Bet your family were very impressed with all your holiday decor. Your trees turned out so nicely. Good job. Luvs

I think Shepherds Pie is a great choice! A bit of a change up from the chicken and pasta dishes and perfect for Fall. Here is my recipe Shepherds Pie 4 tbsp vegetable oil 1 1/2 pounds ground beef 3/4 cup diced onion, about 1/2 medium 1 cup diced celery 2 cups diced carrot, about 2 medium 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 heaping tbsp tomato paste 2 tbsp flour 1 cup red wine (can omit)_ 2 1/2 cups beef stock ( I use 1/2 stock one half my brown sauce) 1 sprig rosemary 1 sprig thyme Salt and pepper to taste 4 medium cooking potatoes, peeled and quartered 2 cloves garlic, smashed butter 1/4 milk 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese salt and pepper to taste 1. Add 2 tbsp vegetable oil to large pan over medium high heat. Add ground beef. 2. Cook until excess liquid is gone and meat is starting to brown. If required drain of any fat. 3. Remove meat from pan and deglaze with red wine or beef broth, let reduce slightly. 4. In another large pot, add remaining vegetable oil over medium high heat. Add onions, carrots and celery; cook until soft but not browned, about 5-7 minutes. 5. Add garlic and add tomato paste. Brown paste slightly then sprinkle in flour. Cook out for a minute or two 6. Add in red wine, scraping up brown bits from bottom of pan. 7. Add beef stock, rosemary, thyme. Return browned meat to pot. Simmer, covered for 20-25 minutes. 8. Remove lid and continue cooking for another 10 minutes; liquid will reduce and thicken. Remove rosemary, thyme . Season well with salt and pepper. Potatoes 1. Add quartered potatoes and smashed garlic to medium pot. 2. Boil until potatoes are tender but not overdone, about 15-20 minutes. 3. Strain potatoes; let dry out slightly in colander before returning to pot. Add milk, butter, pepper, Parmesan cheese and more salt if necessary. 4. Mash using a potato masher. Preheat oven to 400. Spoon filling into the bottom of a 10-inch round casserole dish. Top with potatoes. Grate parmesan cheese on top and dot surface evenly with butter. Season with salt and pepper. Bake on middle rack until top is golden and filling is warmed through, about 20-25 minutes. Let stand for a few minutes before serving. For a crowd I make the meat mixture a day or two ahead and refrigerate. I also make the potatoes a day ahead. On the day of, I bring the meat to a low simmer, just barely heated through, then top with the potatoes and throw in the oven a half hour or so before serving.

We had Christmas dinner with the neighbors on the Saturday before Christmas. With their work schedules it was the only day we'd all be available until after the 25th. I provided the dinner, but due to health issues I couldn't get our house "Christmas ready" and didn't even want to bother with a tree. It was my time to host. She kept insisting she would happily do it, but I wanted her to enjoy the dinner. We compromised. I provided the raw ingredients and cooked the roast. She proviced the dining room, ambiance, and help in her kitchen! I bought and prepared a standing rib roast and (the best ever!) Yorkshire puddings. I added carrots and brussel's sprouts to the roast. They had their house and trees (yes; plural) decorated to the nines. I washed and prepped broccolli in a steam pan, and filled a basket with yukon gold potatoes, the mixer (I'm giving her one of her own for her Feb. birthday), butter, cheese sauce, foil wrapped French bread, and a tray of olives and stuffed celery, and had her come get them. She fixed those sides. I brought the roast, carrots, and sprouts over when it was finished and made the Yorkshire puds in her oven. It was a marvelous dinner, if I say so myself. LOL We shared the leftovers. I've spent all evening making a soup out of the rib bones, left-over meat, and all sorts of fresh veggies. I have carrots, potatoes, celery, leeks, onion, black beans, parsnips, thyme, and parsley all simmering in the slow-simmered, defatted broth. I chopped all the left over meat and added that in too. I love soups, especially on these very cold evenings.

Christmas Eve is our big family gathering, we include a dinner for 20. We serve buffet style, but sit at dining tables. (I discovered that 20 is the perfect number: 10 at the DR, 10 in the sunroom at two folding banquet tables) We went with a simple dinner menu this year: beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes (two trays from costco, they were great, and pretty in my new red-orange Dansk pan) and a simple Chistmas salad my aunt made. Elegant! Appetizers were made/brought by others: just shrimp w/sauce, an artichoke dip with crackers, and my kids always make the classic Lipton soup dip. Dessert was the most complicated: DH made his mom's Walnut glory cake which calls for 9 count'em 9 separated eggs. But it's not called "glory" for nothing! Our Scandinavian tradition calls for rice pudding which, for the first time, came from my kitchen. It was a tad soupy, but delicious. And folks brought cookies and candy. Christmas morning DH made our traditional "Eggs McDH" and mimosas. We forgot to make the fruit medley, but that's okay. Then we went to my folks' and my brothers met us up there, for baked French toast (made with Challah, best French toast ever!) and bacon. Christmas night is our quiet intimate dinner at home of leftovers, at the dining room table with the party dinnerware. Me, I felt like the Very Hungry Caterpillar: I ate "one nice green leaf and felt much better". Literally, I had the salad with no dressing lol! Ahhh.