Sunday, December 11, 2011

Well received

Lucy and Little Pink loved their new outfits, I'm happy to say, and my granddaughter was as sweet as she could be, trying all the clothes on each of her dolls, wanting to put her new pajamas on right now, and playing with the other little things we gave her. I felt so good about deciding to make her gifts.

While many children don't get a lot (or any) Christmas gifts, the ones on my list have multiple grandparents who have the desire and means to indulge their every whim. I expect many families in which spouses have divorced have the same issue. Giving experience gifts, such as the family museum membership we gave my husband's grandchildren, is a great solution and, if you ask me, giving handmade ones is another.

I will mail gifts to my two older grandchildren and that will be the end of the gift-giving season for my husband and me. It's not like my childhood Christmases at all, nor is it like his, but we've come to terms with it in our own ways and we're actually looking forward to just winding down, not being "on" all the time.

[There is a housefly buzzing around here somewhere that's driving me CRAZY! Would love to shoo it out to freeze in the cold, cold air we're not enjoying right now! Heh.]

One other highlight and then I'm going to knit for a while.

My daughter-in-law doesn't eat red meat, but my son enjoys a good burger or steak occasionally. He and I had discussed the menu and agreed that pizza (one Greek and one plain cheese) on Friday would work, and that a vegetarian lasagna would be great for Saturday.

Well, we have a freezer full of grass-fed beef, so I thought I'd surprise him with his favorite dish for dinner last night. I'm not quite sure how I was able to pull it off under his nose, but when I took a cheeseburger pie out of the oven, along with the lasagna, he looked as delighted as a little kid. His eyes, how they sparkled, his dimples so merry!

And it's easy-peasy to make, too. Mix up your favorite meat loaf using two pounds of ground beef, dump it in a pie crust, bake at 350° for an hour, top with a cup of grated cheddar, sprinkle with a couple glugs of Worcestershire and bake for 10 more minutes. Let it sit for a few minutes, then slice and gobble it down.

3 comments:

Shelby (@every_blessing) said...

Oh, that sounds delicious! We try to give experience gifts as often as possible -- when they are grown, they probably won't remember the video game they received, but they will remember the trip we took as a family.

mauishopgirl said...

That pie sounds delicious! I love home made gifts..they are the best in my humble opinion.

Anne M. said...

Homemade gifts are wonderful because of the time and energy that went into making something no one else in the world has. My mom used to make clothes for my dolls and I was in awe that she could sew something so tiny.

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