Cinco De Mayo lite

Normally Cinco De Mayo would be a big deal and a spectacular post for me, but once again, life has got in the way. Time is limited and funds even more so. I usually push for a big potluck for Cinco De Mayo at work, and had planned on bringing Posole this year. It just wasn't within the realm of my pocket book this year, and most of my co-workers felt the same. So, I wondered last night, what can I do to still have Cinco at home? Hmmmm... well, I just happened to have chicken thighgs, Dona Marie mole' sauce, refried beans, rice, peas, chilie powder, peanut oil and onions at home. That could make Chicken mole' with a side of refrieds and Mexican rice. All I lacked was tortilla's. I picked up tortilla's on the way home, and managed a dinner of chicken mole', which turned out just fine. It wasn't as good as my homemade mole' but it still hit the spot!
Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Wo Wo! Back up a bit!

Well, I know I said I was going to post about our trip to Reno, but tonight I was playing with my new toy and trying to sync my phone to it and I forgot I had pictures of Christmas Eve dinner and a few pics from Christmas. I think I'll post those first, then share our trip to Reno with you.
So here you go:
First our candle lit dinner, then a plate of dinner. The plan was to have crab (it's crab season here right now) with boiled red potatoes and corn on the cob. Well, I ran out of time to get crab and ended up cooking lamb shanks instead. Oh darn! Not! The cake picture is a traditional Christmas Cake I made from my Mother In Law's recipe. It seemed like it was going to be like a nasty fruit cake, but it wasn't. It was actually quite good.











Then! There's Christmas! Nigella Lawson's gingered ham (recipe can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/ginger-glazed-ham-recipe/index.html)
My potato, celery root and onion casserole and buttered green beans. Not a lot but YUM!
Our good friend from Eureka brought a delicious blueberry pie from Marie Calendars and some whipped cream to top it all off. An awesome Christmas at home!










































And then there is me, after a several (many) glasses of wine, holiday cheer, and popping the Christmas crackers. Wearing my golden paper crown from my cracker and reveling in my Christmas happiness.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and much prosperity in the new year.