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The opening of the gifts is a greatly anticipated event. Some in the group (grown ups of course) complain that our living room is just too small for this activity. But hey, I have never heard a single one of my grands complain about such a thing. : - ) I believe they see it as an adventure--- proving their agility in dodging feet, legs, toys, boxes, ribbon & wrappings. They're always up for the challenge.
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Since the out-of-staters want to get in on the Christmas Granny Bread action, we made New Years Eve breakfast a repeat of Christmas Day breakfast. The ones who get to do it the second time in one week just don’t mind a bit.
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Between the new toys and the old toys--- and here, both combined--- there are plenty of fun things to do while waiting for breakfast. You see those 30 year old Brix Blocks? They were our sons’ and have now been played with by all 8 of our grands. I am so glad we saved them. The box hides perfectly under a chair in our living room. They all know it’s there and frequently pull it out and amuse themselves, whether it be for a few minutes or all afternoon.
Yum, Yum!
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As the day goes along, it’s not hard to find fun things to do together. By now they have migrated a few blocks away to our son’s home and the girls get into more spa stuff.
And the boys do what boys do...
~RhythamMan loves trying out the cousin's bow & arrow.
Look out up there...
Look out down there...
~~~The Family Christmas Play ~~~
Grana called the children together to rehearse the family Christmas play. This was the second time they have done this little play that I wrote a couple of years ago. It consists of the traditional Christmas story, with a little modern day moment thrown in. Most of the grands participated and really enjoyed performing it for the rest of us. Actually two adults understudied a couple of parts. The rehearsal went well and all played their rolls with excellence. You should have seen it!
TheJoy is the first one ready for dress rehearsal.
Yes, we have our parts down and we are ready!
So the curtain rises ... The angel, Gabriel visited Mary and then visited Joseph, who is sleeping in his home ...
The shepherd carries his lamb to visit Jesus, the newborn King.
Mary cradles Baby Jesus in her arms.
The angel watches over the Holy Family.
I suspect you are astounded that the football game is on in the background during the play. Well, actually this photo was taken during the dress rehearsal and turned out to be much better than the ones taken during the actual play. Rest assured that the TV was off during the Christmas play!
The children did a wonderful job and we were all so very proud!
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So here we are--- the Granny, the Eight and the Grandpa.
It's wonderful, but rare to get us all together for a photo.
Do you see why I love doing GrannyCamp so much?
Grana & I have already started working on a Valentine's Day project so stay tuned. And hopefully I'll have opportunities to do something special with each one of them for that special day.
In the meantime, I have lots more stuff to share from GrannyCamp experiences and I hope you'll enjoy the recipes below. We have Super Sunday coming up soon so here is an idea in plenty of time!
~~~Today’s Granny Camp Recipes
Last year, I fixed this great gumbo for Super Bowl Sunday since the New Orleans Saints were playing. It was a real hit and even several of our grands enjoyed it.
Chicken ‘N Shrimp Gumbo (Slow Cooker)
1 16 oz. pkg. kielbasa or smoked sausage, sliced
3 tbsp. butter, divided
1 large onion, chopped
½ red or green pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (9 or 10 oz.) pkg. frozen sliced okra, thawed
1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. plain flour
3 c. hot chicken broth
1 c. hot water
1 ½ c. chopped, cooked chicken
2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
12 - 16 oz. peeled & deveined raw shrimp
3 c. hot brown rice for serving
-Brown the kielbasa in saucepan; add to slow cooker.
-Add 1 tbsp. butter to kielbasa drippings and sauté onion, red (or green) pepper, celery & garlic. Add to slow cooker.
-In separate saucepan, sauté thawed okra in 2 Tbsp. butter for about 10 – 15 minutes. Add to slow cooker.
-Heat oil over medium heat & then add flour, stirring for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low. Continue cooking & stirring for 15 minutes until roux is dark. Wisk in 3 c. hot chicken broth & 1 c. hot water. Pour into slow cooker.
-Add chopped chicken, tomatoes, salt, black & cayenne pepper and stir together. Cook on low for 6 – 7 hours.
-Add shrimp during the last 20 minutes and cook until pink.
-Serve over hot rice.
Pineapple Upside-down Cake
2 cans chunk pineapple or 1 can pineapple rings, drained-- reserving juice
1 yellow cake mix (I prefer Duncan Hines)
¾ stick butter
2 c. brown sugar
¼ tsp. salt
1 1/3 c. juice from pineapple + water
1/3 c. oil
3 large eggs
5 or so maraschino cherries, cut in half
Preheat oven to 350*. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Place butter in 9 x 13” sheet cake pan & put in heating oven till butter melts. Into melted butter stir brown sugar & salt. Arrange pineapple & cherries, single layered, in brown sugar mixture.
Prepare cake mix according to package directions, using the pineapple juice + water to get the required amount of liquid called for. Pour cake batter over pineapple layer. Bake for 35 – 40 min. or till a toothpick inserted into the center comes out dry, not sticky. B
Immediately upon removing from oven, rest inverted pan or large platter over top of done cake. Flip upside down and Waa-laa! [This cake is really good to eat while still warm J]
My mother taught me to make this cake back in the 60’s when I was a teen ager. It has always been a family favorite!
