The Holiday Stress

Food - The Holidays can be a very stressful time of the year for most people. They should, however, be a time filled with friends and family enjoying each others company.

We live in a world that is filled with enormous amounts of pressures, some of which are brought on by ourselves, and the Holidays tend to add to the pressure. The stress usually begins with Thanksgiving, (although most people say this is their favorite holiday) for those who are hosting it, it can be somewhat stressful. But the real stress comes at Christmas time, and the weeks leading up to it. There is shopping that needs to be done, a meal that needs to be planned, cards that need to be sent out, the house that needs cleaned....and let's not forget, the stress of "What is everyone going to wear to Church?"

It needs not be filled with stress though. Rather, we can choose to slow down and enjoy it! We just need to remember what the Holidays mean, rather than what we turn them into.

If you're going to a party, here is a recipe for some Crab Turnovers. There, one less thing to plan.

Crab Turnovers
Ingredients:
3 T. unsalted butter
3 T. flour
1 C. Milk
1 lb. crabmeat, decartliged, drained. (I used the pure white crabmeat from the meat department, (not imatation) but it can range anywhere from 8.99-15.99 per can.)
2 T. green onions, chopped
2 T. parsley
8 sheets filo dough
Cayenne Pepper to taste
salt and pepper to taste

In medium saucepan, melt butter over med. heat, stirring with a wire whisk add flour and milk; bring to boil and cook until it thickens. Remove from heat, add crabmeat, onions, parsley, and salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. Let cool to room temp.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter cookie sheet.
(see below instructions for time saving and fancier versions) Take 1 filo sheet 12 x 16" and lay it out on counter, tear or cut the sheet in half veritically. Brush each smaller sheet with melted butter. Fold it vertically in half and then width wise in half. You will end up with about 4 x 6" square. Brush 1" of the right side of the square with melted butter and fold this part over. Take a scoop of crab mixture and place in the center of the square, spreading it out a bit. Fold the square to make a triangle, pressing seams together. Repeat this step until all 8 sheets of filo are gone. Bake for 15-25 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Remove from oven, let cool slightly and serve.

(For a time saving version of these crab turnovers, you can buy the Wonton skins or wrappers in the produce department of most grocery stores. Take one Wonton wrapper and brush edges with melted butter, place crab mixture in center and fold diagonally to make a triangle; bake until slightly golden brown. For a fancier version ~ take one Wonton wraper, cut into about 1/8 inch strips to use as ties, set aside. Take one Wonton wrapper and brush edges with melted butter, place crab mixture in center and pull up all sides to make a purse, tie with set aside Wonton strip.) Bake as until slightly golden brown.

Dish - The wonderful world of...airports.
As I make my way back to the land of "colder," from California, I arrive at the airport early enough to "people watch." Whenever I am at LAX I always think I will have my brush with someone famous. My husband had a brush with the famous model, Claudia Shiffer, he literally brushed her back-side. (Should I be worried about this, or was it really an accident as he states?, 'I guess my 'back side' just wasn't good enough.'" (Sometimes I just crack myself up!)

My brush, however, was not quite so seductive, nor did I even realize I was having a brush. Mine was a conversation with Sandra Lee, the star of Semi-Home Cooking Show, and I didn't even know who she was. ("I, I, I, didn't know who I was with," as said by, The God Mother - me.) We were discussing, none other than food, and she told me she has her own cooking show. I was limited on time and didn't want to insult her by admitting that I didn't have a clue who she was, so I did what any "nice Mid-Western" gal does, I faked that I knew who she was, and upon landing home I immediately Googled the Food Network Channel for a face that matched hers. Does it qualify as a brush with fame if you didn't know it at the time?

Top 3 reasons I love getting to the airport really early when I travel:
# 3. Set-up camp.
# 2. Visit all the stores that intrigue me, and holler my wallet by name.
And the # 1 reason: People watch.

As I partake in my delight of the views that surround me, I am acutely aware that there are some really beautiful people walking the face of this earth (I am not amongst this camp.) There are some very average looking people (I am in this camp.) And then there are some "unique looking people."


Where we fall in this ranking is purely a matter of genes and luck. The older I get, the more I see the beauty in everyone (hence the category "unique looking," rather than odd, unattractive, or ugly.) Maybe that is a testament to the adage: "The older one gets, the wiser one gets.

"My husband and I spotted an older gentlemen and his wife (in their 70's) and my husband said to me: "That's me when I get old, and there you are wearing those old lady pants." To which I replied: "I hope we still travel when we get old, and you can carry my Vera Bradley Bag for me, just like he is for his wife." How cute is that! "Oh the wonderful world of travel!"

I'm back!

Baby it's cold outside, but not quite as cold as those who leave in the east....
Ice storms leave New Englanders in dark
Those northeast winds really began to blow and than it started to snow and now it has turned into an ice storm, leaving thousand of people cold and in the dark.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/winter/2008-12-14-northeast-ice-storm-power-outages_N.htm

Embellish - Time spent with cats is never wasted.