Eastern Utah
EMAIL ME AT: mgypsy97 at aol dot com

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Gift Wrapping

There was a time when I loved to wrap presents, but not anymore.  I have had a difficult  time getting started but this morning I decided I had to begin somewhere.  I've wrapped two gifts and I'm tired of it.  I'm lucky I don't go really hog wild with buying presents!

They're Back!    I decided to hang both hummingbird feeders from the front porch awning, as it is easy to take them down for cleaning and refilling.  I'd need a ladder if I hung them outside the kitchen window.  The birds have discovered the feeders and are gradually returning to make me smile.

Wouldn't you know it but after the quick shopping trip I made this morning, I'm starting to realize all the little things I forgot to get.   Gift tags, and things like that.  It means another trip, but certainly not for the rest of today as the crowds and traffic can only increase throughout the day.

Last night I watched a program I had recorded of performances by Victor Borge.  From the time he was a young man until he reached old age, he was one of the funniest performers I've ever seen.   The show was seen on public TV, of course, where some of the best programming originates.

I'm looking at a really huge and really dark cloud making it's way over my house.  It's not the first that I've seen today, and I hope it's laden with snow on it's way to the Lake Tahoe ski resorts. 

UPDATE:  I'm breathing fire!
I'm having my sister and her husband for lunch on the 19th and having a bit of anxiety over what to serve.  This morning I bought some pork tamales, and just heated one for myself to see if they are tasty.  They are superbly tasty, but the first bite took my breath away.   I love them this way, but wish they were just a tad less hot.  Now I wish I had steamed two for me.  Mmmmm good! 

I used to make my own tamales when I lived in Virginia.  Mine were smaller than these, and they were a pain to make but were delicious.  Once I made 75 tamales and left them in the steamer - I went out for a short time and when I got back, my son Joe and his friend Frank (about 14 yrs old maybe) had eaten most of the tamales.  You can't underestimate the appetite of 14 year old boys!  All that work, and they left me only 4 or 5 of them! 

I think you can buy the masa already prepared here in California, but Northern Virginia was another story, and I had to make everything from scratch.   I also learned to make empanadas from a local Peruvian woman, and I don't know which I liked more - tamales or empanadas.    I sure don't cook like that anymore.


7 comments:

  1. Boy I sure wish you did cook like that now. I'd be right over to do a taste test!!

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  2. I like tamales, but I sure do hate to make them suckers. The best tamales are like the ones you made in Virginia......made bare handed.
    Now them hot ones, you can have all them you want, just leave me a few moderate ones.

    Ha Ha to wrap'n packages an' go'n back to the store for labels. Duck tape makes perfect labels. Nobody looks at labels anyhows....other than to see if'n the package is for them.

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  3. Make your own labels. They can be fancy or plain, what every you chose. It is for identifying who the gift is for, nobody cares what they look like as long as the name is legible.

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  4. Anymore I just write the To and Froms on the gift itself with a permanent marker so its large enough to see. No complaints from anyone LOL!

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  5. I feel the same way about wrapping, I used to really enjoy all the wrappings and bow and such. Now give me a gift bag and their lucky if I use tissue paper. LOL The boys really don't care about that anyway.

    I haven't had tamales in years love them but not the hot ones. We made then once and they came out pretty good.

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  6. Gypsy...you have put me to shame :(

    Here I am a Mexican-American and have no clue how to make tamales and you have actually made them from scratch! I will have to tell my mother in the morning (she can't make tamales either) lol :D

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  7. We are just back from a nine day cruise and gift wrapping is top of the lists as our first Xmas guests will be arriving before we know it.

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