December Daily 25

This is a quirky post but it has been a quirky day. I think we have slipped from being discouraged to being positively what my mother would call "punchy". It's all become funny.

It wasn't so funny last night - Baby Bean managed to have an even worse night. He was up from 11 until 12:30 from then until 3:30, he literally was up every ten minutes. I would get him down, start to doze myself and then, the second I achieved sleep, he would wake up crying. Poor guy was feeling terrible and just couldn't get any comfort. He finally slept a little between 3:30 and 6. I started the day feeling like I had been hit by a truck.

We took Pk to daycare (she seemed to be feeling better and her sitter was o.k. with her coming since everyone was infected anyway). I tried to nap with Baby Bean but didn't get very far. I finally gave up and decided that a sleep in the car might work so I could get an ice cap at the same time. Two very long phone calls later, I had Baby Bean asleep in my arms (of course, since I was in the middle of phone calls, I couldn't go and sleep myself). We drove into town, picked up Pk's swim report card, got the ice cap and came home.

The nap seemed to do Baby Bean some good because he was in a good mood when he woke up. Dh and I decided that there was some last minute cooking we would try to do and see how Baby Bean did in his Jolly Jumper. He was super!

One tradition that we have is a Christmas Eve meat pie. I don't make a proper French Canadian Tortiere since we are not fans of pork or lamb in a pie. This is comfort food at its best and a recipe I learned from my mother in law. We have it every Christmas Eve and it has become a big part of Christmas tradition in my family.

Christmas Meat Pie

2 c flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 c shortening

1/3 c water

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 1/2 c water

2 Tbsp beef bovril

1 Tbsp corn starch

2 Tbsp cold water

salt and pepper to taste

Combine the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening until there are lumps the size of peas. Add the water and mix until a sticky dough forms. Divide the dough in half. Lightly flour a board or counter. Roll half the dough and use to line a 9 inch pie plate (the deeper, the better).

Scramble fry the ground beef and onion until the meat is cooked through. Combine the bovril, the 1 1/2 c water and pour over the meat. Combine the cornstarch and cold water and pour into the meat mixture. Boil gently until the liquid thickens. If too runny, add a bit more cornstarch and water mixture until a gravy forms. Pour into the lined pie plate. Roll out the other half of the dough and cover the top of the pie. Trim and press the edges. Lightly brush with beaten egg and bake at 375 in preheated oven for roughly 45 minutes. My husband loves this with gravy and horseradish. We usually serve it with a green salad and cooked veg.
We also baked more mincemeat tarts (can you tell that they are a big family tradition?) We wil have these Christmas Day at s.i.l.s, Boxing Day here at home and on New Year at my parents' house.
Of course, this being the Christmas of Plan B., we couldn't go through a day that was entirely smooth, even with the sleepless night. Just as I was getting Baby Bean down for his (cross your fingers) afternoon nap, there was a sound in the living room like a cutlery drawer being dumped. I had to check it out and it was our tree. The tree stand had mysteriously developed a large crack and had dumped the tree, ornaments and all. We ended up having to phone around and drive 30 minutes to find a tree stand that was in stock. This Christmas is beginning to feel decidedly jinxed.
The last few pics are here because I had to share. Pk's room is chronically a disaster and we had been talking about cleaning it up. Dh announced to me that he was going to clean up her room this afternoon. I had to laugh - her dollhouse was all exactly arranged with everything in the correct room. The floor of Pk's bedroom, however, was a disaster. He does tend to fixate on a little thing while everything else is in chaos...

I am worried that the secular Christmas is taking over in our house. Pk got the Rudolph movie from the library and has fallen head-over-heels in love. She is running around singing the Rudolph song and wanted me to print her off some colouring pages, which she spend a considerable amount of time working on. I would like to shift the focus from Rudolph and Santa back to Baby Jesus. Anyone have a good suggestion for a movie? While I don't think that movies are the only way, if I could grab her attention with one, it would be a good thing to build upon. If only the Veggietales did a full Nativity Story....