
2 oz pancetta, visible fat discarded and pancetta minced (regular thin sliced bacon works)
3 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup white wine

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Toss together Brussels sprouts, pancetta, garlic, oil, and salt and pepper to taste in an 11- by 7-inch baking pan and spread in 1 layer.

Roast in upper third of oven, stirring once halfway through roasting, until sprouts are brown on edges and tender, about 25 minutes total. Stir in wine, scraping up brown bits. Serve warm.

Cheers!


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## Perugina (May 28, 2008)

Well at least I have Sophie finished. Put an order in this morning for the following:








the skunk $10.99








so she can have one her size that is like her boxer buddy's across the street $13.99








junior hide-a-squirrel toy to keep her busy $13.99 (and yes, they do sell replacement squirrels  )


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## Sissygirl (Aug 8, 2007)

Redorr said:


> Three options on the onions:
> Buy frozen mixed peas and pearl onions. season with butter and nutmeg.
> Buy a bag of frozen pearl onions and cook them - saute for a little browning or boil, and mix them in with peas or broccoli.
> Or to be double decadent - Christmas, right? - make a lovely cream sauce with a touch of nutmeg and serve the onions in the sauce separately from the green veg.
> ...


Anne,

Those sound wonderful!


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## trueblue (Jan 22, 2008)

I am soooo close. Just have a couple more things to get. And then I get to wrap.


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## karlabythec (Nov 9, 2008)

Thanks Anne...sounds yummy!


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

All done with shopping and most of the wrapping, will have to wrap the rest as UPS delivers. DH got a new MacBook so he's only getting a few things and I don't have any idea what he got me. The kids didn't want too much so went easy on that as well. Scooter is getting the Hide-A-Squirrel, a doggy iPod (squishy, squeeky toy) and a new deer antler. Since the kids are getting older we may even try attending midnight Mass this year instead of going on Christmas morning.


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## suzyfrtz (Nov 12, 2007)

We just got in from Florida. Left Monday and the weather forcast said snow/rain showers. In reality this turned into terrific rain and freezing rain through Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio. Made for a hard drive although the interstates were clear. Stopped in Ohio for Christmas with family there; then home to Michigan. Got to the grocery store yesterday and today 8" of snow. The furkids love the snow! They are burrowing their noses and leaping and flying and flopping into drifts. But they and I know when to come in. 

Got our artificial tree up today and some Christmas goodies around the house. Tomorrow is our dinner and get-together with our children and grandkids. We did our shopping and wrapping in Florida; everyone got gift certificates and a Christmas tree ornament this year.

We're glad we have our party early so that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are so less hectic. I remember having a big dinner on Christmas Eve and rushing to church at 11 p.m. The early Christmas works out nicely for everyone now that the kids are grown. Still, the memories of those Christmases when the kids were little and wide-eyed and full of wonder stay with us! 

I haven't gotten the furkids anything so far. I will be out on Monday and will get them new toys then. Happily, they think wrapping paper is just for them and will be sneaking bites of turkey tomorrow so ignorance is bliss!

Suzy


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