MaryIsobel

Went to buy Brussels sprouts to pan roast for the big family dinner tomorrow night. Both grocery stores in my town have ones that are the size of marbles; less than an inch in diameter. I bought a handful for each guest plus a couple of extra handfuls. My gut tells me to just trim the bottom and not cut them in half as I usually do. I do them with panchetta and shallots and finish with a balsamic glaze. Should I leave them whole and just flip them a bit more frequently?

Your pastry looks fabulous!

As I mentioned, we pretended that yesterday was Christmas as our RN daughter is working today and tomorrow. We had the usual; monkey bread, cream cheese, lox and bagels and a no/low-carb egg, sausage, cheese, peppers and onions casserole mainly for my soon-to-be son-in-law who is diabetic and avoids carbs as much as possible. He did enjoy a few bites of the monkey bread. A hot chocolate/coffee bar with several liquers, then set out the fixings for mimosas and/or caesars. It was more of a brunch I suppose as no one even mentioned lunch.

Baked the Tourtière tarts - they turned out well. In the interest of transparency, I am including a picture of the Tourtière turnover that I made for dinner tonight. I cut neat little crosses on the top but apparently overstuffed.

Those mincemeat pinwheels are a great idea! I always made mincemeat tarts for my Dad and my boss but Dad passed and my boss is not my boss any more so I didn't make any this year. I like them, my husband can take them or leave them. My Mom used to heat up mincemeat with a generous splash of brandy and serve it over vanilla ice cream - I might just do that!

There is no Guiness like a Guiness in Dublin. The pub I mentioned is not too far from the Library of Trinity College. I still have my raggedy Book of Kells bookmark from my visit there. I accidentally left it in a book that I donated to a local thrift shop - when I realized what I had done, I went and looked for my donated book and lo and behold I found it and my bookmark!

I do, but you'll have to make your way to Dublin. P. Duggans 25 Parkgate St, Stoneybatter, Dublin 8, D08 XR94, Ireland The lovely gent behind the bar came and asked what we'd like and when we said we'd like to try an Irish coffee, he said "ahh, we've a couple of virgins do we?" It was one of the most delicious drinks I've had, so good in fact that we had two each and it was only slightly after noon.

Now on day 10 of whatever malady it is that is plaguing me. Still no appetite and no energy but I do feel a little better each day. I am so far behind. Made Salted Chocolate Chunk shortbread, some gingerbread men and trees that are still naked at this point, some rum balls and then turned most of the rest of my baking ingredients into "bark" cuz that was easiest. Yesterday I made the tortiere filling, I will bake it into tarts today or tomorrow as we never eat a whole pie and the tarts freeze nicely. My daughters are helping immensely with our Christmas Eve finger food spread so that has been helpful.

That looks delicious - plating is over-rated on the day to day.

I'm having a hard time imagining what those would taste like...

That bread looks amazing!

Fascinating look into your travels - thank you. I had a giggle to myself imagining our group of friends dining at one of those low tables. We would all need to be on our hands and knees with a grab rail near by in order to get up!

I've always loved a Negroni. My sister and I were guests of our cousin at the Hari Hotel in London. The bartender there made a spectacular Negroni, apparently his secret was grappa added to the mix. Best negroni I have ever had!

The ones that I love and the ones I made for my Dad that finally resembled the ones that "Aunt Aggie" made, were made with lard. Oatcakes in our family were definitely savory.

Scotch eggs and a Negroni - I'm going to have to do this.

I am still experiencing some type of bug that is making me feel 30 years older than I am and going through a box of Kleenex a day. I'm operating on the "work an hour, rest an hour" principle. Most of the decorating is done and today I made rum balls. Got our new stove yesterday and have not had the energy to check it out thoroughly. I do know that it boils water, having gone through almost as much tea and Neo Citron as kleenex the last few days.

Perhaps I will tell the family that is expecting turkey et al, that I have to make an emergency trip to China!

Some great looking comfort food meals! Appears that Jessica has her momma's gene for cooking. One of my daughters is a great cook, the other one "eats to live." I need to do a freezer dive pretty soon to make way for the Christmas stuff. I'll be doing Christmas Eve finger food, Christmas breakfast/brunch and the big extended family turley dinner. I have done them all so many times before and everyone seems to want to stick to the usual so that makes it easy, if a little boring, for me.

I have never had Jeruselam artichoke either. Another thing that I have never even seen for sale around here. Regular artichokes (fresh ones that is) are pretty rare too.

I have never tasted it nor seen it for sale anywhere around me. Reading up on it, I keep seeing comments that it tastes like oysters. Is that true?

Thank you all for the suggestions. I woke in the wee hours this morning with a raging stomach issue and realized early in the day that talking about, thinking about or looking at pictures of food was not a good idea. I'm better now so hoping it is a 24 hour thing. I think we have decided that my husband will do steaks on the bbq (he's quite good at that) and I will make stuffed potatoes in the toaster oven, along with a caesar salad. I'm going to keep all the other ideas because the oven in our 5th wheel (RV) is crap and I like to cook nice things when we're camping because I don't do a hell of a lot else during the day except walk the dog, read and if we are on a lake, I spend time in my floaty chair. Leaves me with lots of energy to make a decent dinner.

I don't beleive that she did but she later confirmed that it was only a splash! (or two) Who knows, she could have been like my aunt who was never without a tumbler of "ice water." One day, one of my daughters knocked over said tumbler and the distinct smell of vodka permeated the room!

You are correct! I remember being gobsmacked when a former boss's veddy veddy proper wife commented that the only creamer that she ever used was Bailey's and she had at least two cups every morning.

Years ago, when our daughters were about 10, we were driving from Cancun to Chicxulub after leaving Los Angeles (about a 3.5 hour drive) Due to our flight, it had to be a nighttime drive and we weren't sure about eating places along the way. The day before, I took the girls to Target and told them to look for packaged food that wouldn't be too messy to eat in the rental car. I saw spray cheese which I hadn't had in decades and convinced them that it was "like whipped cream in a can, only cheese!" They had great fun squirting it on pretzels and crackers and were sorely disappointed when I told them it would not be a regular purchase once we got home. For a few years after, I put a can of it in each of their stockings at Christmas!

Steak and mashed potatoes sounds like the answer - thank you. This friend is a lovely fellow who would do anything for anyone but so picky about food. We sometimes camp in a group with him so I often invite him for dinner as he's the only single guy in the group. Once I was making bacon and eggs and hashbrowns for dinner and invited him, telling him what was on the menu. He said "thanks, but I don't think I'd like eggs at night - I only eat them in the morning!"