Holiday Open Houses

As Bruce and I were doing errands today, we stopped in for a couple of Holiday Open houses going on in the neighborhood. We checked them out last year and we were totally impressed. Impressed enough to head back for more this year. We started at the West Seattle Nursery that was also celebrating the grand opening of their new greenhouse.

No pun intended but it's very green. Some of the exterior is made with recycled-content fibercement board and salvaged materials with high-efficiency LED lighting.

All rainwater is kept on site with a combination of permeable asphalt paving and rain gardens. It was huge and it has really increased their space. (There was an old house next door that they demolished.)

They still have the wonderful gift shop that put you in the mood to start doing Christmas shopping.

They are ready for you to purchase a Christmas tree or any other outdoor festive item you might need.

There was a wreath making class going on while we were there.

I loved looking at all their decorated Christmas trees throughout the nursery grounds.

This year they also had Santa waiting for someone to come sit on his lap. I was tempted but restrained myself.

The food at this holiday Open House was incredible again, same as last year, with a delicious salmon spread, bread, crackers, olives, pickles, pasta salad, deviled eggs, veggies, cheese, sliced turkey and a delicious fruit and nut snack mixture.

I think their refreshments are worth the visit alone. It's like a lunch, actually. I also like the complimentary espresso provided by Magna Cum Latte, who returned again this year.

This is an Open House you can stay for quite a long time because of the beautiful surroundings, wonderful food and beverage, and just an overall festive atmosphere. But we had to move on to the next one down the street at one of our favorite and often visited business establishments, True Value hardware store.

We love this store and go here a lot. I recently just bought more Christmas lights and decorative lights while getting the house ready for Thanksgiving. They always have the best selection of everything here for a being such a small, neighborhood store. They also had refreshments for their holiday Open House including hot apple cider, desserts and popcorn.

I liked their doggie treats that looked like candy corn.

They had their color wheel going, spin the wheel and pick a gift out of the corresponding colored bin

or just take a free item from their array of gift selections

or participate in the raffle.

For a hardware store, they have a lot of beautifully decorated Christmas trees, too.

Once again, it's easy to get in the holiday spirit when just visiting our local hardware store. So, it's not surprising that this year I've jumped right into the holiday season by putting up our Christmas tree this week and I finished decorating it today.

I have succumbed to the early holiday celebrating by getting our tree up before Thanksgiving! I never thought I'd do that but Nick and Sachiyo are arriving the Monday after Thanksgiving with our new grand baby and 3 days is not a big enough turn-around time for me to switch from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I want Christmas to be in full swing when they arrive including presents under the tree. To tell you the truth, it's been nice putting the tree up this early; no rushing or being overwhelmed with getting all the Christmas decorations out. I think it is better to do it in stages like this. I thought it might be weird to have the Christmas tree up at Thanksgiving, but nobody objected to it, so I did it. We are having Thanksgiving at our house this year so I've been getting the table ready for that, too.

Compared to Christmas, Thanksgiving is easy and a lot less low key. It has always been my favorite holiday. I love all the Thanksgiving food and look forward to making it every year but I hardly even need to read a recipe for any of it anymore since the menu is the same year after year. We don't do nearly as much decorating for Thanksgiving so why not just throw in the Christmas tree with it all? I think this might be my new tradition.

Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have very many gluten-free cookies on my blog because quite frankly, I usually don't like gluten-free. But occasionally, I do find a good recipe and this is one that is from the back of the Trader Joe's oatmeal and it's a good one. My friend brought some over to our house last weekend when Nick and family were here for our birthday celebrations and we all loved them. My friend lives a few blocks away and we walk the neighborhood together on weekends. We can easily go 5 miles in no time, talking non-stop. She loves exploring our neighborhood as much as I do and we discover so many favorite little spots. We even found a property with a horse (or more like a pony, I should say.) The views are always quite lovely, too. Bruce and I had our thirty-ninth wedding anniversary on July 18th and I made a point of walking past the house where we had our wedding reception. I told my friend, "Thirty-nine years ago today, t...

Meatloaf by Mark Bittman

Once again, I turned on the television yesterday and saw that Mark Bittman was on the Today show and was making his version of meatloaf . This must be meatloaf season. It was surprisingly similar to the Pioneer Woman's version who was also recently on. I was a little surprised of his version because Mark Bittman is into healthy eating and has lost a lot of weight and improved his health by changing his diet which he writes about in his book, Food Matters . His meatloaf recipe also included bacon and cheese! I must be doing something wrong. The thing to remember, which he writes about in his book, is that you can eat healthy without going extreme or changing your whole life. If you don't know who Mark Bittman is, he is a food writer and a four star chef with multiple cookbooks who loves to eat but changed his food philosophy to improve his health. He tells his story in Food Matters and provides ...

Two-Bean Soup with Kale

This hearty vegetarian soup warms up chilly nights. Use any type of canned beans you happen to have on hand and add chicken or Italian sausage for a heftier dish, if you prefer. Makes 4-6 servings 3 Tbsp. olive oil 1 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped carrots 1/2 cup chopped celery 1/2 tsp. salt, divided 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 cups vegetable broth, divided 7 cups stemmed, chopped kale (about 1 bunch) 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed, drained and divided 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried rosemary 1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion, carrot, and celery, and saute 6 minutes or until tender. Stir in 1/4 tsp. salt and garlic; cook 1 minute. 2. Stir in 3 cups vegetable broth and kale. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simme...

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