Christmas Came A Little Early!

We had one secretary out of the office yesterday, so I had to work for six people yesterday.  And with us having a shorter day because of our Christmas lunch, everyone was In high gear – which I absolutely love – makes the work day go by much faster.

It wasn’t until I was driving to our lunch event that I heard the awful news about the Connecticut school mass murders.  It took my breath away.  I couldn’t even begin to imagine dropping my daughter off at kindergarten, and coming back to the horror and wondering if she was still dead or alive.

I did get an early Christmas present that put some sunshine on my day.  Several years ago my parents in law gave me a whole box of Florida citrus for Christmas and I told them they never had to think of another gift for me again – I absolutely love it.

So the day before yesterday I got this heavy package in the mail from them, and new that Christmas came a little early for me.

I think the lemon is from their back yard lemon tree – I plan on drinking a boat load of lemon water today.  Thank you Bonnie and Carl!

For breakfast yesterday I cut the grapefruit in half, then sprinkled a package of splenda over the top, and broiled it for a few minutes.  I think broiling grapefruit helps release all the wonderful juices.  My MIL suggested putting agave nectar on it and broiling and I will definitely that next time.  I had a breakfast sammie on the side because I knew I’d be eating a late lunch – I didn’t eat this until around 9:30.

The grapefruit was the star! 

I left a bit early since I was the planner of our work holiday lunch.  The dessert boxes I made ended up being place cards at the table – they turned out pretty cute!

It was at this point that both my camera and phone batteries died – gah!  We had the appetizer sampler plate – it had bbq shrimp, ribs, chicken and onion straws.  We basically had a choice of anything on the menu – I made a special menu though, that took off the surf and turf and high end steak options off the plate. 

Weber grill is known for it’s burgers and ribs, so I got a Wisconsin cheese burger done medium rare – which was absolutely delicious.  I also had a Bell’s Brown Ale Seasonal Beer – so good!   Thanks to google images, but here is a picture of my burger:

I did forget to say no onions, but they were the purple ones so I just picked them off.  I just love when a restaurant cooks a perfect medium rare, and it was super flavorful too.

This is my third planning event for our firm, and I think all three have gone without a hitch.  Having worked in restaurants for 10+ years during my life I think helps.  Although I did have one negative about the event.  I specifically told the server that we would be serving wine and beer only.  No hard alcohol, and that if anyone asked for it, to say that beer and wine are only provided.

I walked around the room and I ask what someone is drinking: Tanqueray and Tonic, someone else had a grey goose vodka bloody Mary.  And then when she was clearing the plates she said “would anyone care for an Irish Whiskey or Bailey’s and coffee?”  Of course people said yes.  Being a server I was the queen of the upsell, but if I were told that hard alcohol was off the table, I would have pushed the more expensive wines and beers.

But in the end, the partners were happy with how it went, and that’s all that matters at the end of the day – it is their money after all, not mine!

So today we are going to try to get up to the attic to get our tree up this weekend and my beloved snowmen.  It’s in the high 40’s today, but rainy, so it’s the perfect day to get bizzy in my kitchen.  I plan on shipping out my goodie boxes on Monday.

So in light of what’s going on in the world, I hope you spend a little extra time with your family and friends this weekend, and truly understand what is important in life.  Have a great weekend and I’ll see you on Monday.   HUGS!