Jadsip, one of these day I have to make Tortiere. AnnT always made them and posted pictures and they always looked delicious. Yours looks equally delicious. Merry Christmas!

Sleevendog, my family loves smoked chicken. When we're down to the scraps, Elery mixes it with cream cheese and green onions and makes a cheese ball, we don't want to miss out on a single bit. I'd go for the golden beets and parsnips too! I think your DH is going to get a lot of use out of that smoker. Merry Christmas.

Lynda, my brother is a terrible cook, and although I take food to Mother's weekly, not all things reheat particularly well. I'm encouraged today, she had two glasses of orange juice for breakfast with her iron pills, then a cup of coffee and a piece of pumpkin pie. I convinced her to drink an Ensure by promising that I'd stop nagging her about eating if she'd drink it. She had a piece of broccoli/ham/cheese quiche for supper and is now having a glass of Merlot and some cheese. She already seems better.

Supper was the above mentioned quiche and I made a big pot full of butternut squash and red lentils, cooked in coconut milk and some garam masala and chili powder. Mother wouldn't touch them, but Elery liked them.

Tonight we'll open our gifts from Elery's middle son and celebrate Jolobokaflod, the Christmas Book Flood. An Icelandic tradition, Christmas Eve is spent reading and drinking hot chocolate.

Annie

That sounds very promising, and uplifting regarding your mom Annie!!

Good to hear about your Mum Annie.

Well our Christmas meal is over.

Table

First course was Smoked salmon with creme fraise

Main was baked ham with vegetables

We had scalloped potatoes instead of roast

Dessert.... eaten later was a Yule log

Oh Neely I love your Christmas dinner! Fabulous, and beautiful table setting.

Merry Christmas!

Neely, wonderful meal and table setting. I really like the smoked salmon as a starter.

Annie, I am so glad to hear your Mother is doing better.

Jadsip, Your tourtiere sounds wonderful. I had to google it because I had never heard of it.

Our Christmas Eve Dinner was perfect and everyone enjoyed it, even me. I normally, over think it, get way too ambitious and end up exhausted. This was fairly simple to pull together, which allowed me to focus on family. DH cleared up, and we all watched Polar Express together. Now on to Christmas brunch.

The calla lilies are from my garden. The bulbs originally came from my parent's home and are in my grandmother's vase.

French onion soup

Duck a la orange -- we stuffed the bird and made the sauce with our oranges.

Crème Brule topped with whipped cream and our fresh picked blueberries. Our weather confuses the blueberries and we usually get several smaller crops a year in addition to the main one in the spring.

Wow, Lynda, beautiful setting and dinner!

I'd love a huge bowl of the French onion soup please. My stomach growled when I saw it :-D

I had the usual suspects for Christmas dinner; turkey dressing, whipped potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts. No need for a pic.

Today I made turkey pot pie. It's a good thing I don't entertain.....my crust sunk. and it's not pretty. But that's okay, it doesn't bother me in the least (nor would it bother Tom as any sane person).

OTOH my ex-DH and I talk every so often and I told him I made tourtiere and sent him my pic. I've made it a few times. He's from Quebec and had it regularly. First thing he did was criticize the slits. That's not how you cut the crust, it's supposed to be punctured with a fork on and on. FFS they're slits! But he's always right, just ask him, that's also why he's an ex.

Soooo I had a bit of a pity party today missing Tom. As if he'd comment on how a crust is vented.

Here's my din-din (the turkey pot pie) fresh out of the oven in my Emile Henry casserole I got last year.

Jasdip - I'm married to a man from French Canadian parents. AnnT's tourtière recipe is leagues above my MIL's. I keep looking for a fleur de lis cookie cutter like she used in her photo. Your's looks quite lovely!

seagrass

Thanks Seagrass......my tourtiere is up-thread and it turned out delicious. I checked out Ann's recipe and it uses the same spices.

Jasdip, both of those crusts look just fine to me! I still need to make the tourtiere, I am reminded every year when I see the delicious photos. As for your ex, well, pffft. Mine is also an ex for very good reasons, and somehow they always remind us of them, LOL.

Neely, your Christmas dinner looks perfect, especially the Yule Log, and your table is lovely.

Lynda, French Onion is one of my favorite soups, and I seldom make it. I'd certainly not turn down a bowl of yours, so melty-cheesy. Mmmmm. And, of course, I love creme brulee.

We had Christmas dinner yesterday, Madison helped me fold the napkins so they looked like Christmas trees, she saw it in a book. Crafty little elf, isn't she?

We had ham and turkey, stuffing and gravy, corn pudding, green beans with bacon, macaroni and cheese, homemade cranberry sauce and apple sauce, au gratin potatoes:

Homemade rolls, of course. My kids really like Sol's honey rolls, but Mother wanted the ones that Grandma always made, so I made good old Farmhouse White. Everyone ate them with no complaint (and lots of butter!).

Dessert? Of course we'll have some. Gluten free chocolate mint brownies with a ganache frosting that got too hard, and macarons, which are naturally gluten free, although the filling was a little messy. Chocolate, strawberry and pistachio.

For those gluten consuming guests we had all those cookies we made, plus some extra frosted sugar cookies so I could use up the dough, as well as a sour cream almond Texas Sheet Cake with maraschino cherries in place of the nuts. Only on half, because there are some who don't like maraschino cherries, go figure:

Today we went back to healthier eating, I sent every cookie and snack home with the girls yesterday. Dinner was sauteed cabbage, the rest of the baby turnips from the hoop house and leftover turkey. No pictures, it was a kind of white/tan meal, and not pretty, but it was healthy, LOL.

Annie

Yummy Christmas dinner Annie everything looks good. The macarons are perfectt.

Your pies looks delicious Jasdip. Sheesh what a grump the ex is.

Lynda wonderful table and food for Christmas. Like the others I can’t wait to make French onion soup.

As Annie said “back to healthier eating.” Good old Salmon, mashed sweet potato and green beans. Came back to our holiday home, so relaxing and no fuss about ‘nuthin’

@Lynda (Zn9b/23 - Central CA Coast), just saw your post about how you cook farro. Thank you so very much.

Can any of you direct me to Jasdip's and AnnT's recipes for tourtiere, please. I have searched and can't find. Also with to AnnT's blog and couldn't find it.

WC, I typed Tourtiere in the search button in Ann's blog. Tourtieres are typically used with all ground pork, but I used half ground beef and half ground pork. I like the blend of both meats for extra flavour.

I also made the filling earlier in the day so it was cold when I filled the crust, no chance of a soggy crust from putting in a hot filling.

Annie, What a lovely traditional Christmas.

WC, Happy to help!

Neely, Lovely salmon. Glad you are getting some post holiday relaxation time in.

Santa brought me a sous vide machine, so I gave it a try last night. We made salmon with teriyaki sauce. I liked how the frozen salmon can go from freezer to cooked in a little over an hour. I could probably use a little more practice to get everything timed right, but it was a good first try.

@Jasdip, thanks. I must have been spelling it wrong, because I found the recipe finally. What about your recipe?

It's been all seafood all the time since Christmas Eve....not much private time with both of us home. DH is like a puppy needing attention, 😂

Lobster rolls last night, two each. So good, and huge....side of chips. We were sent two bags of spuds instead of one. DH is happy.

Well, it must be seafood week here!

Neely, I was surprised at how simple the macarons actually are, although some cracked and some never developed the required "feet". They all tasted good anyway, and I only showed you the nice ones, LOL. Salmon is always good, in my opinion, and I like sweet potatoes a lot, so I'd be happy with that.

Jasdip, I'll remember that tip to cool the filling before putting it in the crust. At least I'll TRY to remember, LOL, but it's getting more and more in question all the time!

WalnutCreek, I hope you enjoy your tourtiere!

Lynda, I have to have traditional meals on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. No exceptions. (grin) I'm allowed to add new things but seldom am allowed to take anything away, so the meals get bigger and bigger! Enjoy your sous vide, I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet, I need to practice some more. I like salmon but one of my favorite things is rice with teriyaki sauce, so I know what I'd eat first.

OK, sleevendog, you got me. Lobster rolls and potatoes, two of my favorite things. Funny about your DH, some days Elery is like that too, especially if Mom or one of the kids is also demanding my attention. He can ignore me for a week but as soon as I start working on Township business or taking care of someone, he has to talk to me, LOL.

Here I have shrimp thawing, no idea what to have with it. Mother won't touch it, of course, I'll have to make her mac and cheese or something else, so back to two menus for each meal, she's not eating anything that resembles a bean or a vegetable!

Annie

You rib roast is gorgeous. Would you mind sharing what you did for the au jus, please.

Walnut, I browned a couple of oxtails very well in a pan to get a lot of fond. I deglazed with some cabernet and added beef stock and scraped up all the fond. Someone suggested I order demi glace so I did and it was delivered the next day. It came in six little cups and I added one. I also added some fresh thyme and just cooked it slowly until the roast was done.

DH has been on a bread baking roll. I just get summoned for the top slicing. Most gifted.

Beautiful rib roast @cookebook and smoked salmon @sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA).

This is try #2 for sous vide. Chicken breast (sous vide breasts from frozen) with a mustard cream sauce, brown jasmine rice with shallots, chard and red Russian kale, and foccacia. It was good, but not great. Definitely more tender than cooked any other way. I timed it better this time by getting the side and sauce done first and then quickly pan searing the cooked chicken. More practice is definitely needed.

Cookebook, I'd love to have seen the inside of that superb roast.

Sleeve, glad you're getting good use out of your smoker. They are certainly popular. We liked watching Project Smoke with Steven Raichlen on PBS even though we don't have one. All of his food looked incredible.

I smiled at your "puppy needing attention" comment about your DH. Too cute.

Neely, your salmon looks good as always, and Lynda, that's quite a great-looking meal for your first attempt at sous-vide! There's a learning curve, but I don't think you'll have much trouble :-)

Annie, busy as always, here's hoping the new year brings an easier time with Mom.

I had frozen my leftover turkey, but I felt like fajitas today, so out they came. Took what I needed (too much for one meal, oops) and put the rest in the freezer. There's something about sauteed onions and peppers that I just love and they grow, every single time.

@cookebook, than you so much for you info about how you prepared your au jus. Sounds wonderful.

I think we have gone through my freezer fajita and taco meals last I attempted to organize that beast. Next local meat share is on its way next week. Just in time.

Yes, SousVide has a bit of a learning curve. Chicken and pork the best place to start. (imho). I like the window of time where it is ready but I'm not. DH worked some late days and a few weekends before Thanksgiving. Sides prepped, kitchen clean, dishwasher running...SV vessel out of the way next to the sink. Cooked, ready and waiting.

Misfit Holiday Edition....perfect and still going through it.

Caesar salad, homemade dressing and croutons. (hid the croutons from sneaky fingers).

Cookebook, that roast looks perfect to me, I'm imagining that it was nicely rare in the middle. If it wasn't, I'll deal, but I can just see that juicy pink center in my mind's eye.

Jasdip, I always like the peppers and onions more than I like any other part of a meal. When the girls were home and I made shish kebabs, I got ALL of the onions, the girls never wanted them. Foolish children, I liked that part the best!

sleevendog, I knew you'd use that smoker. All of your meals look good, of course, but that bread and the smoked salmon, just that would be good enough for me.

Lynda, have fun with tht sous vide. I've still not gotten the hang of ours, and I finally just stuck in on the back of the shelf next to the air fryer. Now I'll get them back out and start again. Being the carboholic that I am, I'd be happy with the foccacia and rice, although the dijon cream chicken sounds good too...

Here I sauteed the shrimp and served it with some home canned green beans, cocktail sauce on the side:

Not getting enough seafood, I made a piece of halibut with a parmesan crust and some stir fried vegetables. Bsically, I cleaned out the crisper, the vegetables were sliced brussels sprouts, carrots, broccoli, kale, red cabbage, onions and probably something I don't even remember, LOL.

Last night I made black bean enchiladas, using some of the enchilada sauce I canned last sumer, but I got it a little spicier than I like. I put mine on top of some iceberg (Yeah, I know, but it's what I had) and managed to eat it. Elery, however, was VERY happy and added some pickled sliced Sugar Rush peppers to his. I was busy drinking a glass of milk to cut the heat, and forgot to take pictures!

The Princess wanted to make cannoli for her Dad for a Christmas surprise, and had ordered the shells, but then got scheduled to work every single day as other people took time off for the holidays. She finally got a night off and came here so Elery could help her. I'm not particularly fond of ricotta but I liked the shells, they tasted like doughnuts, LOL. They made two dozen, she took a dozen home and she and her Dad and Elery managed to eat all but two of the remaining dozen. Those two are in the refrigerator for Elery's birthday treat, day after tomorrow. Somewhere we have the tubes to make the shells but we couldn't find them, of course. I'll dig through all my baking gear and next time we'll make our own shells. Then I'll have used oil and an excuse to make doughnuts!

Tonight I have bean soup in the crockpot, I think I might make some cornbread, but I have to start taking down Christmas decorations, so we'll see how ambitious I get!

Annie

I've mentioned how much I like Nick Stellino's tv shows. The Italians eat lentils on Dec. 31 as good luck for money coming in. The lentils remind them of coins.

So that was my inspiration. Lentils for luck tonite, along with a pork chop. The pork chop was given to me by a friend; it's stuffed with garlic sausage. I've never had that, and wasn't sure how to cook it. So I browned it and then popped it in the little oven to make sure the sausage cooked through.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Jadsip!

I was thinking about crab as a theme for NYE, but I got over ruled. DH & DS wanted sushi. We got home yesterday afternoon, so this morning I headed to the harbor to pick up some fish. The line was out the door 30+ people long. Clearly we were not the only ones in the Santa Barbara area to have this idea. I waited for awhile and the line didn't move at all. Then I thought about this little hole in the wall fish place that I like to get my take out fish n chips from. I happened to know that they were owned by the same people who own a local sushi chain. I called them up (while still in line in the harbor) and sure enough, they had what we needed. By the time I got there they had my order prepared, wrapped and bagged - no waiting required. I think I have a new fish provider.

Happy New Years! Here is to hoping that 2021 is better than the dumpster fire that was 2020.

Ahi

Salmon

Excellent choice on the sushi, though I do love crab.

I like iceberg. Everything I grow is so leafy it is a nice crunch. I use my English muffin rings to cut out burger 'buns'. Two or three leaves thick. Romaine for taco wraps. Not always but a nice change if we have had heavy meat/carb meals in a row.

Nice gift of stuffed pork. Never think to do that.

Our NewYearsEve menu was set, then changed a few times. DH put the still frozen shrimp in the fridge and forgot to take out the seafood medley for Bouillabaisse. I had also planned to smoke the oysters as a first course... Plan B.

Chilled shrimp salad and another oyster stew....(x-mas eve tradition)...so good did not mind having it again. (garnished pic is blurry). I sometimes add shrimp in the shell to the stew. (my sister likes the stew but not the oyster texture so I add shrimp for her).

A shame to need to use the shrimp up but we love it anywho.

Keep wanting to make spring rolls but always run out of steam...

Here is what I had for dinner last night in celebration of the New Year. It was sooo goood. Could eat only 1/2 the slice of ham. Ham, Corn PUdding, Collard Greens, Black Eyed Peas, and Cornbread.

And here is my dessert. A berry pie.

Wow, incredible sushi rolls Lynda.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes iceberg lettuce, Sleeve. I like the crunch on sandwiches and with romaine.

Walnut I love ham. I want to buy one with a bone in, hopefully they'll come on sale soon.

Roast beef dinner today. A g/f gave me some cornbread too.

Lynda, those sushi rolls look perfect!

Jasdip, your mashed potatoes look perfect too, of course, I think pretty much all potatoes look perfect, LOL. Nice GF, to add the cornbread.

sleevendog, your stew looks delicious, and the addition of shrimp is something I'd like a lot. I like shrimp better than oysters, so double bonus, I'd have the "stew" AND the seafood, perfect solution.

WalnutCreek, your dinner looks good, but the pie, yum, I never pass up pie!

For New Year's Day we had spinach tortellini in a cream sauce, which gave us the greens, kind of. Also a black eyed pea salad and some cornbread:

Because it was Elery's birthday the next day, he wanted MORE cannoli, so I made my first ever homemade cannoli shells and stuffed them. Again. (grin)

Dragged out my "high tech" fryer, LOL, and found the cannoli tubes that I've never used, although technically they are Elery's and he did use them once before he met me.

I dug out the Dungeness Crab from the freezer that I got from Alaskan Seafood and we had that for his birthday dinner along with baked potatoes and some of the black eyed pea salad we had on New Year's Day.

Today dinner was leftovers, an odd mix of enchiladas and tortellini, with a fresh Waldorf salad as a side dish. I forgot to take pictures, I was excited to find this in my barnyard this morning. Gender is to be determined, this little one was just an hour or so old and so I left Mama to do her job without interference from me.

Annie

I am loving all the seafood - Sleeve's shrimp and oyster stew, Annie's Dungeness crab and Cookebook's crab salad.

Annie, you homemade cannolis look terrific, but your new calf stole the show.

Jadsip and WC, Your meals both look tasty. I just love cornbread and they reminded me that it has been way too long since I have had any.

My sous vide experimentation continues. I bought some 4 oz mini mason jars and have been trying out making individual portion desserts. So far I made chocolate pots de creme and cheesecakes. I like the idea that I can make a bunch in one sitting and refrigerate and/or freeze them. The next few months will be busy with work, so having some already made things will be helpful. Next up, I would like to try individual egg cups and key lime pies.

Congratulations Annie!! "It" is adorable!

All the food pictures look amazing. It puts my cooking to shame.

Annie - congrats on the new addition to your herd. I remember you wondering if your young bull was up to the task. I guess you have your answer now. Love the dot on it's head!

We are still waiting for our third calf of the winter to be born to our youngest cow. The other 2 are doing well so far despite the ice and snow on Friday.

ETA - I'm watching 4 or 5 dozen wild turkeys scratching around in the snow covered field behind my house. A fresh turkey breast on the grill sure sounds tempting. Turkey season is still open for archery hunting until January 15.

Jack, I guess that "back up" bull did the job, this one has that long Scottish Highland hair, just like the young bull did. I suggested naming the calf "Bullseye", especially appropriate if it's a bull. My Granddaughter watched Toy Story 2 and keeps standing at the fence yelling "Run like the wind, Bullseye". If you didn't see the movie it doesn't make sense but she thinks it's hysterical. LOL.

I still have another cow that hasn't had a calf yet, it'll be in the middle of the worst ice storm of the year or something, I'm sure. I've had them born in November, in February, in the rain, the snow, the ice. They're astonishingly sturdy, remember calves are born out on the prairie in blizzards in places like Montana and survive. My cows have access to the barn but never go in there in the winter, they only use it in the summer to escape from biting insects and the heat.

So what's for dinner? I think I'm going to high heat roast a little sirloin tip roast that's been presalted and is waiting in the fridge. I was going to do that last night but didn't. I also have to cook for Mother, deliver that tomorrow, I think since I have used oil from the cannoli, I might make her some doughnuts.

Annie

The head marking is hilarious. I first thought a fried egg, (Egglet), then a flower like a 'Daisy'. 'Bullseye' is perfect.

One of my favorite YouTube vlogs is Cog Hill Farm. They have a pig named Peaches, an Emu named Nugget, and many others. Adorable family. I've learned so much about chickens from their 10 year old daughter MaryCarl.

The standard NewYears day faire here like so many others. Ham, black-eyed peas, cornbread, cabbage. Next day sliders. Lots of soup from ham hock/leek top stock. Ham packets for the freezer...Ham twice a year is just about perfect. Soup season has arrived.

Horseradish cream on the sliders

Last nights Smoked Oyster Stew was the closest I've ever come to giving a meal a 10+. As well as the appy. Smoked oysters, then under the broiler. 10+. 10++ if I had classic oyster crackers but homemade croutons at the table was equally nice.

I pulled the smoker inside the kitchen door as it was snowing this morning. Smells like a BBQ joint. (not a problem). The chicken last week we smoked longer, two pans. Last night was just 45 minutes, the oysters 30 minutes. One pan. Perfect amount not wanting to 'cure'.

Maybe a Smoked Salmon Corn Chowder tonight. Still coin-flipping with so many choices.

Our cheese making organic farm friends gifted us some cream cheese. I had planned to make a smoked salmon/chive 'shmear'. For bagels I have in the freezer. Bummer. Could not find it, head scratching NewYearsDay. Found the container in our bed spotlessly licked by a bad pup. 😂 Adore the look on their faces when confronting them with container in hand. Head lowered in shame. Not at all sorry they did it.

🤣

Oops just lost my post.

Anyway there has been great cooking going on here during the holidays.

Of all the meals we had including turkey, ham and salmon, it was the roast beef we had New Years Day, that we enjoyed the most. Of course gravy, horseradish and Yorkshire puddings helped that decision.

The roast was perfectly cooked as we like it when straight out of the oven where I sliced to test, but after tenting in tinfoil, it over cooked a little but we still liked it.

We made cioppino last night. Tomato paste, fennel, star anise (didn’t have Pernod), other herbs like dill, lingcod, shrimp, scallops, mussels, white wine, a little vinegar.

Tonight I am winging it.

Deboned a chicken, seasoned, it is meat side down in a large pan on the lowest heat my burner will do, like the heat you’d use for melting chocolate or something, covered, and I’ll let it “slow dry cook” for ??? long, then flip and turn up the heat on the skin side. I have no idea if this will be anything. I guess I’m basically roasting at low temp.

Also have a pan of cut up cauliflower slow cooking on lowest possible heat in cream, milk, butter, shallots, garlic, salt, covered. I think that will get some grated cheese at the end. Or not, I sort am imagining that the cauliflower will melt into the dairy.

We’ve been having a lot of seafood and I felt like some chicken, but had no recipe in mind so am just playing around.

EDIT: Just checked my pans, apparently my burners’ lowest possible simmer is too low to actually cook anything, the chicken is enjoying a pleasant spa day and hardly breaking a sweat, and the cauliflower is still tough after 20 minutes. I wanted a long relaxed cook but this is silly. Up with the heat!

The chicken refused to slow dry cook, instead braising in its juice until I poured the liquid off in a huff and made a Defeated Gravy. Then the skin side refused to brown, so I gave up and shoved it under the Broiler of Defeat. The cauliflower was more successful, quite yummy actually.

DD disagreed with how this should be plated so she added spinach, balsamic and sriacha in a burst of millennial defiance. I stuck to the script.

LOL, John, I believe that sriracha is a very appropriate weapon used for a burst of millenial defiance!

Sorry about the gravy of defeat, though, I think I've made that a couple of times. (sigh)

Annie

I loved your verbage John!! I'm glad you finally did what you had to do to enjoy your chicken dinner.

Neely, your roast is perfect in the first photo. After resting, did it cook that much, as your plate shows? I love, love yorkshire pudding!

Tonight: Victory Albondigas! There will be no millennial defiance.

😂. Nice choice on the soup, but I expect/predict a millennial intervention.

Time for the next 2021 one hundred. #389.

goodbye cold, cruel 2020