It’s over! Goodbye 2025! And both the fun and end-of-year stress is gone.
For me, that was fitting 14 people around a Thanksgiving table that holds 8 on a good day (glass tables do not expand). The answer: a handyman picking up a 4×8 sheet of plywood and placing it over the glass.
More stress – getting Christmas decorations down from garage storage, finding places for everything that needed to be relocated (quite a feat), decorating, then repeating the procedure when it all had to be put away for another year.
And now we’re entering another new year. 2026! Another three months of writing checks dated 2025. That is, if you still write checks.
Another year of new possibilities, new people to meet, new places to go and new things to learn. And another year to enjoy old friends and family.
I feel truly blessed to have in my life a family that I treasure and friends that are so close we have become family.
But lest you think I forget! A new year to find and try new ideas for entertaining, and to find and try new recipes.
I have a dinner party coming up later in the month and I’m excited about a new recipe I found. As usual, I’ll play with it until I feel it’s just right.
But for now, I’m relying on an old tried and true for a luncheon this month. Let me know what you think.
Pumpkin Trifles – Serves 8: In medium bowl, combine 1 cup canned pumpkin, 4 oz. frozen whipped topping (thawed), ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, 1-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, ½ tsp. ground cinnamon and ½ tsp. salt. Beat at medium speed until well combined. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine 8 oz. cream cheese, 4 oz. frozen whipped topping (thawed), ½ cup confectioners’ sugar and 2 tsp. vanilla extract. Beat until smooth.
In small glass, layer 1/8th of cream cheese mixture, 2 Tbs. of gingersnap cookie crumbs and 1/8 of pumpkin mixture. Garnish with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Top with gingersnaps if desired.
