Christmas 2024

[Okanagancook]

A poll in the local news website reports that 69% of people are eating turkey for dinner today.  Us too.

 

Merry Christmas to everyone.

[gfweb]

23 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

I have a stove top smoker.  If I were to try smoking them, would I cook them first, slice then smoke?  I have some I'm planning to have with our turkey this year and wouldn't mind trying this,

 

I smoked first, but for  no good reason.  Both ought to work.

[gfweb]

30 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Cheesy Potatoes

 

 

 

Super easy.  I omitted the onions due to grandkids not liking them (I think lol). If they weren't coming I'd def. do the onions.   My slow cooker takes longer than what the recipe says (it also gets hotter on the left side than the right but sigh it still works so I'll not buy another one yet).  The day before I cooked it on low for 3 hours, stirred and then did 2 more hours and put it in the fridge.  At 6 in the morning I started it on low again for 2 hours.  Stirred.  Added more cheese to the top.  Let it go another hour then turned it on warm.  Worked like a charm.

 

 

Thanks!

Potatoes are sliced in a liquid to cook?

[Shelby]

Just now, gfweb said:

 

Thanks!

Potatoes are sliced in a liquid to cook?

No.  I just used 2 30 oz. bags of frozen shredded potatoes, thawed overnight in the fridge. The water that you add to the soup mixture is enough. 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

I'll be attending a traditional, in our family, turkey dinner. My contribution will be the desert and cheese course.

My neighbors, who are my BIL's sister and BIL, hosted their annual open house yesterday evening. This is their 40th year doing so and there is a huge pot of seafood chowder with some traditional breads and deserts (also lasagna as an alternative to the chowder). This was my third time attending and it was a good time.

Happy holidays to all.

 

 

[Alex]

Here's our slightly updated Seven Fishes menu from last night. Even after taking two hours for the first five courses, we were so full we decided to postpone the cheese course finale to tonight. In fact, given what we'll be eating for brunch, it might be the only thing we'll eat for dinner -- which is fine by me.

 

Dashi-mushroom broth

 

Wild char roe, avocado-oil potato chips, crème fraîche

 

Caesar salad (no egg), boquerones

 

“Gefilte” fish pâté, lime horseradish, crackers

 

Most definitely not kosher seafood chowder

Gulf shrimp, bay scallops, lump crabmeat

potatoes, bacon, Penzey’s Sunny Paris seasoning

 

Verterra Brut 2019 (Michigan)

 

 

Époisses, Fuji apple, Idaho snowberry honey, baguette

 

La Fleur d’Or Sauternes 2009

[gfweb]

Xmas Lunch was smoked turkey salad with candied pecans and grapes. Turkey was SV and perfect.  Pickled onions could be plated better 😉

 

Dinner was bits of this and that.  Smoked trout spread...deviled eggs with candied bacon...artichoke dip...and a big pot of meatballs (not shown).

[Shelby]

 

Christmas Dinner--prime rib, simple baked potato, balsamic mushrooms and a bit of leftover broccoli salad

 

Dessert

 

 

Along with a glass of @ninagluck's eggnog  

[lemniscate]

Very small Christmas dinner, some nice filets sauteed in butter on the patio ( in the A4box), with a splash of homemade Worcestershire-like sauce (we call it sizzle sauce).   Some frozen fries in the outside AF with a smoky bbq dipping sauce.

Cherry tomatoes and sharp cheddar cubes were the sides.

 

I made hot toddies with chocolate tea with orange liqueur.    

 

Nitecaps were creme Amarula in a low-ball with an ice cube around the firepit.

 

Really pleased with the peacefulness.

[johnnyd]

Boxing Day brunch!  Latkes cooked in my new Lodge 11" skillet, Ukranian Granny Borscht.

 

 

[Katie Meadow]

Perfect xmas dinner for the two of us: To start, homemade cheese straws left over from xmas eve party and a glass of gifted Rittenhouse rye. For dinner, gifted Domingo Rojo beans from my Napa SIL (she's got my number) made into a New Mexico style beans over rice. Pickled veg, also leftover from the party. And for dessert an apple calvados cake made after opening presents. That's not quite correct. It was intended for dessert, but, unable to resist, we ate it warm from the oven a couple of hours BEFORE dinner.  Gift of note from my husband: a 12 inch carbon steel skillet. Gorgeous.

[gfweb]

@Katie Meadow I love my CS pans. Congratulations!

[Katie Meadow]

3 hours ago, gfweb said:

@Katie Meadow I love my CS pans. Congratulations!

Thanks, I also have a dedicated carbon steel omelet pan that I have used for over 30 years and is, in my estimation, perfect. I hope this new pan works as well for as long. By that time I will be 107. I'm also keeping my cast iron skillets in good condition, so when the time is right that day comes I will hit myself over the head with one of those, if I can still lift it. That should be a fitting end. By then my omelet pan will probably be useless because there will be so few chickens left without avian flu that eggs will be unaffordable for all of us in the 99.99 percent.  

[Maison Rustique]

@Katie Meadow This inquiring minds needs to know deets about the calvados cake. I'm a calvados fiend! Or at least I was when I drank a lot more than I do know. A cake with it sounds like just the thing.

[Katie Meadow]

6 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

@Katie Meadow This inquiring minds needs to know deets about the calvados cake. I'm a calvados fiend! Or at least I was when I drank a lot more than I do know. A cake with it sounds like just the thing.

I realize now my brain has holiday addle, or worse. I did not make an apple calvados cake yesterday. I made an apple cake with sambuca!

But I do have a couple of recipes for apple cake with calvados. One is a David Lebovitz recipe called Apple Calvados Cake. The other is from Acadiana Table and is called Apple Gateau with Calvados Creme. I've made the Lebovitz one and it was good. The other sounds dreamy; it occurs to me you could make the calvados sauce and it would be great simply poured over a baked apple. I believe both  are easily available on their respective websites.  I make a lot of apple cakes in the winter.