For Christmas Eve I made a 12 lb loin of beef. I have so much stuff going on that I bought a digital therm with a probe and program it to the proper temp, it beeps when it's done so I don't forget about the beef. I cut the beef in half to make it a little easier to handle and used Ina Gartens recipe. 1 (4 to 5 pound) fillet of beef, trimmed and tied 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 tablespoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Place the beef on a sheet pan and pat the outside dry with a paper towel. Spread the butter on with your hands. Sprinkle evenly with the salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for exactly 22 minutes for rare and 25 minutes for medium-rare. Remove the beef from the oven, cover it tightly with aluminum foil, and allow it to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes. Remove the strings and slice the fillet thickly. Note: Be sure your oven is very clean or the high temperature will cause it to smoke.

This would not be a heart healthy meal (sorry) but it is something that our extended family enjoys when we get together (the children like it too) and its done ahead of time, just needs reheating while the fresh vegetable is steaming. Brisket, potato casserole, fresh broccoli, salad. BEEF BRISKET FROM SARA MOULTON 1 Beef Brisket, any size Salt & Pepper 2 onions, thinly sliced Minced garlic Mix together: 1/2 cup ketchup 1/2 cup chili sauce 3 TBL brown sugar 1 bottle beer Lay meat in oven going baking dish. Salt & pepper it, spread garlic over top, spread onions over the garlic. Pour sauce over the meat. Cover tightly with foil and roast at 300* for 3 hours if small 1/2 brisket or 4 hours if large, whole brisket. Uncover, let meat rest, and pour gravy into a saucepan. Puree with handheld blender, or pour carefully into blender and puree. Slice meat across grain and serve with gravy. If doing ahead, cover with foil, refrigerate and reheat in slow oven. CHRISTMAS POTATOES 2 pound package hash brown potato cubes, thaw, drain and pat dry 1 can cream of chicken soup 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (10-12 ounce package) 1/2 cup melted butter 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 pint (16 ounces) sour cream Combine all ingredients in large bowl and put into greased casserole dish 9 x 13 inches (approximately). 1/4 cup melted butter 2 cups crushed cornflakes Combine and sprinkle on top of potatoes. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. (Prepare casserole in advance and keep in the fridge, but don't bake it til serving time.) Here's a chicken menu that we like - chicken, orzo/roasted veggies, green salad. You can get the chicken ready and store in the fridge until baking. And the orzo/vegetable salad is served at room temp, so you can prepare it in advance and then take it out to warm up. Easy Baked Chicken 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves Salt Ground pepper Garlic powder 4 T. mayonnaise 4 T. fresh shredded Parmesan cheese 1 c. fresh coarse bread crumbs (or packaged, or panko) Chopped parsley 1. Season chicken lightly with salt, pepper. 2. Combine mayonnaise, garlic powder and cheese. 3. Put chicken in baking dish and cover with the mixture. 5. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and top with parsley. Bake at 400 until juices run clear (about 15-20 minutes) ORZO WITH ROASTED VEGETABLES 1 small eggplant, peeled, 3/4" dice 1 red pepper, 1" dice 1 yellow pepper, 1" dice 1 red onion, peeled, 1" dice 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 lb Orzo, cooked 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt 1-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 3 scallions, minced 1/4 cup toasted Pignoli nuts 3/4 lb Feta cheese, 1/2" dice 15 basil leaves, chiffonade Mix first 7 ingredients together and place in one layer in large roasting pan. Roast @ 425 degrees for 40 minutes, turning once. Mix warm orzo with warm cooked vegetables and all of their juices. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper and toss together and let cool to room temperature. Add scallions, nuts, Feta and basil and serve. Serves 6 Roasted pork tenderloin is an easy meal - put however many you need in a roasting pan or two, seasoned nicely with chopped garlic, salt and pepper and maybe some rosemary, and roast at 400 for about 25-30 minutes, let rest for 10 minutes and slice on the diagonal. Serve with anything you like - a potato casserole and some veggies and salad. These are just a start - if you need some choices that aren't so basic and homey, but more "polished" - just ask! There are lots of tried and true recipes out there and lots of cooks posting here :)

Here is another recipe I have used for many years; it always gets rave reviews. To my way of thinking, this is one of those recipes that tastes like you have spent hours preparing the dish from scratch. Toasted Almond Pudding 1 stick margarine -- melted and cooled 1 cup flour 7 ounce can coconut 1 cup blanched-slivered almonds 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 3.4 oz boxes French vanilla instant pudding 2 cups milk 8 ounce tub Cool Whip® Mix margarine, coconut, flour, brown sugar, and almonds together. Put in a large jelly roll pan or a large cookie sheet with very shallow sides. Bake at 325 degrees, stirring frequently, until mixture is brown. Cool and reserve some for topping. Mix together vanilla pudding, milk, and cool whip; chill. Spread toasted almond/coconut mixture evenly in bottom of 9 X 13 glass dish. With a light touch spread the pudding mixture evenly over the almond/coconut mixture. Sprinkle the top with reserved almond/coconut mixture. Refrigerate. NOTE: I have used this recipe for many years and have learned that browning the coconut mixture at 325 degrees is just too hot of an oven. I heat the oven to 325, then turn it down to 300 degrees. You do have to watch and stir very frequently.

>>My Dad used to tell me to look for an animal that was "broad across the Porterhouse".>> Annie, that made me chuckle. I love a thick Porterhouse, but when I moved to CA, I found that 99.9% of folks here have absolutely idea of what that is. And when I did find (rarely) one, it was cut 3/4" thick, which barely qualifies as a breakfast steak where I come from. LOL! If you're traveling in Asia, unless you eat at really expensive places, don't ask for your meat to be rare or even pink. My upper-middle-class in-laws from HK always eat their meat medium-well or well-done. It took me almost a decade to get DH to slowly like his meat rare. When I asked him why his family prefers all their meat "dried up and dead", he retorted, "Because in HK when you buy meat it's from open-air butchers and there's flies all over it!" Okay, I conceded they had a good reason for their preferences......