Success is MINE!

I am the only one that’s horribly behind this Christmas?  Is it wrong to just hand out money and wish everyone well?

It took a phone call with a good friend of mine today to remind me that THURSDAY is Christmas Eve, which is when my entire family gets together to celebrate mid-day.  And I'm two hours away from them.  On Christmas Day a lot of them scatter to in-laws and there’s a much smaller group that gets together again for dinner and conversation.

So, I thought I had two days to start my shopping and now I have only one - tomorrow.  BIG GIANT SMILE.

I was in the post office the other day in yet another long line and watched this girl at the counter.  She was standing on her toes in snow boots the entire time.  I became intrigued, wondering if she was going to walk away like that and what that would look like and why on earth was she doing that.   She was average height and had no problem seeing over the counter and once she was done, she lowered to her flat-footed state and walked away.  Things that make you go Hmmm.

Surprisingly, another thing I’ve observed is a lot of people being good Samaritans and letting cars go ahead of them in traffic.  That’s nice to see around this time of year.

I’m proud to announce I accomplished something really wonderful here at MM Headquarters.  I worked hard, I persevered.   Blood, sweat and tears went into the making of…

Zuppa Di Fagioli Con la Pasta.  In other words, soup.  You can click on the red text for the recipe.  I used navy beans and wheat pasta and what I love is that it's so economical and healthy but feels indulgent.  It has that "sticks to your bones" feel about it.  I added crunchy garlic bread with really good olive oil and lots of bits of garlic.  Yummy!


It‘s outstanding and I‘m feeling all proud of myself.  I’ve made this three days in a row because it keeps disappearing.  That’s a good sign, right?  

I’m making some now for my neighbors who live below me.  I bought a pretty ceramic bowl with lid and I’m giving it to them as a Christmas gift and including the recipe.  

Last year I made cannelloni for them and put it on a Christmas plate.  I think it’s nice to have a homemade meal that’s already prepared after long days of working and running around doing holiday stuff.

UPDATE - I just delivered the soup and they've already called saying they love it and are eating it now and will be taking it for lunch tomorrow.  

They also reminded me how much they loved
the cannelloni last year.  HINT HINT

I'd say that makes it a success!