It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at Richmond Manor. Folks are hanging wreathes and other Christmas decorations. I think it is great, the hallways look so festive.
One down two to go, then onto 2021. Hopefully 2021 will be a more “normal” year. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, again not really a “normal” kind of holiday this year. We were just the two of us, we were lucky, being by ourselves is “normal” for the Taylor-Beck household, so we were happy campers. We are not very traditional when comes to Thanksgiving meals, our turkey came in the shape of a veal chop this yea, no green bean casserole or green jello for us. We did add a couple of more “traditional items to our holiday table, pumpkin pie and good red wine. I hope you all had a good day even with all the restrictions applied to the day.
Book Club
I had several suggestions for books to add to our list of book recommendations
Andi suggested…..
A Week in the Winter by Maeve Binchey- Shirleen added…..
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
1984 by George Orwell
Myrna’s suggestion was…..
The Fiddler by Paulett Jiles and
News of the World by Paulette Jiles,
Myrna added this book is being make into a movie with Tom Hanks in the cast.
- My Suggestion is
Churchill’s Secret KBO by Jonathan Smith
I must confess I have not read it yet but did watch the movie on Amazon Prime which was based on the book. It was fantastic. A remarkably interesting time in Churchill’s life.
Recipe du Jour
Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
Mustard-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Apples
Ingredients
- whole grain mustard
- 1 T. Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp five-spice powder
- ½ tsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 2 T light brown sugar
- 2 T chopped rosemary
- 1 pork tenderloin 1/1/2-2 pounds
- 2T salt
- 3/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 apples Fuji or Honey Crisp, chopped
- ½ yellow onion
- 3 T extra virgin olive oil
Marinade
- Add the whole grain mustard, Dijon mustard and five-spice powder, vinegar, brown sugar and 1 T. rosemary to a mixing bowl. Mix well to form a paste.
- Place pork on a small baking sheet, season both sides with salt and pepper.
Using a spatula, rub the marinade all over the pork, covering the tenderloin completely. Set aside to marinate while preparing the vegetables. - Core and dice the apples into 1-inch pieces, add the chopped onion to the apples and season with the remaining rosemary, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Mix well coating the apple and onion with the seasonings
- Add the apple/onion mixture to the tenderloin
- marinate the pork at room temperature
- Roast the pork about 25 minutes
I make this in my June Smart Oven which has resulted in a great meal. I use a thermometer probe, so I do not worry about roasting the tenderloin too long, a big danger when dealing with such a lean piece of meat. Pork Tenderloin should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145F, which will result in a rosy pink center.
Instant Black Bean Soup
An easy fast tasty soup
Ingredients
- 2 (15 oz.) cans no salt black beans
- ½ C picante sauce
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 (16oz.) low salt chicken broth
Toppings
- Cheddar cheese
- Sour cream
- Green onions
- Cilantro
- Avocado
Pour beans, (undrained) into a saucepan, partially mash the beans with a potato masher. Add salsa, chili powder and broth. Bring to a boil
Serve with toppings of your choice
Recipe from Cooking Light
December Birthdays
Judy, Shirleen and Bev share Dec. 3rd birthdays
Neighbor News
I am sure most of you have noticed there is some action over at Hill’s. Hill’s has changed their name to the Blackbird Cafe. Chris Cordova still owns the place; he is just doing a bit of updating both venue and what they will be offering on the menu. When they open the will have breakfast and a pastry counter.
They are still open for take out right now, hours currently are 4-8 PM. They hope to open for lunch takeout within the next couple of weeks.
They will be finished with the remodel within 3-4 weeks. We were told they will be offering baked goods and have an expresso stand. We are anxious to be able to go back over and enjoy some good meals when they open.
Finally Finished
Jerry and I are officially finished with our shower project. It all started when we noticed some water damage of the baseboards around the shower. When the tile was taken off in the shower, water gushed out behind the tiles. It seemed when we all had our bathrooms repaired several years ago our person did not do a particularly good job. Hence a rather long and expensive project for us. So, you all might check to see if you have any damage around your shower’s.
We used some great vendors, Art Tile, who have been around a long time, did the actual tile work for us, they did a fantastic job, they assured it will last much longer than the last repair. The glass work was done by Budget Mirror and Glass in Bothell. We highly recommend both companies. We appreciate our neighbor’s patience; at times it was a noisy project and annoying with worker bee’s going in and out of the building.
Package Delivery
Since most of us have been doing our shopping via the internet these days there has been a big influx of packages delivered by various vendors. Last week we had a notice from our Amazon Echo (Alexa) that we had a package delivered to the lobby. When I went down to get it, I could not see any package in the mail lobby. After going into the lobby and looking about I discovered about 4 packages in the rattan box we have for recycled papers. This was the 1st time I have noticed this happening so do look if you are expecting something and do not see it on the table or on the shelves under the mailboxes. We appreciate everyone moving packages that have been delivered and left in the mail lobby to the elevator lobby. Also thank everyone who deliverer their neighbor’s packages to their doors.
The last Blog
This will be the last monthly blog I will be writing. I have been writing this blog for several years, I have really enjoyed writing it each month but with all that has been happening in the past year I find if exceedingly difficult and frustrating to find anything interesting to talk about, I know some of you find that hard to believe.
So, I want to thank Jerry for being my editor and graphic designer, without him the blogs would be boring and not very visually interesting. If anyone is interested in picking up and continue the blog, Jerry will be happy to help you get started, I have no clue how he does the graphics and how he publishes it.
