Christmas at the Beach
The year has flown by, and here we are again in Hermosa. Last year we spent Christmas in Northern California and New Year House Sitting two new arrival kittens in Hermosa Beach. This year we spent the entire Christmas and New Year season in Hermosa – looking after our little charges who have grown into cats but are still just as snuggly.
They’re best friends and like hanging out together, and are also really playful and don’t mind humoring me when I’m trying to entice them to play with one of their cat toys. But they’re just as happy chilling on the couch and happy to watch what’s happening on the iPad.
Smudge is a little bit more aloof .. but happy enough to nap to her hearts content at a moment’s notice. Raising enough energy to open up her cat eyes long enough to take give you a lazy “what’cha lookin’ at…” stare and then nodding off again.
And for somebody who professes to be a “dog person” – Red doesn’t half monopolize the cat’s snuggle-time! I think because my lap is usually full of a laptop, so there’s no room left for feline friendliness!
Mince Pies for Christmas
Christmas just isn’t Christmas without Mince Pies, and each year I head to the British shop to buy one (or usually) two boxes of imported mince pies. I have to pace myself because they go down a treat with a steaming hot cup of dark roast coffee on Christmas morning.
I still had to visit the British shop to buy the jar of mincemeat — but we made the pastry from scratch.
The family we are house-sitting for were here the evening we arrived, so we headed straight to the kitchen to make them a batch of mince pies (the kids hadn’t had them before – but they went down a treat). They even took them away with them bright and early the next morning on their travels, so we ended up making a second batch.
What are Mince Pies?
For those not in the know — even though they’re called mince pies, they don’t actually have meat in them. In England’s dark and dusty past – they were made with mincemeat, but over time the ingredients morphed into dried fruit and a smattering of alcohol .. all encased in shortcrust pastry.
A Kitchen of my Own
One of the benefits of house sitting is swapping our small galley kitchen for vast kitchen expanses that are ideal locations for culinary creations. When we discuss our move to Turkey – the one room we talk about renovating the most, is the kitchen. I’m not bothered about any other room in the house … but I really want a nice kitchen with lots of counter space.
