I had intended to write a piece about preparing the Thanksgiving meal, but life got in the way.

Anna Olson has some great recipes and ideas as does Entertaining With Beth and the Domestic Geek.  Check them out on YouTube and see what inspiration grabs you.  Don’t forget Sara’s Weeknight Meals – she has some great How To’s as well as guidance on avoiding mistakes.

Over on Magic Journeys, Mig Vee and Janell have been exploring new menu items and interesting holiday decor.  To be honest, I’m enjoying watching Disneyland’s Christmas decor appearing.  They always do the holidays right.

Miss Annie and I woke up to temps around 18 degrees today.  Winter seems to have arrived.

On the one hand we are enjoying being together and cuddling (sweet smelling kitty fur!) and on the other we are happy to not be out and about with the rampaging hoards of folks who are running about in a panic getting ready for The Holidays.

Did I mention I hate crowds?

I’m enjoying the few holiday catalogs I’ve received in the mail.  Contemplating what, if anything, I might send to those few folks I gift to.

During November and December, I find excuses not to get out and hit the mall or the big box stores and if I can pick up my groceries without going into the store, more the better.

The Holidays are what you make them.  Keep that in mind as you stress making your lists and setting up your calendar.

Here’s to a great cup of cocoa and a nice cookie or two.

In the last week or so I’ve had some interesting conversations with friends about the upcoming holidays.

Over all, most of us are pretty stressed, tired, budget crunched and not exactly looking forward to the potential mine field that often accompanies holiday gatherings.

What to do?

Many people approach the holidays with the mind set that they need to continue traditions that they either started “way back when” or grew up with.

This becomes more and more complicated when you blend families.

Some folks are not in a financial state to spend the money they used to – or simply do not want to – but don’t know quite what to do to make the holidays special.

Why not switch it up a bit?

Have you heard the story about the mother and daughter reminiscing about Grandma’s wonderful roast ham and how it was always made in that Special Pan?  They spent a lot of time discussing the preparation and the wonderful presentation but when it came to actually doing the recipe themselves, they felt it impossible.  Why?  Because they didn’t have the Special Pan.

When they explained this to Grandma (who was hoping to not have to make the wonderful roast ham that year), her reaction surprised and shocked them.

Turned out that the only reason the Special Pan was used was because it was the only one Grandma had Way Back When and she just continued to use it as the years rolled by.

Traditions are what happens when you continue to do something.  That doesn’t mean that the something needs to be repeated, it can be replaced.

Why not try a pot luck instead of making the entire dinner yourself?  Share the fun in the kitchen with others in the party who might actually want to participate.  Entertaining With Beth has a great Friendsgiving menu that is easy to put together and no one has to be a Chef to make one (or all) of the dishes.

Not really into a turkey or roast ham?  Why not change the menu to something that you would prefer?  I knew of a family who created an Italian feast for Christmas Eve. 

Why not really make it special and check out a local restaurant to see if they will be open for the holidays or if they will prepare a feast that you can take home?

When you compare the cost of cooking yourself to eating out, you might be surprised to find it isn’t what you expect.

Gift giving can also be an issue.  Lots and lots of stress surrounding budget and wish lists and crowds and traffic.

It may fly in the face of Tradition, but why not shop at home?  A good cup of coffee, slippers, some nice music in the background and a lot of online catalogs could provide you with what you are looking for without spending a lot.  (And if you use Ebates &/or Honey you could save even more!)

At the end of the day, how you celebrate the holidays is up to you.  There is nothing that says you can’t make them the kind of experience you want.  If you have family, bring them into the conversation and see what they would like to do.  You might be surprised to learn that maybe they want a break from the hustle and bustle too.

Food for thought.  🙂

You may have heard that Google+ will be closing by August 2019. While we understand that many users in this environment prefer not to join or engage at other social-media platforms, we would still like to make you aware of the other ways you can stay in touch with The Orange Plaid Cat.

Our Facebook page is currently active and you can always sign up for our newsletter or bookmark the site.  You can also set up an RSS feed with our page address.

I will be honest with you, there have been several conversations and a lot of contemplation on continuing with Facebook.

I have issue with being a commodity for use by someone else for their use and not mine. 

That being said, there may well come a time when I leave Facebook.  Should that time arrive, I will give as much advance notice as possible.

In the meantime, however, please do not hesitate to bookmark the site (both the blog and the Facebook page)&/or add the site to your RSS feed so you get notification of updates.

I would also encourage you to share our site with your friends.  Annie & I like to think we offer a different, quieter, place to visit and hopefully offer a touch of humor, along with the usual odds and ends.

Believe me, we appreciate your visits and your input.