Happy Boxing Day!

You didn't think I'd let 2021 end without checking in one more time, did you? (Maybe even twice, if I can swing it.) Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and either got to see their family or had family who understood why they couldn't see them... (Who ever thought that nasal swabs would become the most desired stocking-stuffer?)

All's well here. I'm happy to have Julie home for a few weeks on break, and we've even managed to have the whole family together once or twice, when Steph's and Pete's schedules allow.

Andy and I are still not going anywhere—no restaurants, no movies, only medical appointments and necessary shopping. Luckily we are both mostly homebodies by nature, so we don't mind. As much as I'd love to see, for instance, West Side Story, on the big screen, I can't imagine sitting for two hours shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers (even masked!) in a windowless room. No way would I relax and enjoy the movie. And even more so for indoor dining, where everyone would be unmasked—no thanks! I would probably try to shovel all my food down in record time just to get out of there. And luckily I don't have any pressing need to get on a plane, as that also gives me the howling fantods. (I know others feel comfortable doing this stuff, and I'm not judging you—as I hope you're not judging me! We all have different comfort zones.)

So what have I been doing? Just the usual—working (I owe you a post sharing some recently published books I edited), watching movies (recently saw and enjoyed Nobody, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Blade Runner 2049, No Time to Die, and Dune), and cooking (one recipe appears below, and I have lots more to post one of these days!). I haven't done much reading for pleasure lately. More and more I find that after reading all day for work, I don't really feel like reading when evening rolls around. I did recently read Stoner by John Williams, which was beautiful but very sad. I continue to do loads of nonograms, plus all my usual crosswords, sudokus, kenkens, acrostics, and other word and number puzzles. I do nonograms for a few minutes here and there all day long, in between chunks of work; the other puzzles I do in the evening with a glass of wine, in my comfy chair, wrapped in the afghan my mom knitted for me to take to college, with Phoebe on my lap. I've recently discovered some surprisingly good boxed wines, which are very economical and handy when you want only one glass (or only one more glass after the bottle from dinner is gone...). So far my favorites are House Wine Original Red Blend and Bota Box Nighthawk Black Rich Red Wine Blend. (I only recently learned that bota is the word for those Spanish leather slings that hold wine, so I think "Bota Box" is a clever name.)

Speaking of Phoebe: She has one eye that gets goopy, and she snores. The vet said she needed to take L-lysine for respiratory support. I get all my cat food and litter from Chewy.com, and they have always been amazing in every way. So I ordered some little lysine-infused treats, but she wouldn't eat them. (Calvin, on the other hand, thought they were grand! Oh, but yesterday I rubbed some of the treats inside the packaging from the lox Andy had on his bagel and Phoebe did gobble those down!) Then I ordered some salmon-flavored lysine gel that you have to rub on her face or paw so she'll lick it off, and I also ordered some droplets that you have to try to squirt into her mouth, if all else failed. Well, luckily the gel worked—she seems kind of pissed every time one of us ambushes her with a gob of this stuff and then she has to clean herself again, but at least she's ingesting it. So I asked Chewy if I could return the unopened bottle of droplets, since they were kind of pricey and I didn't need them after all. They said that they would give me a refund but that I could feel free to donate the droplets to a local animal shelter! Which I thought was really swell of them. The lovely customer service person I was emailing with asked to see a photo of Phoebe, so I sent this one:

Fast-forward a few weeks, when I got a wrapped package in the mail from Chewy. They had someone paint Phoebe's portrait for me! Just like that! 

Isn't that gorgeous? Also, I have a friend whose dog died. She asked Chewy if she could return some unopened food. As with me, they said they would refund her and she could donate the food. And the next day they sent her a bouquet of flowers and a condolence card hand-signed by the people in the office! Talk about doing everything right. I highly recommended Chewy even before all this nice stuff—now I can't imagine shopping anywhere else. Also, their prices are good, and it's obviously way more convenient to have 40 pounds of cat litter, bags of dry food, and cases of canned food dropped at my front door than to have to go to the store and then schlep it all home.

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I intend to post a bunch of wonderful new recipes, but for now I'll leave you with just this one, in case any of you had turkey and stuffing for Christmas. (Do people even do that? I have no idea.) I made these after Thanksgiving and they came out great! I still have some in the freezer. The stuffing and eggs are the main attraction—you could leave out the turkey, and you could certainly add any veg you like, like chopped broccoli or mushrooms. They're sort of like mini frittatas, but with stuffing.

Leftover Stuffing Muffins

3 cups leftover cooked stuffing
1 cup chopped cooked turkey 
4 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
6 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk (I used oat milk.)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a muffin tin. 
Put the stuffing, turkey, and spinach in a bowl and stir gently to combine without breaking up the stuffing too much. Divide the stuffing mixture evenly into the 12 greased muffin cups. Do not pack it down.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Pour the egg mixture evenly into the muffin cups.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and crispy on the top. Allow the muffins to cool slightly, then run a knife around the edges to loosen and remove each muffin. Serve warm.

Comments

[Elena]

I love Chewy.com, too, but had no idea they were THAT wonderful! I'm glad to see that we aren't the only ones who are staying out of public places as much as possible. But sadly, I am much more judgmental than you about those who seem to think the pandemic is either over or no big deal. I'm also spending way too much time at home with my word puzzles these days, but I'm happy enough that way.

[Karen]

Oh, well, I am VERY judgmental about those folks! I'm trying to be aware that there are people who are just as concerned as I am but who have determined that they can safely go out and about a little more.

[Sue]

Love Chewy!!

[Jinjer]

I wasn't sure if Chewy was a ligit place or not but thanks to your post, I know that it is! I'm in awe of them sending that painting and flowers and stuff to their customers.

Also, that picture of Phoebe is too cute and I had to laugh at the visual of her being ambushed with a gob of that stuff.

Those stuffing muffins sound so good right now! I wish I had some leftover stuffing. lol

[Margaret]

Those muffins! Yum. Being me, I would be compelled to load the top with cheese and then melt it. :) I am close to your level of caution especially with my grandson here. I've been doing grocery pick up for months and mostly keep out of stores and restaurants. When I don't have a choice (picking up my mom's medication) I always wear a KN95

[Karen]

At the original recipe she mentions cheese! I just wasn't sure how that would go with stuffing...
I had been wearing cloth masks, but now I wear KN95s when I do venture anywhere.

[Sharon]

My experience with Chewy has been wonderful as well. Glad to see your recent posts. We are actually in Boston this week and I thought of you. My first time here and having a great time! Hope all is well with you!