What's for Christmas dinner

Most of the food is ready. I dashed into Giant Eagle this morning--ran out of butter and milk of all things. Don't like that store, but it was close. I thought I'd beat the crowd since it was still dark. For our Christmas Eve dinner we're having roast turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, colorful green beans (with red peppers and white mushrooms, onions and bacon), carrots with a dab of honey and herbs, and my daughter is bringing a sugar free cherry pie with real whipped cream. Yes, I know it's not terribly original, but the left-overs are good. Church service is at 9 p.m. at Lytham Road. Then tomorrow we're serving communion at 10 a.m., so I'm serving two kinds of soup--broccoli and chili (already made and ready to be warmed up) with assorted spreads on bread and crackers, a few sweet sour meatballs, and probably some homemade applesauce if I have enough apples. I think we'll skip a rich dessert since none of us really need it. Only one member of the family lost weight in 2009, and the rest of us are enlarging our footprint and our sitprint.

I've had a real problem with my chili. For years, I made it with Brooks chili beans which has a nice sauce and flavoring. That was a tip from my mother-in-law 50 years ago--she never used anything else and always made fabulous chili. After 3-4 stores and not finding it, I bought another brand. The beans were pale, the sauce tasteless, so I've added a can of dark red kidney beans, and now it looks like something a new bride would make with the neighbors pitching in.

Now all I have to do is shift a little clutter and vacuum. I woke up about 1:30 thinking of everything I needed to do, but most of it I've forgotten. Oh well. I never have been a list maker.