The Last Harvest of the Year

Last week we had some frigid nights, with the mercury dropping to 17 degrees F. I was still recovering from being sick and figured the broccoli, carrots, etc. in the garden would be OK. But yesterday (Saturday), we were staring down a Winter Storm Warning that promised three to five inches of snow. So I decided to go ahead and pull everything.

The soil in the tall blue planter was frozen, so those carrots had to stay there for the time being. I was able to pull one carrot from another planter (my sole fall-planted carrot), one broccoli head, one Crispino lettuce and one Brussels sprouts stalk.

And that’s a wrap on the 2025 garden!

I promptly took the sprouts and broccoli and roasted them along with carrots from the fridge (from the garden and not) for my lunch. I mixed them with some prepared chicken and Caesar dressing.

Being in the garden and cooking made me feel a little more normal. That cold or flu or whatever I had really dragged me down (and even Friday night, I slept for 12 hours!).

Today I roasted more Brussels sprouts (from Sprouts) and carrots, and baked a sweet potato, for my dinner. I also made gingersnap dough and am going to bake those in a little while.

Yesterday, after lunch, I went out to do some Christmas shopping and grocery shopping. After dinner I knocked out some more purchases online, and I think I’m close to done now. I will probably run out and get a few more things this week.

Here’s my gift provenance update:

1 from Hollister

2 from our locally owned Ace Hardware

1 from American Eagle

1 from St. Rocco’s (locally made dog treats)

2 from TeePublic (a rather large online business)

1 from Quince (more on that below)

1 more from Target

1 from eBay (a new item)

1 from TheFeelz, a hopefully legit site

1 from Malibu Skyye (a small online business, not to be confused with Malibu Skye…)

3 from Sprouts

So, what’s the deal with Quince? They claim to be sustainable, ethical, etc., and say they keep their prices low by cutting out the middle of the supply chain. Compared to most “sustainable” brands, their prices are indeed great. The NYT did a deep dive on the company here. It sounds like they are legit, but the quality is kind of hit or miss. I will say that I bought a shirt and pants from them back in 2023 and I’m still wearing them. So we’ll see how this gift looks, but once it’s gifted, I probably won’t know how it holds up.

I’ll be glad when I can go back to not buying stuff. I love giving gifts, but I don’t like to be in the purchasing mindset.

I kind of wish we were doing an experience/trip for the kids, but I know from experience they want to open presents on Christmas morning and they want to be here for break to do stuff with their friends.

In the midst of all this consuming, some nonconsumer moments:

N, on his own initiative, used super glue to fix his headphones

I got out my wreath that I made a few years ago from some vine growing in the backyard, and added clippings from the tree, fairy lights (new) and ribbon and ornaments I had on hand.

I bought cranberries at Sprouts to make my long-discussed old-fashioned garland, but am having second thoughts and might use them culinarily instead.

I took my work Christmas bonus and socked it away in savings.

I’m feeling kind of divorced from world affairs. Like what the heck is going on with Venezuela? I don’t feel like thinking about it. All I seem to want to do is curl up under a blanket, play Spelling Bee on my phone, and Christmas shop.

Meals this week. You can always tell when Tom was cooking by the presence of corn.

Monday: Beef tacos

Tuesday: NY strip steaks, mashed potatoes, corn

Wednesday: fish sticks, Rice a Roni, corn

Thursday: takeout from Stella Pizza

Friday: McDonald’s

Saturday: Carnitas, on a roll or as a bowl

Sunday: choice of pulled pork, roasted veggies, pizza rolls or chicken strips

I’m a pretty big fan of the Sprouts brand pulled pork and carnitas. Not homemade but better than takeout, amirite?

So now I have to start thinking about Christmas Eve, which I am hosting, and how much I want to stress myself out (i.e. how much to cook and how much to cater). At least I do have a good amount of time off coming up.

Gingersnap time… I leave you with my one picture of the beautiful snow and one of our house. Rocco went nuts in the snow!