Flurry of activity

The best part of this week's flurry of activity is that there haven't been any flurries falling yet.

Yeah, yeah....I know...some people think Christmas should always be white. I think the pavement should always be clear and dry, and temperatures above 50 are more to my way of thinking. Seventy degrees would be even better but I am realistic. (Did you just hear my husband snort over that proclamation?)

My wayward Christmas orders arrived on Monday, I finished knitting a gift that I shouldn't show here yet, and today I went to lunch with my two once a month dinner buddies. Our initials are C, L and T but we put them in another order to call ourselves TLC as it is true that we do Tenderly, Lovingly Care for each other. I am the C of the trio. L was the last to retire which enables us to know go to lunch instead of dinner if we choose.

In Decembers past we have gone to the Nutcracker or seen the Rockettes perform in addition to dinner and a small gift exchange. We've seen plays performed, a spoof on traditional Christmas stories and tales, and when "Menopause, the Musical" first came to this area, we saw that for our holiday celebration and laughed until our sides hurt.  L was out of town until recently so our date took place later than usual and we couldn't find a performance that worked into our schedules but the important part is always being together, not what we are eating, watching or doing. Except for whichever one of is driving. She is supposed to watch and know what she is doing.

Today we drove to a town that is about an hour away. We went to the Clarkston Union Bar and Kitchen, a place that is favored by Kid Rock and on his recommendation, was visited by Guy Fieri from the Food Network. He featured it on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

The building was an old church and the pews are now dining benches. The following 3 pictures are not mine, I found them online. The place was packed today and apparently has been since the original airing of Fieri's show.

 The restaurant is famous for their mac and cheese. I should have taken a photo of it. The top of individual serving dish was a beautiful and tasty crusty brown. A half order, especially after an appetizer that we shared, was more than L or I could eat for lunch. T ordered the full order (huge!) so that she could take some home for dinner for herself and her daughter. You could get the mac and cheese plain, with cubed ham added or with lobster.

The appetizer we shared was called a Cracker Crust Pizza. Here is what a slice of it looked like. The blackboard lists the ingredients. If anyone thinks they have mastered a cracker crust pizza like this, I am willing to come over and sample it.

Yours truly, grinning away between her long time friends L and T. 

Next on my to-do list is narrowing down the dessert possibilities for Christmas day. I have 5 desserts and chocolate chip cookies and that is way too much for the number of people who will be at Christmas dinner. I think I will make it easy on myself and eliminate the fussiest dessert and keep the keep the cookies (which are always part of hubby's Christmas gift) down to a single batch that will stay here. Don't quote me on this though. I've gone nuts and overloaded on baking before.

Best wishes completing your to-do lists on these last few days before the holiday!