Happy New Year's Eve!
A sunny day, today, after several days of rain! An opportunity to dry out, a bit!
In the early afternoon, I went to the grocery store to pick up the groceries we had ordered, online, on Thursday. My favorite grocery clerk, Jennifer, brought out the groceries to the parking lot and loaded them into the trunk of the car. She asked me if I had seen the substitutions they had made and I said no (my cell phone is on its last legs and somethings aren't coming through/I can no longer open links, etc.) Anyway, the bag of frozen mixed berries we had wanted wasn't available and they had substituted a bigger bag of frozen mixed berries for the same price; while the container of mixed grapes (red/black/green; 3 lbs. for $5.99) was substituted with 1.9 lb. of green grapes for $2.98/lb (they were not part of the special sale), which came to $5.68. I was fine with that, but, Jennifer gave me $5.00 off my total, anyway! My grocery total came to $79.44. Today's groceries include some items bought especially for the upcoming almsgiving and for at least the first week in January. But, even so, I stayed within budget for this month!
Later in the afternoon, I worked on another holiday gift I am making. I have a couple of other gifts to make, but, they can be made after the New Year.
My doctor had sent me an email with the results of yesterday's blood tests. I was surprised to receive them so quickly! The results were mostly good, but, there were one or two results that require further testing. She will process the requests for those tests and probably have me do another blood test before my next appointment with her (scheduled for February). I am not going to worry too much about those not so good results for now. However, I know there are some steps I can take between now and when I next see my doctor to address those results. So, that's going on my goals for the New Year!
Neighbor S called in the early evening to remind me that she is bringing us dinner, tonight, complete with dessert. She asked if I could finish cooking a couple of the items she had prepared as she was planning to go out and wouldn't have time to finish cooking them (one item required boiling and another item required frying); I said I didn't mind it, at all! Then, around 7:00 p.m., neighbor S and her older daughter N brought us the feast that is pictured in the photo:
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New Year's Eve Dinner (Compliments of S and Family)
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A plate of dolmades (stuffed grape leaves, stuffed cabbage rolls, and stuffed bell pepper; on the bottom left), a bowl of a type of tuna salad topped with pomegranate seeds (in the middle), frozen kuftha (in the zippered plastic bag; the item that required boiling), and blinchik (stuffed pancake rolls, some filled with meat, some with a potato filling, and two with cheese; the item that required frying; they had even wrapped the cheese filled blinchik separately, because they know my daughter doesn't like cheese!). And for dessert, the plate on the top of the picture, with two gatas (cookies) and two "porcupines" - each is a two layer sponge cake with a condensed milk filling, frosting and a cake crumb coating! They brought us some of the porcupine cakes
last New Year's Eve, too!
Such a wonderful feast! I decided to keep the kuftha and the two cheese filled blinchik in the freezer for another day, as what they gave us was too much for one meal! Then, I fried the rest of the blinchik:
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| Blinchik (Stuffed Pancakes) After Frying |
I might have fried them a bit too much! But, they were delicious! We were too full after dinner to try the desserts - they are in the fridge for later!
My daughter and I are planning to greet the New Year with some sparkling apple cider (non-alcoholic, basically carbonated apple juice) and I will boil some milk until it boils over (for good luck! I bought a new container of milk, for the purpose, today), and make some milk rice (an auspicious food).
Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to spend New Year's Eve with my daughter
- Neighbor S and her family bringing us such a wonderful New Year's Eve dinner
- Getting the blood test results so quickly
- Being able to pick up groceries curbside
- All the blessings I've received this year!
Today's joyful activity was enjoying the lovely meal brought to us by our wonderful neighbors!
On this New Year's Eve, I wish each and every one of you who read my blog a Very Happy New Year! May the coming New Year bless you and yours with good health, prosperity, and happiness!
Happy New Year, Bless! X
ReplyDeleteWish you the same, Jules!
DeleteHappy New Year Bless - and here's to another year of blog-friendship
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Angela; looking forward to another year of blog-friendship! :)
DeleteHappy New Year, Bless!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Anne, to you and yours. Wish you all the best in 2022!
DeleteYou have wonderful neighbours bringing you such a delicious feast. Good to know your blood test results were mostly good, try not to worry about needing further tests, you are being well looked after. Happy New Year and wishing you good health and happiness in 2022.
ReplyDeleteThey are some of the best neighbors, Eileen. I consider them to be friends who happen to be my neighbors! I will not worry too much about the additional testing that is required. Time enough to cross that bridge when I come to it! :) Wish you and yours a very happy New Year, Eileen.
DeleteIt looks like you had a wonderful new year's eve dinner! I was asleep by 9, so I missed the festivities! I hope your follow up tests go well. My best to you and your daughter for this new year! Celie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Celie; wish you and yours all the best in 2022! :)
DeleteI have good friends and neighbors, but none of them bring me food like that. :) Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteYou need to relocate to my neighborhood, June! Then, you'll have a neighbor who will bring you rice and curries, if nothing else! :D Happy New Year to you, too; may you have a blessed year!
DeleteThat's good that you are staying under budget with your food purchases.
ReplyDeleteI went over for December as I was feeling a need to do some stocking up thinking I might start going to the store less until things calm down with the virus.
I am now more comfortable with what I have in the house in case things continue to spread badly and affect services, etc.
This morning I am in my happy place doing budgets and I also amended a spread sheet to reveal some number figures automatically when I open the sheet.
I'm so happy about that - lol.
What a wonderful feast from neighbor S. Such a nice variety of foods.
I was drooling over the plate of stuffed grape leaves and cabbage and pepper. They are right up my alley :). You were wise to freeze some of the foods for another day.
I made our traditional crab for our New Year's Eve dinner. I made crab cakes and also made some homemade coleslaw and oven fries. It made for a nice dinner and there are crab cakes for today too.
Happy New Year to you and your daughter.
You are wise to stock up now, Debra, even if it means going over budget. No saying how things will be for the next several weeks, if not months; we are already starting to see an impact on services with this current surge of the virus! I, too, stocked up on some canned garbanzo beans (5 cans, $.80@; reg. price $.89), yesterday.
DeleteI still need to work on this year's budget! I do it all the old fashioned way with pen and paper! :D
That was quite a feast neighbor S provided, wasn't it? Everything was so delicious! Your crab cakes sound delicious, too! I think I need to splurge out on some crab meat and try making some, myself! :)
Thank you, Debra; Happy New Year to you and your husband.
It sounds like you had a lovely New Year's Eve. Happy 2022!
ReplyDeleteYes, I did, Susanne. :) Happy New Year to you, too. :)
DeleteI hope that you will be able to correct those less appealing blood test results before the next visit. At least you know what to aim for and it was great to get results so swiftly. My big grumble is that often tests go unreported to us here and I don't know if they were good or if the results never got back to the doctor!
ReplyDeleteWell, that was some feast that your neighbour supplied and nice to have enough for more than one meal. I'm glad I don't have the tradition of boiling milk over, I do enough cleaning up of boiled over potatoes, thank you!
Our family visit got derailed once again. This morning DS e-mailed that he has a sore throat and cold. The virus is rampant in their city. Still, we are warm and housed and fed, so we won't complain too much when so many are suffering. I just hope the rest of the family don't get sick.
Thank you, Bushlady. Overall better health is what I am aiming for! Some of my health issues might be hereditary, but, there are some environmental factors that I can, and should, control. The lab I go to has sent an email that it is now possible to register online with them to have access to test results on their website. I haven't tried that, yet, but, I might do so, soon. I wonder if your lab offers the same service?
DeleteIt was a very generous dinner that neighbor S provided and I am very grateful to her and her family, especially since these are not dishes I tend to prepare for myself.
As for things boiling over, not only did I let the milk boil over, intentionally, the pot of rice I was cooking to make milk rice decided it had to boil over, too! That was done quite unintentionally! So now, I have to clean that particular side of the stove! I apply a paste of baking soda and water, let it sit for a few minutes and then, wipe it off. Usually, the burnt on food comes off without a lot of scrubbing.
Oh, Bushlady, I'm so sorry that your family visit has to be postponed, again! I hope that what your DS has is simply a cold/sore throat and nothing more, and I hope the rest of the family don't get it. But, you have the right attitude to count your blessings. I hope that you and your DS and family will be able to visit and be together in the near future. Something to look forward to!
Wish you and yours a very happy New Year, Bushlady. (((HUGS)))
Happy New Year Bless. Sending best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous new year for you and your daughter.
ReplyDeleteThat really was a lovely feast from your friend. It's so generous of her.
I'm sorry to hear that some of your blood results need additional testing but at least your doctor is responding quickly so you won't have too long to wait for the new results. I'm praying that they'll be okay.
Are you holding the almsgiving in your home as you used to?
Thank you, Eileen; Happy New Year to you, too, and may you and your loved ones be blessed with good health, happiness, and prosperity, this year!
DeleteIt really was a wonderful feast from S and family! I am so blessed to have them as my neighbors!
Yes, I'm grateful that the test results came so quickly and the doctor will be requesting the additional tests that will be required for further analysis. In the meantime, I will be renewing my intentions to live a healthier life style!
Yes! I'm holding the almsgiving in my home as usual! My daughter will help with the cooking (it was her idea). We are going to scale it way back! Only 2 monks (who have been vaccinated and have had their boosters); just my daughter and I (and maybe friend R); we will all wear our masks (except when eating, of course, but, the monks eat first and we will have our masks on while they eat and we will eat only after they have gone, which is our custom); we will have all three air purifiers going and have a couple of windows open for ventilation. I really wanted to have the house blessed and I like the idea of starting off the new year with a blessing ceremony and almsgiving! :)
So glad that you are having an in-person almsgiving and blessing again this year. Such traditions, especially with a spiritual element, mean so much. Hope it goes really well.
DeleteThank you so much, Lady Ella. I was feeling rather bad about not having an almsgiving in 2021 as well and my daughter suggested we hold one at the beginning of 2022. I feel the need for such spiritual traditions. They replenish me. :)
DeleteI just stopped by to wish you and yours a happy New Year, I have got out of the habit of reading blogs and blogging, my new goal for this year is to get back into the swing! I will work my way back in catching up, it is so good to see you are still going strong.
ReplyDeleteSharon (from NZ)
Sharon! How lovely to hear from you, again! Happy New Year! I've just popped over to your new blog and left a message! :D So glad to see that you are blogging, again! All the best to you in 2022!
DeleteOoh I forgot to mention, that dinner looks so delicious. 😁
ReplyDeleteHope your next blood test goes all well.
Happy New Year, Nil! :) Dinner was delicious! I made kiribath at midnight and we had that with seeni sambol and I had a little katta sambol, as well! (Then, had heartburn, because I really can't eat a lot of chili, these days!)
DeleteThank you; I hope so, too!
Hope you are taking a few days for yourself before your classes start!
I assume some of the blinchik are in the freezer for my visit!!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to begin the new year with such a loving gesture from a friend! Let's hope it bodes well for a fabulous 2022. All the best, Bless.
Oh, yes, Lady Ella, your share is in the freezer! :D
DeleteIt was a lovely way to end 2021 and start 2022! Today, more friends brought over a tray of Sri Lankan New Year's goodies! Definitely a good start to the year! Wish you and yours a wonderful year ahead, Lady Ella. :)