We did Christmas dinner at my sister’s and it was a lovely time. My sister puts on a lovely feast. Potato souffle’, green beans with herbs de provence and ham…HAM! the king of the pink meats!
April’s special guy cemented his status as “good enough for my sister” by putting away the Skyy and breaking out the Ketel One for me. He also kept mixing me vodka tonics all night long. I lost count at 5, it may have been as many as 7. I’m just not sure.
We ate, we talked, we caught up on happenings, we wiggled in and out of those uncomfortable family conversations and we generally had a good time. Didn’t get home until after midnight and it was only with considerable effort on my sister’s part to kick our asses out of there.
(note to April, if you want to get rid of us, don’t bust out the good stuff…a bottle of Stoli would have had my out of there by 8! no lie!)
I also had a major envy moment when my sister came up in a pair of flannel jammies with santa lobsters all over them. I want those!
My uncle Russell and Aunt Carol are in town with their girls, Emily and Rosalie and they will be heading over this afternoon to see the dogs, harass the lizards and visit. I’m really looking forward to this, but I really need to get this place cleaned up. I also need to get some leftover ham into me!
Also, David is playing his guitar and the speaker is next to my head and I get to play with the settings. Guitar on phaser…pretty sweet.
Category Archives: Delicious
Happy happy delicious christmas
Happy happy christmas to you all!
Last night we spent Christmas Eve at my dad’s. Since Anna was unable to make it home for the holidays we brought her along. We spent the evening eating, drinking, laughing and telling tales. Poor Anna, she thought I was just some sort of anomaly, a strange imp placed on this earth specificallyto torture her.
Once again, she learned that I came from a family, one that I get along well with. One that will work with me on my mission to corrupt and torture. Or, if not to work with me, at least not hinder me.
Last night I brought two dishes to dinner, my Chai Spiced Rice Pudding and a roasted winter vegetable dish. The pudding was a tad undercooked and I was sad about that but it tasted fine. The vegetables were a big hit
Sweet Roasted Winter Vegetable
1 large sweet potato, chopped
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 head cauliflower broken into large florets
1 apple, cored and chopped (it should have been 2 apples, but one was rotten in the middle)
1 head of radicchio, quartered, cored and seperated
1 cup baby carrots
1/2 rutabaga, peeled and chunked
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and separated but left whole
3 tbl butter
1 tbl olive oil
1 tbl rubbed sage
2 tbl curry powder
Oil the bottom of a large roasting pan, dump in veggies. Liberally salt and pepper vegetables.
In a small saute pan, melt butter into olive oil until foamy. Add sage and mix. Add curry powder and mix. Drizzle butter mixture over vegetables and mix to coat.
Roast at 300 for 2 hours, mixing at least once. The long low roasting allows the natural sugars in the vegetables to concetrate. The whole cloves of garlic practically turn caramelly.
Right now I have a pumpkin cheesecake in the oven. It got in there late and this means I will be late to my sister’s and i pray she forgives me!
And on a sad note, this is my Christmas without Ghengis. Last night, at my dad’s, we laughed and shared stories and I was only happy to remember him racing around my dad’s back yard harassing the cat, or sleeping under my feet as we picnicked in the gazebo. Today I am reminded that he only got two Christmases. Only two chances to rip open wrapping paper, to maul a new toy, to fall asleep on a newly eviscerated teddy bear or dinosaur.
Merry Christmas to all of you. Go now, find the ones you love and hold them tight.
Book ’em, Dano!
In order to use up quickly failing pineapple, I made a jam!
Hawaii 5-0 jam made with pineapple, lemon, orange, love and ginger! It was an experiment and it turned out delicious.
Went to Costco with Keith and David today to buy a metric buttload of things to turn into jams, relishes and whatnot. I’m totally ready for this. Now I just need to go to Fleet Farm and buy jars.
Thank you to Alex for inspiring me again!
cat fud
Had Mary and the delightfully cute baby Charlie over for dinner last night. What did I make?
1) Salmon with a dill seed/fennel seed crust. Both the salmon and the spice blend were gifts from David’s sister, Mary Alice, who moved to Alaska earlier this year. I roasted the salmon on a bed of lemon slices.
2) Kale with apples, garlic and sage. This is my standby side dish right now. It’s too easy to make and I even finished it off in the oven while the fish was cooking
3) orange chevre risotto. This was delicious. zest and juice 2 navel oranges. Using a standard risotto recipe do this: add 1/3 of the orange zest to the pot when you toss the rice in to cook, before you add the liquid. The first shot of liquid should be the orange juice, the second should be a good slug of white wine and then use broth or whatever for the rest of the cooking. To finish, add 2 ounces of chevre and the rest of the orange zest. it was absolutely delicious.
3) a variation on the figgy pear parnouti in which I made a regular caramel sauce and added 1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon and cardamom, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp cloves and a pinch of nutmeg. I divided the chopped pears, figs, walnuts and chevre into 6 ounce ramekins and poured the caramel sauce over them. I roasted them at 325 for 45 minutes. the leftover caramel sauce hardened like candy, so I got to spend the afternoon sucking on little chunks of spicy ginger caramel.
You should come to dinner some time!
mmmmgarlic
I have a loaf of rosemary, garlic, olive oil brad going in the machine right now and the house just reeks of fantasticness.
Tomorrow night Mary is bringing the new baby over for dinner (well, specifically, the baby is still on the boob tap, but Mary will be eating dinner). Proposed menu:
Salmon with a dill/fennel seed crust and lemon
Herb and chevre risotto
Kale with apples, garlic and sage
the aforementioned bread
figgy pear parnouti, dairy free variation
I’ll let you know how it goes and I will post recipes. Of course I will let you know how it goes, I always do.
Spent the day at home, sick with another systemic strep outbreak. Had to get a shot in my ass, but I also got a snoopy bandaid on my butt, so I guess it evens out. I even accused the nurse of trying to see my ass since the doctor told me it would be a shot in my arm. The doctor lied.