FauxPas

It's lovely! Some great photos there. ❤️

@Duvel, wow that meal is a labour of love! Such a feast! @chromedome, all those cookies! Wow, great job. I'm guessing most people know what a Cookie Walk is? Basically, people cook and donate various cookies which are then sold to raise money for charitable causes. For the one we had here for L'Arche Comox Valley you pay $15 for an empty box and then you get to walk around and fill your box with whatever varieties of cookie you wish. A friend of mine loves to bake and she made dozens and dozens of cookies for the Christmas Cookie Walk this year. She kept some extras in her freezer and dropped them off with us yesterday, knowing we are still under the weather. Next Christmas, I plan to help her with the baking and decorating! I especially liked the little reindeer faces - simple but effective! And Nanaimo Bars because they are just one of the best things ever. Here are a few of them:

Yes, this bug is a miserable one! We did get vaxxed, but as you say this year was a mismatch. 😞 We did get a tech here yesterday morning and he narrowed down the problem but it seems to require a part currently unavailable at the suppliers and so will have to be sent from factory which will take about 2 weeks, maybe longer with holidays. We wore masks when he came inside and gave him a mask also. Bad enough that he got called out on Xmas Eve, would be awful if we also made him sick! Last year on a rainy Christmas Day our roof sprang a leak and we had water coming in to our ensuite! I'm going to be very nervous around Xmas 2026, I think. 😄 We had this a few years ago in Victoria and it was pretty decent. This one was ok, but not quite as good. Still, easy to do! We had some last night and enough left for tonight. Turkey and gravy over stuffing in one container, veggies in the other - both microwaveable. Some cranberry sauce and an apple pie. They gave us vanilla ice cream in another container.

Unfortunately, husband and I have just come down with a particularly nasty virus and had to cancel our Christmas dinner plans. I'm not up to cooking (or even for shopping for the last few required items) and we certainly don't want to pass this bug on to others, so tourtières will stay in freezer for now. Tentative plan is to reschedule for NY Eve dinner. We'll see how we feel, we are really quite sick right now. 😞 A local restaurant chain (White Spot) does a fairly decent packaged turkey dinner for two. It's designed for reheating with par-cooked veggies, etc. We were able to pick one up yesterday and will have that tonight and/or tomorrow. Also, our heat pump shut down overnight. We reset the breakers and the fan started to run, but it doesn't seem to be heating house. Waiting for a service call. We do have a gas fireplace and it's not really cold outside but still.... 🙂

If you do decide to thaw before cooking and don't have much time, you can do a cold water bath. It should only take a couple of hours at most (this link says 30 - 60 mins). Just don't put the lobster directly into the water, keep it inside a sealed plastic bag. https://getmainelobster.com/blogs/recipes/how-to-defrost-frozen-lobster-tails?srsltid=AfmBOooCFFwg2mzqxHz_TyLKA1J_GOGiVLA6DCJktcIMTwF48m7RO6YI

I'd like to defer to @patti, she lives this food! I have only visited it! 🙂 And @Smithymay be a good source also. But here's a simple gumbo recipe using some of the Zatarain's products. I have to mention that Amazon's products are definitely over-priced. If you could find these products in a store, you'd pay a lot less. I see that Gourmet Warehouse in Vancouver has some items - gumbo base, filé, etc. I have ordered a few things from them in the past with no issues. But you must have similar stores in Ontario or Quebec and they might have a better selection. https://gourmetwarehouse.ca/search.php?search_query=gumbo&section=product

@Dariennemay not see Zatarain's in the local stores (though we used to see it here in BC occasionally) but several of their products are available through Amazon Canada. Edited to add: That search link was for jambalaya, here's the result for 'gumbo' 🙂

Doilies! 🙂 https://pieceworkmagazine.com/push-pull-doily/

And someone else made them for me, too! Bonus! I'm just so tired this year, I didn't even want to make my own. 😆 But I will probably still end up spending quite a bit of time on salad, side/veggie dishes and dessert. I will report back on taste/quality!

Not Kirkland, it's made by a Quebec company - Plaisirs Gastronomiques. It's quite big, almost 2 kg. This is the vegetarian one, from a small local place - Honey Grove bakery: I'll just put out chutneys and sauces and people can choose what they like. Edited to add: And the sun just came out and temp has climbed to 17C (63F) so it's feeling pretty mild for mid-December. 🙂

White Christmas is not likely here, but it does happen now and then. Today is high of 13C (55F) and low of 7C (45F) but later in the week, temps will drop a bit more. I cooked big turkey dinners for last few years for several holidays and I wanted something different this year - and easier for me! I decided I wanted Tourtière for Christmas dinner (and not just as Christmas Eve meal). They aren't hard to make but I saw Costco has a nice-looking one and will try that. Also bought a vegetarian version from a local bakery. Both are in the freezer. I'll make a cranberry chutney to go along with that, maybe a mango chutney also as i have mango in the freezer. I'll make an interesting salad and a couple of side dishes. I'm thinking of a butternut squash gratin from Leite's Culinaria. And something green - like broccoli or snap peas or green beans. Or maybe even Brussels Sprouts, local farms have some delicious ones. Pumpkin pie, because my husband loves it and it's easy to make. Maybe some mulled wine.

This sounds perfect! Scout is such a good-looking girl, how old is she now? I love her pink collar, very chic. 🙂

There are products designed for this like Retro Clean (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and Vintage Fabric Stain Remover. Some people have recommended Retro Clean for vintage quilts, I'm sure it would work on other textiles. I used a product to clean up an old quilt or two but I can't remember what I used now and don't have it around anymore. I do remember it seemed to work well.

Oh your decor is lovely! Your house is awesome, so warm and inviting. Though I do have to ask about the Santa on the left of the fireplace there, because I think I would jump after walking into that room in the evening and maybe forgetting it was a Santa and just seeing someone standing there, hahahahaha. I can smell the wreath also. And good job with the tomatoes!

The recipes I see basically just do as @gfweb suggests. Like this one for Slice & Serve Stuffing. You can sub breadcrumbs for cubes and skip the sausage meat.