Er, I mean, what a difference a year makes.

Last year at this time, I was preparing to go on a road trip to Florida where we spent a week with family celebrating the holidays.

You can read about our adventures here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

I’m telling ya, there was lots of good food to be had. Like this . . .

Beef tenderloin tips. Good stuff.

But this year, there will be no road trip. There’s a little thing called a recession going on. I don’t know if you’ve heard about it.

But after saving up for a very long time for last year’s beachside holiday adventure, it seemed out of the question this year. And indeed it is.

We had our food shipped to our door in Florida last year. And what a treat it was to have good, quality food right there at our fingertips. We KNEW the meat would be fabulous. And it was.

I hate playing a guessing game with the meat at the local supermarket in a town I’m not too familiar with. Heck, I don’t like it in towns I AM familiar with. So, we ordered what we wanted and it all came to us when we needed it. Like magic.

The good thing is, I can get that same quality anywhere I am in the country. So now that I’m home for the holidays this year, I’m having it delivered to my house. Um, which is not beachside in Florida. Boo.

We’re going to have a turkey, ham and all the trimmings on Christmas Day — and steaks! on Christmas Eve. And I will not be standing in line at the supermarket with the rest of humanity for it all.

Merry Christmas to me!!!

And happy holidays to you. The countdown at our house has begun . . .

Our friends over at Epicurious.com always have interesting things to stimulate our brains as well as our taste buds. Right now, they’ve got a poll going asking YOU (and me) what we typically eat for our holiday meal.

My beloved steaks are in the running, but take a look at what meal is the front runner. *Wink, wink* it’s one of my favorites, too!

What’s your vote?

Take the poll here.

Oh, and where can you get the most popular items in this poll? Right here of course.

Photo courtesy of Tastespotting.com.

So, I took advantage of some Black Friday sales and, like I told you, I stocked up on steak last Friday for the approaching holidays.

Well, now today is something they call “Cyber Monday.” Big online sales abound today and I wouldn’t care if they called it “Rodeo Clown Thursday,” if I can save on stuff I was already going to buy, sign me up!

Turns out, I forgot to order a couple of things last Friday so I’m going back out to KansasCitySteaks.com to get a few more things. I’m really glad it’s Cyber Monday because they’ve got $6.99 shipping and a few other one-day specials.

My family, my stomach and my wallet thanks whoever came up with Cyber Monday.

Happy shopping to you all!