Saturday, December 5, 2009

That photo of Margret and Santa?

The photo of Margret and Santa in the post below was from the year she wanted to give photos to friends and family for Christmas presents. She insisted that she didn't want Fred (what she called her portable oxygen setup) in the picture. It made Santa very nervous. Even though I assured him (and the camera gal) that her doctor had okayed 15 minutes off the oxygen, he kept reminding the camera gal that she needed to hurry.

It was a long line, a long wait, and I was more concerned whether her tank was going to run out before we got home. It did run out, on our way to the mall door. I had her wait at the door while I got the car. She climbed in, and settled down to relax on the way home. She was very happy with her photos, and not at all worried about her oxygen running out.

When we got home, I hooked her up to another tank, and had her sit in the car for a few minutes to let her oxygen saturation rise before she came in. She was fine. She was happy, and the happy was what was important that day.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Thanksgiving and Cranberry Relish

Thanksgiving this year was not nearly as hard for me as last year was.

I even made the cranberry-orange relish that my girls remembered from when they were growing up. One of them asked if I would make it, and I did. I use a meat grinder to chop the cranberries and oranges, and she asked if she could have the grinder. I said "Sure!"

To make my relish, you need:
3 12 oz bags of fresh cranberries
2 medium navel oranges
1 cup of sugar (possibly a little more sugar if the berries and oranges are very very tart)
a bowl large enough to hold all the berries and oranges, a saucer and a wooden spoon
1 slice of bread (for pushing out the rest of the oranges from the grinder)

Wash and quarter the oranges
Wash the cranberries; pick out and discard stems, leaves and mushy berries

Run the cranberries through the grinder, alternating with orange quarters, and making sure the friskier berries don't jump out.
As the grinder stops producing ground fruit, put the slice of bread into the grinder.
When bread appears at the grinder plate, remove the bowl, and place the saucer to catch the bread.
Clean the grinder, dry and put away.

Add the sugar to the bowl of cranberry orange stuff, and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon (or equivalent).

Let the relish sit overnight to blend the tastes.

...

And the lovely lady who made the large blue tag with Margret for me, well, she made one especially for this Christmas, and here it is: