Christmas Morning

It's rainy here, and Milady is asleep in our bed. She crawled in this morning just before 7:00 and put her cold feet against my sleeping body. That is a standard practice that has evolved over our marriage and I suspect is fairly common among couples. It is my job, my calling, to warm her when she sleeps. When there are cold feet in the bed, then I know my wife is there, and all is right with the world.

Once I got her warm and toasty I crawled out to begin my day. She and I sleep on differing schedules because of the nature of our work. I'm a daytime deputy, she is a nighttime nurse. She'll awaken early this afternoon and we'll enjoy her two days off. The children are at other folks homes this morning, enjoying Christmas with the other people in their lives, and that is just exactly as planned. Christmas is in the heart, not wrapped in tinsel under a tree. We did the tinsel thing last week and I was truly in the Christmas spirit till I went to bed last night. When I awakened this morning, I found it finished. This morning I find myself with a pot of coffee, this computer, a darkened kitchen and the rest of the year stretching before me. Today I am at peace with the world, and if that is the best of God's gifts to me, I'll take it.

We're entertaining friends later this afternoon and my one task is to prepare the meal. We're serving something Milady calls Taco Soup and the recipe is simplicity itself.

Get out a skillet and a crock pot. We have the large oval one.

Brown a pound of good lean hamburger and a half-pound of good breakfast sausage. I use Jimmy Dean's. When brown, dump it in the crock-pot.

Add to the crock-pot (don't drain anything)
2 cans of pinto beans
2 cans red beans
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can Ro*tel tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chopped green chilis
1 package taco seasoning
1 package Ranch dressing mix.

Put it on low and let it cook for a couple of hours. Serve over corn chips, we use Fritos, and garnish with grated cheese.

Bon apetit!