kayb

There would be open revolt at my house if I did not serve it. I don't like it, don't eat it, but the kids go berserk for it.

It was a good-sized Christmas dinner. Broccoli salad and potato salad. Deviled egg tray. Japanese pickles in rice wine, mirin and soy sauce, center; tomato wedges, cornichons and Castelvetrano olives around the outside. Sweet potatoes and mac and cheese. Ham. Baked beans. One of the gifted pecan pies. And the butter cake. Nobody left hungry. And we fixed plates for a few extra and sent them out as well.

Food related, I got a pretty spoon rest for the cabinet by the stove, a dishtowel with a saying on it, and a box of Harry and David chocolate-covered cherries. And otherwise, lots of things I didn't need, but love.

Some background on the Hotel Sam Peck, including Harry Reasoner's comments on the food, near the end. https://arktimes.com/history/2019/11/05/a-look-at-old-little-rock-via-the-hotel-sam-peck

I have it. Thought it might be promising for someone who needed to live a GF lifestyle. Not so much.

Alas, the Hotel Sam Peck is no more, sadly. The Crescent has been open, then closed, then open again. It's allegedly haunted. I've always wanted to stay there and see the ghost. I don't know any of the Tennessee ones. Some I recognize as being in East Tennessee.

Got a jar of Greek honey via UPS from a friend who usually sends me See's Candy; truthfully, I'd much prefer the honey. And last night, a family friend came by with pecan pies. And he makes FINE pecan pies. Just adjusted the dessert menu to accommodate.

My Christmas dinner, which will be today, is all cooked, save for the rolls, and awaiting guests' arrival. In this year of small celebrations and pandemic precautions, eGullet plays an even bigger part in my life. I wish each of you a joyful, if small, Christmas.

Huh. It will remain a mystery! Was there an Arkansas restaurant? Tennessee?

Trying to decide what that interesting little tureen(?) of something is, sitting atop the Mississippi River bridging Arkansas and Mississippi on the map spread. Most of the others I could figure.

Would that then be a Little Green Egg?

Today, I'm prepping the sweet potatoes and baked beans, baking the ham, and making a broccoli and cauliflower salad. Will probably also make dough for rolls tonight and set it out in the garage for a long overnight rise. Tomorrow I'll cook the sweet potatoes and baked beans, and saute' some brussels sprouts and bake the rolls. We'll open gifts around 2:30 or 3, and eat afterward. Oh, and make a butter cake. Almost forgot that. Made brownie bites and pecan pie cupcakes and some weird gluten free cookies with buckwheat flour yesterday. Also made some smoked salmon spread for snacking.

Theres a Nestle plant in my city that does Lean Cuisine. Wonder if it's from there?

I've had many a piece of country bacon with the skin, with a hair or two here and there sticking out. My suggestion: Go ahead and cook it, and whatever's sticking out after the sear, flame off quickly with a torch. (Most of it WILL stick out at that point, because the skin will have shrunk.) If a few don't flame off, let 'em go.

I almost missed the Scotch in there. Glass blends into countertop, Gorgeous glass, though. (and countertop ain't bad, either.)

Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, I've been instructed. Ham, sweet potatoes, cranberry salad, mac and cheese, baked beans. Not very festive, but what the kids want. Christmas day I will have leftover ham for snacking and sandwiching and such. Christmas morning latkes with ham and eggs alongside. New Year's Eve still up in the air. Thinking about boiled shrimp; taking a cue from @gfweb, it'll be the Feast of the Two Fishes, as there will be Worcestershire in the cocktail sauce. Doesn't look like I'll get down to Marvell to get local caviar at the fish market. I have smoked salmon in the freezer, so likely that in a cream cheese spread with lots of dill. Hey, that takes me up to Three Fishes! NY Day, black eyed peas, likely with tomatoes and smoked sausage; mustard greens (obligatory), cornbread. Plenty of ham left.

I have. I don't remember what the snack du jour was.

Charles Portis. A fine son of Arkansas, and an incredibly shy person. Hated to be asked about his books. Read Dog of the South.

It's been a while since I cooked a grocery store turkey, but I'd say dry brine it just in case. I've never noticed an appreciable taste of salt in a roasted turkey from the grocery, so I don't think you'll oversalt it.

I had a friend who determined you could get a 750-ml bottle of wine in a single giant Yeti cup. Works for me.

You may remember that for two or three years, I baked muffins every Sunday morning for my small Sunday school class. We've not had Sunday school since March. It occurred to me it would be a good thing to bake a batch of muffins for each of the families who are represented in my class (there are only three) and deliver them to them on Christmas Eve. So I think I'll do that.

There are some places it may not be appropriate to drink wine. I think it's appropriate to drink coffee most everywhere. I'm going for camouflage, here.

Might be nice if you were a squirrel...

I don't see that it should be a problem to SV it, then chill, take out of bag, dry off, and set in the fridge overnight.

Nice. I'm limited in Chex mix, since it has to be gluten free. Rice chex, corn chex, cheerios, pecans, peanuts, cashews.