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12-19-2016, 09:01 AM
Christmas is almost here!! Any spectacular plans awaiting any of us?? Dinner plans?? N
Not much gong on around here - tired of the snow, so not hoping for a white Christmas this year!! Have to start thinking about food.
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
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We finally finished making cookies. I was working on the sugar cookies on Friday when Ron got home from work and he helped me finish, since they are not one of those things that I enjoy making.
So...this leads me to sharing two tips that were given to me by my daughter, Holly. The first one is to keep the dough chilled while you are working on rolling out a ball of dough about the size of a large orange. Yes, it does mean running back and forth to the fridge a lot, but it's so much easier to work with. The second tip is to roll the cookies out in powdered sugar instead of flour. I just used a spoonful at a time on a wooden board, so it wasn't excessive, but what a difference it makes! Best sugar cookies ever, crispy and sweet! I know the bakers out there are rolling their eyes right now, but for me, this was huge!
So, now all we have to do is make up our cookie trays that we store in our "cold room."
Christmas Eve is spent at Holly's. It's a casual, potluck type of evening that begins with the children's Mass at 4:00 at Holly's church. The menu doesn't change very much year to year. We always have a honeybaked ham, some kind of "casserole" potatoes, several appetizers, a vegetable tray, the family fruit salad, and my sister is bringing these most amazing apple pies that she buys in Amish country. Christmas day is still undetermined, but we're thinking that we will probably make dinner for Ron's parents and take it out to them since they probably won't make it to Holly's this year.
Maryann
"Drink your tea slowly and reverently..."
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I have read of rolling the cookies in p.sugar, but have never done it. Hope I remember this next year.
Sounds like a fun Christmas planned. I know I'm getting a deep fryer (re the thread where we talked about them), so one thing I'm making sometime Christmas weekend is fried Razor clams (have in the freezer already). thinking about caviar topped baked potatoes or pasta.....really up in the air. Just noticed we have a lone bottle of bubbly....may have to increase that for the weekend.
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
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Eggs Benedict for breakfast and sous-vide prime rib for dinner.
I still think it's really cool that Target is selling the Anova. It makes me wonder how many people may be introduced to sous vide by receiving an Anova from Target for Christmas.
If blueberry muffins have blueberries in them, what do vegan muffins have?
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Speaking of the Sous Vid, one of our new neighbors told us he could help with a campground cookout since his SIL works for a big food distributor and gets free stuff on a regular basis. The SIL is a former chef. Anyway, he introduced them (the neighbors) to sous vid recently and they were very impressed.
Ashley so enjoyed having Thanksgiving at her house, she offered to do Christmas. With us so busy and staying in Southport, and her not available to help me decorate, this was a PERFECT solution.
Our menu doesn't very a whole lot from year to year. For Christmas Eve, the kids love our immediate family party with cocktails, charcuterie, my crab dip, and a couple other, yet to be confirmed, appetizers. Christmas Day usually starts with a breakfast casserole and Bloody Marys.
The main meal is most often some sort of beef. This year we can't decide between bone in rib eyes at $5.99/lb. and beef tenderloin at $9.99/lb. either way, I'm making my Alexander Sauce and roasted asparagus to go on top. Ashley wants to keep it simple, so twice baked potatoes will be made up Saturday. I had considered a chef salad, but Mom wants to contribute. She wants to make Broccoli salad and fruit salad. This doesn't really go with dinner, but to be honest, I'd be happy if both got lost in the fridge so I can take it home to eat all by myself! I love both!
So that is the menu for this weekend!
Daphne
Keep your mind wide open.
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Time to put Christmas plans for 2016 to bed?? I'll leave the Secret Santa up until Daphne does her thing and we can see how well she does before we tell all.
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com