Good evening and come in the house and have a cup of coffee for it is below freezing outside. We had a fire in the fireplace tonight and thought about a cup of hot chocolate but was too lazy to get up and fix it. I am a tad tired for I finally unpacked my last box of kitchen stuff to put up in my updated one.

This has been an interesting time for we had to completely clean out all the cabinets, pack it up in boxes, stack them in the dining room and then unpack and put it all away. I lost one cabinet due to changing from a stove top to a standalone stove and still have some empty shelves. A lot of stuff went away for if I hadn't used it in a long time I figured I didn't need it and Goodwill will get the profits, I hope. Now I have what I have been using and it is arranged more logically than before. Enjoying having it all clean and put up.

Well, it's beginning to look and sound like Christmas, except at my house. I was waiting until I got everything put up before I began and have a total of 1 Christmas card on the mantel, but I will get the rest up before Christmas eve. It will happen but not a lot for I don't like to take it down so tasteful but not fussy is my motto.

If you doubt Christmas is coming, just watch the TV commercials for the annual products we only see at Christmas have made their appearance. I keep saying I am going to buy a Chia, clap thingies to turn on my lamps and of course there are the herb gardens we just have to have. Where are these wonderful products the rest of the year and why are they brought out only at Christmas for there is nothing Christmasy about any of it. The Chia just cracks me up and I guess the rest of the year you can actually reach over and cut of the lamp with you hand. It strikes me as hilarious that these only come out of hiding once a year so I guess you only use them once a year.

I have a good recipe to share with you. The farmers are picking many hundreds of acres of cabbage around us and Roy found one which had bounced off the truck and brought it home. We all watch for the "lost cabbages" around here and I have one friend who will follow a truck for miles waiting on a head to fall off. No use in wasting free food but they are beginning to learn not to overload the trucks so they don't fall off. You have to wait until they make a sharp turn or hit a big bump and then a cabbage will hit the side of the road. You want it to hit the grassy side, not the middle of the road and smush. I have seen people almost cause a wreck by hitting their brakes for a cabbage.

Anyway, this is one of our favorite meals and the measurements do not have to be perfect but season to taste.

CABBAGE AND SAUSAGE

1 cabbage - sliced in thick slices
1 lb. smoked link sausage - sliced
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
chicken stock - I use the canned

Slice the onion in thin slices and chop the garlic finely. Saute the onion in about 2 Tbsp. olive oil and add garlic and saute until the oils are released. Don't overcook. Add the sliced sausage and saute until sausage is hot. Add the thickly sliced cabbage, just enough stock to steam the cabbage, salt and pepper to taste and cook until cabbage is tender but still slightly crisp. Don't cook it until it is mushy.
Option: You can add sliced, cooked potatoes if you like. I like to use leftover baked potato for this.

I accidentally found a good side dish for this:

Red Beans and Nibblet Corn

1 can seasoned red beans
1 small can or 1/2 large can nibblet corn
1/2 onion chopped
1 small clove garlic - diced
salt and pepper to taste.

Saute onions and garlic until softened. Add the beans and corn, season with salt and pepper, and cover. Simmer until heated through and the beans and corn have absorbed the flavor to the onion and garlic.
This is really good.

Serve these with hot cornbread and a green salad and you have feast for a king and queen or a good Southern family.

You could also use pinto beans instead of the red beans if you have them and the Mexican corn would be good. Just use what you have and be creative.

Well, that's about it for tonight for I am tired and ready for bed. Have along day tomorrow and need some rest.

Take care going home and come back to see us.

Nuff Said,

The Georgia Peach