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  • Special Time of the Year Takes Planning, here are some Happy Hanukkah! Thank You to Amazon Drivers Recipes for Food and Drink Suggestions. Happy Hanukkah!

    Mused after …thanking my Amazon drivers which gives them a $5 tip. After dropping off a package, say “Alexa, thank my Amazon driver”. They will then be given the tip from Amazon.

    We are looking forward to the next two weeks with the holidays. By planning activities, you can share the enjoyment with less stress. Many of us will be spending it home with those we live with wishing we could be sharing it with all our loved ones. To those of you with young children you will be enjoying it through them. Here are some things to do to make it special, other ideas and some recipes for food and drink.

    • Flowers to brighten up the house, in addition to the Christmas tree
    • Seeing A Christmas Carol or The Nutcracker (I’m looking forward to it)
    • Dress up, no tie though
    • Exercise, 20 minutes max, it is a day of rest
    • Special Breakfast, splurging on smoked salmon and the following OJ
    • Fresh squeezed orange juice plus or minus the sparkling wine mimosa
    • Going to a service or just saying prayers
    • Dinner out with friends or an open house seeing friends and family
    • Make a fire inside or out, time to reflect
    • Xmas movies and music in the background
    • Calling, Facetime, Zoom family and friends that can’t be present
    • Making a production out of dinner, since as you know, I love to cook
    • A walk, Ghost would enjoy this especially in the cold

    Other ideas:

    • Games board or on computers.
    • Make something
    • Read
    • Puzzles
    • Bake, it’s never too late around the holidays and it smells good too
    • Volunteer
    • Watch football, basketball, etc.
    • Drive your neighborhood and check out the lights

    The point is to plan so that when a special day or time comes you can make the most of it.

    (Did You Know? Wednesday is the beginning of winter and the shortest day of the year. More daylight starts Thursday.)

    LA DOLCE VITA, JOIE DE VIVRE

    Cranberry Margarita:
    2oz. cranberry juice, 1 oz. lime juice, 1.5 oz. tequila, 1 oz. orange liquor, ¼ oz. agave or simple syrup. Mix together with ice.

    Celebratory Negroni:
    1 part each of gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari. Stir or shake with ice. Pour into glass and add chilled sparkling wine.

    Giada’s Baked Rigatoni:
    (Our nurse anesthetist has been making this for over 40 years so it’s a tried and true recipe!)

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

    Brown 1 lb. of sausage or ground beef in an ovenproof skillet. You can add garlic, onions, red pepper flakes or a number of other things to this. Add 1 jar of store spaghetti sauce. She adds broccoli at this point, I added canned artichoke hearts. Ad lib yourself.

    Bring a pot of water to boil, add salt and 1 lb. of rigatoni. Cook only 5 minutes.
    Mix 1 cup of ricotta cheese with ½ cup of chopped fresh basil. Add rigatoni to spaghetti sauce, add ½ cup of parmesan cheese and mix. Dollop ricotta mixture over this and nestle pockets of the ricotta by covering with some of the pasta mixture. Sprinkle with 1.5 cups of mozzarella cheese and another 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.

    Bake 20 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes.

    Remember to count the blessings you have.

    Happy Holidays,

    Peter McKenna, M.D.
    513.793.5772
    mckennamd.com

    McKenna Cosmetic Surgery Center | 513.793.5772 |10577 Montgomery Road | Cincinnati, OH 45242
    30+ Years of Improving Lives
    A Cincinnati Magazine “Top Doc” since 1998
    Allergan Top 500 Physician
    SkinCeuticals “Flagship” Practice

    (I do write all the emails and have done so since 2007. -PJM)

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