Hello Monday

Hi friends! It’s great to be back linking up with Holly and Sarah for a sneak peek into a few things we got up to over the weekend. I hope you guys had a fantastic weekend and are geared up for the start of December!

Friday Night

Friday night Sam and I watched ‘Elf’ – my favourite Christmas movie ever! It’s full of laugh-out-loud moments and even though I have seen it a zillion times. I still think it’s hilarious, cute, heartwarming and sentimental. I don’t think that I will ever get tired of watching it every holiday season. It’s number one on my list of favourite Christmas movies for sure!

Saturday

Saturday morning we had scrambled eggs, mushrooms and sausages for a late breakfast. Then I spent the rest of the day catching up on chores and getting ready for our cousin connect evening.

Around midday, I got started preparing the main course for Cousin Connect dinner – Greek-style chicken! I made the marinade for the chicken thigh cutlets. I always use skinless thigh fillets which are less fatty and healthier. But I was going for less health, full flavour and crispy skin this time. So for this recipe, I used the thigh cutlets with the bone in and skin on.

The marinade was a mixture of Greek yoghurt, garlic, olive oil, oregano, lemon juice and salt and pepper. I put the chicken with the marinade in zip-lock bags, making sure that all the pieces were coated well. Then I left them in the fridge for five hours and popped them in the oven to cook once everyone arrived. Easy peasy and oh so flavoursome!

When my cousins arrived we started with a taco dip and a simple cheese platter. It’s such a busy time of the year and initially, I thought we were going to be down in numbers. I didn’t want to over-cater so I didn’t go overboard with the pre-dinner snacks. But in the end, we only had three cousins who couldn’t make it. So it was pretty much a full house!

Dinner!

After dinner, we had a small brownie cake to celebrate the three birthdays in December. Singing happy birthday to more than one person is a funny challenge. My cousin had the clever idea of singing ” Happy birthday dear…guys” Instead of trying to squeeze three names in!

Brownies, ice cream and strawberries for all!

Then it was time for our favourite board game. It was pouring rain and thundering outside but we soon drowned out all the noise from the storm with all our laughing and yelling.

Sunday

Sunday I went to visit my aunt and uncle. It was such a beautifully sunny day so I decided to walk an hour to their house instead of driving. Walking is so good for exercise and it’s also amazing for my head! I always feel so relaxed and uplifted after a long walk in the sunshine.

On the way, I walked past this nursing home where my great-aunt lived to the ripe age of 104 before she passed five years ago. I thought about all those years when my mum and I would go and visit her every Wednesday afternoon. So many sweet and cherished memories.

My aunt made a delicious lunch and we spent a wonderful time catching up.

It had been a while since I had gone to see my aunt and uncle, life gets so busy! I made a mental note that next year I am going to see them on a more regular basis.

Poinsettias

I got home around 4.30 and decided to go to Bunnings to pick up some poinsettias.  After watching so many Hallmark Christmas movies over the last few days. Where every Christmas home seems to be decorated with a billion poinsettias. I decided that I couldn’t live another day without some.

I had planned to buy one or two but when I got to Bunnings I found some for 50c because they were a little on the droopy side but I figured that I could probably revive them with a little care.

This is what they looked like today after water and a little sun from the laundry window.

They are looking much perkier even after Mochi pounced on them. She’s so nosey!

Christmas Tree Time

Sunday evening we put up the Christmas tree. Steve put the tree together which is my least favourite part because the plastic branches make my hands itchy. I decorated and Sam put the star on the top.

Then I made some Glogg ( a traditional Nordic spiced wine). I bought this cute bag with all the ingredients from the Danish Christmas market. The bag was cleverly sewn down the middle with the spices on one side and the nuts and dried fruit on the other side. You add the nuts and dried fruit to the glogg once it’s infused on the stove with the spices and ready to drink.

We enjoyed it with some macadamia shortbread.

I introduced Steve to the wonders of a Hallmark Christmas movie. He hadn’t seen one before but Sam made a quick exit because he couldn’t understand the appeal after having seen a few minutes of one I was watching the other day. Haha!

It was such a lovely evening with the Christmas tree all lit up, drinking glogg and watching a cozy Christmas movie. It’s so reassuring that in every movie the biggest catastrophe is a simple misunderstanding. Which gets resolved in ten minutes and then always ends with true love.

Here is our tree!

We are trying super hard to discourage Mochi from climbing it which isn’t easy. I think she thinks we have kindly decorated a giant scratching pole with pretty shiny things just for her! Aaaaargh!!!

That’s a wrap! Thanks so much for stopping by and I look forward to being back here on Wednesday.

Have a great Monday!