FauxPas

Our NYE plans got derailed as well. My husband also fell badly a few days ago. He somehow misjudged an awkward curb and probably twisted his ankle a bit and ended up going down hard on his left arm and side. He didn't think he was too badly hurt but yesterday he was really feeling it. Enough that he didn't want to do the steaks and seafood. I gave some other choices but we ended up just getting some Chinese take-out, which really wasn't that great. We did have a nice bottle of wine though! 🙂

Yes! Happy Anniversary, @Shelby! How did you prepare the steak?

LOVE the reindeer one! You must have a steady hand, they are all quite intricate. And I'm pretty sure I would have broken off the edges of the sleigh ones while working with them, ha.

OMG, I'm still trying to recover from the Xmas Day cooking so had almost forgot that another Big Day is right around the corner, ha. More meals to plan, oh noes. 🙂 I might switch with you and do Prime Rib for NYE, maybe see what looks good for a bit of a seafood add-on. Or just ask Mike to cook a steak on the grill and I'll do baked potatoes and sautéed mushrooms. We could still add some crab legs or something. The local store is pushing lobster but I don't know. I have to say that the veggie (butternut squash) Wellington I did for Xmas was quite a success. It made me think about other Wellingtons. I've done salmon ones and they turned out pretty well. Classic Beef Wellington is gorgeous, but you just did Prime Rib. Is Lobster Newburg still a thing? I haven't had it in so many years, it sounds kinda dated but age shouldn't factor if it's kept its magic. 🙂

Those snowmen have so much detail! They are really gorgeous. Is that Royal Icing? How did you do that lovely little bit of holly on the hat?

Steve Sando's latest bean cookbook is on for $2.99 at both Amazon Canada and USA. This is a great deal! The Bean Book: 100 Recipes for Cooking with all Kinds of Beans (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Canadian link here.

@liamsaunt, I was looking for some ideas for Xmas dinner as step-daughter is largely vegetarian and I was thinking of a Butternut Squash Wellington. I did a search here and looks like you did one a few years back for Xmas. Your whole menu that year sounds lovely but I wonder if you remember the veggie Wellington? Was it the one from NY Times? Was it good? I am thinking of doing this one with wild rice and mushrooms which leaves the squash neck whole. Local farms are still picking some things like Brussels sprouts, kale and kalettes and want to make use of some of those items. Thinking of a shredded Brussels sprouts salad with pomegranate seeds, toasted almonds, shaved Parmesan and a lemon vinaigrette. I also have some kalettes but not sure if I will use them for Xmas or not. Does anyone else cook with these? I might add some in to the salad or roast some but wonder if anyone has tried anything different with them? I'll cook a turkey breast roast with stuffing on the side, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry-orange sauce, corn and edamame, several roasted veggies if I don't do the Wellington, pumpkin pie. My husband likes a fairly classic (maybe slightly boring, ha) dinner and I'm happy with whatever. We have some local smoked Pacific oysters for appetizers from a cannery just south of here. I'm going to make some eggnog of some kind. I ordered a few different white wines from one of my fave BC Okanagan wineries, including some bubbly for NYE. Our cat will probably have Feast of the Seven Fishes, kitty-style. hahahahaha 🙂

What do you do? Is it just the Pernod over the grapes or ??? McVities are indeed tasty!!! I never get tired of a good digestive biscuit.

Yes, from the royal icing.

A friend and I made up some Christmas cookies together. Sugar cookies decorated with royal icing. Neither of us had made royal icing before. It's easy to over-decorate these things! More icing than cookie on some of these, hahahaha. KInda fun to do though even if far from perfect. For some reason our red food colouring was not a true red but it was still redder than it looks in these photos!

Me too! 😆

Looks delicious. But we don't often see that many carbs on your plate, right? 😄

Oooh, I love this too! Those rocking chairs are so cool. (I was going to say 'those chairs really rock' but I restrained myself, hahaha) I picture hot chocolate along with the blanket. Or maybe a brandy or cognac, but personally I'd go Grand Marnier. Orange says Christmas to me. 🙂 But where is the tree with the lights that you watch from there? Am I missing it in the photos?

@Shelby, how do you do your scalloped potatoes? They just look so good! Maybe it's just I'm hungry right now and I know we are OUT of potatoes (and we don't need other groceries so don't feel like shopping) and so I'm craving them. Funny how you can live without something quite happily when it's in your cupboard but when you know you're out, suddenly it's the only thing you want. Or is that just me, hahaha. 🙂

I don't think topping up the brine will hurt. Freezing may change the texture a bit but so does the fermentation process, ha. @Senior Sea Kayakertalked about starting his ferments with frozen produce, peppers in this case:

Do you use hormone rooting powder or anything like that?

Strangely enough, we were planning wings tonight so here are some photos. I have a bit of hot sauce on the side for my wings and Mike has a ranch dressing for his veggies and wings. We call these S&P wings. We love them, folks we have served them to seem to like them also. But I really think the steam oven does a great job.

I notice that some salt is added with the baking powder coating, could you try upping the salt a bit and also adding in some pepper at that point? Or salt and pepper just before turning the heat up? Aren't the wings a bit wet at that point with the rendering? (I have never done the baking powder method, so I might be missing something with these suggestions.) I have the little Cuisinart Steam Convection oven and I do salt and pepper wings all the time in it. I mix the wings with some olive oil, arrange on a rack and sprinkle with salt and pepper. I use steam bake at about 325 - 350F for 20 -25 mins and then turn them over, sprinkle with a bit more S & P and cook for another 20-25 mins. Mike likes his wings crisped and brown so sometimes I cook a bit longer than those times. All I can say is that we love these wings and have them frequently. I guess, if you wanted to, you could try my method and add a pan of water to your oven to add some steam - in whatever oven you usually use? But not sure this is of any help to you, sorry! 🙂

Yay, you should definitely go for both! 🙂

Wow, that thing looks heavy! Good thing indeed that no one got clocked by it when it came down! 🙂

@Shelby makes her own and freezes them. She has shared her favourite recipe for them here, along with mouth-watering images: 🙂 https://forums.egullet.org/topic/163549-dinner-2022/?do=findComment&comment=2331215

I'd also read reviews of the program - Reddit has several threads about Vine. https://www.reddit.com/r/AmazonVine/comments/tnrfe2/new_to_amazon_vine/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AmazonVine/comments/17v1bwx/amazons_vine_program_is_not_as_glamorous_as_it/

I think Amazon's is invitation only through their Vine program. I think this is still up-to-date info but I'm sure Jo can add details. https://www.amazon.com/vine/about

You've got a pretty nice start there! It would certainly be easy to group some soup ingredients together for yourself or as a gift. Squash, carrots, celery, onion (maybe apple) and some ginger would be a nice start to a squash soup. You could add curry spices also, for example. Tomato and pepper soup also. Or a starter for chili? Dried cranberries and add some nuts and the dry ingredients to make a cranberry orange nut loaf? All ready to go, except for wet ingredients? Strawberries and apples would be great for muffins, scones, pancakes maybe?

I would enjoy taking them to the cows, also! Do you do much baking/cooking with the pumpkins? I can't really remember if you do or not. Your food looks delicious and so attractively presented. That apple galette looks very appealing.