Debbie Macomber's Blog, page 32
December 21, 2013
Snow on the Mountain & a Sheep
Our office Christmas luncheon was in my home this year. We shared one of my family’s favorite meals, Snow on the Mountain. You build your meal by piling it full with good things, starting with cooked rice on the bottom, chicken in gravy on top of that, and lots more tasty things that have a crunch or piquant flavor, and finish off with a little grated coconut on top (the snow on top of your food mountain). It was tasty and I was glad to introduce a family favorite to my staff.
We also had a gift exchange and I was thrilled with the gift from my staff: a yarn bowl in the shape of a sheep complete with hand spun yarn inside! I am grateful we could share this special time together and relax in the midst of the Christmas fray. I wish all of you a small respite as you prepare for the holidays!
Here's the recipe for Snow on the Mountain if you'd like to try it with your family.
Ingredients:
6-8 eight cups cooked rice
Chicken in gravy. (I usually stew a chicken, take the meat off the bone, and use the broth for making the gravy.)
12 oz shredded cheddar cheese
4 sliced tomatoes
2 cups chopped raw onions
11 oz crispy Chow Mien noodles
1 cup sliced celery
7 oz sliced green olives (or black if preferred)
1 lb can crushed pineapple
1 cup sliced almonds
1 small package coconut
Line of up dishes in the order shown and make your mountain!
December 13, 2013
My Grandkids
I can’t believe how much my grandkids have grown, and this picture just brings it home. In my heart, they are still the babies and toddlers who first stole my heart. But, I’m also proud of the young men and women they’ve become. I treasure the time we continue to spend together, making memories.
December 10, 2013
Christmas Tea Parties
As you might have already suspected, I love Christmas. I readily admit that I tend to overdo it a bit with all those Christmas trees, the multiple Nativity sets, and the outside lights. Our home is never more lovely than it is at this time of year and so it's only natural to want to share it with my friends--hence my Christmas teas (as in more than one)! Two such teas took place last week and one more is scheduled for this week.
The first tea was for my knitting friends. We indulged in the traditional holiday goodies and showed off our latest knitting projects. The tea on Friday was with local authors. I am friends with some of the most talented and amazing authors who came to share the spirit of Christmas with me. This week is my annual tea for the people I swim with, aptly dubbed my Swimmers Tea. It’s one of the few times we see each other with our street clothes on! There's no better time of year to gather with friends, is there?
December 3, 2013
Thanksgiving 2013
As it is with many families, our Thanksgiving was a time to gather with family and friends and share the many aspects of God's goodness to us. My daughter, Jody, and I started on Tuesday afternoon, planning the menu and then shopping and cooking. I lost count of the number of grocery store runs we made.
Wayne and I have an on-going “discussion” over which method tastes best: the deep fried turkey or the stuffed one I bake and tend with TLC. As a result, we cooked two turkeys! And while the dinner was one of our best, it was the time we took to reflect how very blessed we are with our family that will stay on our hearts. I hope your gatherings were equally memorable!
My son Ted and I horsing around with rosemary in my teeth. You can see the deep fried turkey in the background.
November 25, 2013
Cherished Mother-Daughter Time
One of the many joys I have is spending time with my daughters. Our lives get so busy that it’s far too easy to let time slip away. Jody and Adele are working moms with busy families so finding a few days for a get-away was no small task. Because we all had commitments on Saturday we booked a hotel room in downtown Seattle and spent the night in a hotel connected to Westlake Center. We shopped, we dined out, we sat up in bed and watched TV and talked well into the night. And, of course, we laughed. And laughed and laughed. We made memories.
November 15, 2013
Two Fun Gals
This photo shows me and two fun ladies, Heidi from Arizona and her friend Teena, from Minnesota, who put their families and responsibilities on hold to visit Cedar Cove (aka Port Orchard) for a fun girlfriends weekend. Teena and Heidi checked the Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce webpage for activities and saw that our little town was having a chocolate festival (now you know why I live here!) and decided to fly in for the weekend. Their visit coincided with my signing at our newly refurbished Fred Meyer store on Saturday. It was great to meet them. Thanks for visiting our town, Teena and Heidi!
November 5, 2013
Birthday Thanks
You are all such wonderful blessings in my life. Thank you for taking the time to wish me a happy birthday last month. Your signs and words truly touched me and made my day very special.
My staff planned a wonderful surprise party for me in my yarn store. Readers, family members, friends, and yarn shoppers joined in as we ate cake and watched the video you all worked so hard to help create.
My staff even took a video of me watching your video! They sure are sneaky! Here's the video of me at the party:
Here's the full birthday video with all of your lovely photos:
From the bottom of my heart, thank you. It was truly a special day.
November 1, 2013
What a Week!
This has been a week to celebrate—and yes, I know it was my birthday last week—but a number of really fun things have happened. First off . . . trumpets, please . . . I finished writing the next Rose Harbor Inn series book due out in 2014.
Secondly, our good friends Gary and Marsha Roche, are visiting from Pennsylvania and we were on the Seattle waterfront playing tourist and feasting on seafood, and third . . .and this is big . . . our local library, after undergoing 2 months of renovation, has reopened, I just returned from the ribbon cutting ceremony. The library celebrated with wine, women and song. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, coffee, cupcakes and cheers. It was wonderful to see fellow author, Gregg Olsen, at the event as well. And Sunday is the Seahawk football game. Yup, it's been a grand week.
October 23, 2013
On the Set of Home & Family
I had such a great time on the set of Hallmark's Home and Family daytime talk show this week. The hosts, Cristina Ferrare and Mark Steines, were great and I got to sit next to celebrity chef Duff Goldman and meet his mom. But that wasn't the best part. For his segment on the show, Duff and his mother barbecued ribs, and I got to to sample the goods on air—they were fabulous. I got our picture together, and if I'm wearing a big grin it's not really me smiling, it's barbecue sauce smeared across my lips!
October 16, 2013
The Most Famous Person I've Never Heard of
I had one of those God moments on my flight back from Fayetteville, Arkansas. When I changed planes in Dallas, heading to Seattle, a nice young man was in the seat next to me. We started up a conversation and I learned his name was Justin York and that he’s the guitar player in a rock band called Paramore. Seeing that I mostly listen to mellow music I didn't recognize the name and joked, "You might be the most famous person I've never heard of." He laughed and claimed it might be true. Later, when I took out the page proofs for my next novel to read over during the flight, Justin asked me what I did. I explained that I was a novelist, and he joked, "You just might be the most famous person I've never heard of too." It turns out that my granddaughters are HUGE fans of the group Paramore and the parents of several of the band members read my books. How do you like that for serendipity?
