New Year, New Brain, New Me

Dear Sweet Birds - Thanks!

As a child I can remember at least a few times, waking up on New Years Morning, and looking forward to the planned trip to gramma Monosso's house for sweet bird treats. I didn't know what the sweet birds were, or why they came. So I asked my dad. He told me they were spirits that bring good luck and blessings along with a sweet treat or two for the New Year.

So we would show up at grammas only to be overwhelmed by all sweets we got to choose from. Baked goods. Full size candy bars. It was definitly a treat. So 2 years ago, I decided to continue this tradition with my family. This year, I woke to homemade carmel popcorn which is delicious and hard to stop eating, and homemade rum chocolate truffles topped with chopped nuts. Top that with a hot cup of coffee, and we have the start of a hopefully wonderful year ahead!

On New Years Eve, I had big plans to stay at home. My husband works and I don't really care to go out anyways, I'm such a homebody as a mother and that's fine with me. The past few months have been stressful for me, and I wondered how I would make it through them. I have come to terms with things (I think) and am ready to put all of it behind me and move forward. This is not a New Years resolution as I feel those are a waste of time and a pathetic excuse to convince yourself of something that probably won't be. I've been mulling over this for some time now.

So anyways, I tried a new recipe for our New Years Eve dinner. Ham and lentil soup in the crockpot. Add veggies, herbs, tomato paste, and chicken broth. Cook on high 2 hours, low on 6 hours and you have dinner. I made a fresh batch of dinner rolls to go with it. Really, Mia helped me with them. I taught her how to knead bread and for a 4 year old, I was pretty surprised how well she did. A little reminding here and there to NOT use your fingers and we have some well kneaded bread. My Mia. Dinner was a big hit and sorry I didn't get a picture. This is one for the box.