Fri. Dec. 26, 2025 – store returns day

Cool, mid 60s all day, and maybe some overcast? It was pretty grey most of yesterday, so I expect the same today. It was 67F when I went to bed but also very wet.

We spent the day eating, opening presents, cooking, and playing board games. We played Catan in the afternoon, and Ticket to Ride after dinner. I had terrible luck with both games, and D1 dominated.

Santa brought good stuff, everyone was happy with their gifts. I got a couple of tools and another Morakniv. My fisherman friend brought be a box of 9mm for my next range day.

The oven roasted duck was a very simple recipe but was delicious. I made chopped carrots sauteed in butter with marjoram, and sauteed cabbage and onions as sides, with a loaf of shelf stable bread and some baked garlic clusters with blue cheese as appetizers. We were too full for dessert.

It’s only the second time I’ve made duck. It was cheaper than hamburger at Costco, and the kids liked it the first time, so I tried it again. Success. We’ll have a lamb roast this weekend,and probably a sirloin cap roast as well. They’re defrosted, and easy to cook, so they’re on the menu.

The “summer kitchen” idea of having an oven in the garage worked out well again. I’m glad to have that heat out there and not in the kitchen. I am thinking about where to put a 2 burner stove, and maybe a place for the deep fryer out there too. If I can get a small stainless steel table, about 2ft or 2x3ft, that would be perfect.

The prep for the week was to bring up the 5 buckets of Wise emergency food I got from that estate sale. At $6/ bucket I’m not too disappointed that two of the buckets are breakfast stuff, and three are essentially side dishes and soups. That’s typical for emergency buckets sold to preppers. Worth adding to the stacks, not worth buying at full price unless you supplement them and can’t get Mountain House.

Other than cooking, I tried not to ‘work’. Mostly succeeded.

Today I’ll take a look at networking and cameras. That should occupy me but not be too taxing.

Even on the holidays, always keep improving. And stacking if it doesn’t take away from family time.

nick

Comment and discussion on "Fri. Dec. 26, 2025 – store returns day"

  1. Denis says:

    Thursday, Feast of Saint Steven, Protomartyr. Good morning!

    Nick, that all sounds delicious! Well done.

    An outdoor kitchen sounds fabulous, if one had enough nice weather to enjoy it. I agree 100% with using the deep fryer only outdoors.

    We were supposed to have duck yesterday, but plans changed spontaneously, so it will probably be duck today instead.

    Oma won five games of UNO in a row, much to the astonishment of Juniormost. The rest of us knew she is a card shark!

    Time to get up. If anyone is bored, I did a long-ish bit late in yesterday’s comments on Steven’s Day activities.

    Have a beautiful day!

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