I have an old one hanging over my head. Homemade puff pastry and thence Napoleon. But the recipient is sick, so it's not happening...

Tourtière on New Year's Eve.

seagrass

I saw one the other day that looked good, a Latvian kind of pierogi which used an enriched bread dough and had a bacon and onion filling. My butcher makes awesome bacon so I'm thinking these would be delish.

A cranberry upside down cake.

A Christmas black forest tree pavlova! I made the meringue yesterday. I'll post a pic when we eat it lol

https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/baking-and-desserts/black-forest-meringue-tower/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=&utm_campaign=Ol_Mon_141220_578219_olive_Newsletters_13453659

Black forest trifle (chocolate sponge cake, chocolate custard, cherries and cherry jello) is pretty good!

Rutabaga noodles Cacio e Pepe. I bought a rutabaga and decided to use it for this recipe.

I want to make these Cranberry Lemon Bars from the NY times:

Cranberry Lemon Bars

I keep intending to make popovers. A few months back I was reading one of my cookbooks and realized how simple they are. I was going to order a popover pan but haven’t yet. I know I can use a muffin tin but with just two of us I haven’t gotten to it.

I was thinking for a breakfast with fig jam one day soon.

I rarely make desserts anymore, now that it’s just DH and I, but this caught my eye. I might make it next week, looks easy. I‘ve always preferred cakes that have a glaze rather than thick frosting. I just know we won’t eat it all — what do you all do with big cakes and such?

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/brown-sugar-pound-cake/

Probably a steak and ale pie.

Chicken Marbella. It doesn’t sound good. Olives are controversial. Dried fruit in main courses is controversial. Yet the ratings for Silver Palate’s recipe are very high, and it’s been recommended as a crowd pleasing dish here many times. One of these years...

I’ll look to compare notes with you in the new year, nekotish!

Olychick, those cranberry lemon bars look delicious and I'm sure they would be winners in my family, which has a huge appetite for lemon bars! They are a perpetual request :-)

But viewing the recipe requires a subscription to the NYT. Would you mind posting it?

And to those Chicken Marbella skeptics.........I felt the same way. How could that combo of ingredients possibly taste good? Take it on faith....it does!! Something about marinating all overnight really marries the flavors. This is a dish that really does get better the longer it sits. But TBH, I have yet to try a recipe from the Silver Palate collection that didn't turn out wonderful!

OMG, Olychick, those Cranberry Lemon Bars!!!

I have a lot of recipes in my "to try" queue, but nothing is a "must" for me anymore. A loaf of bread has been on my list for about a month, but I don't seem to be able to focus on that . . . I want to make a kind of bread with cooked cereal added, to use up a little bit of leftover bulgur wheat that is taking up more space than it is worth in my pantry.

Stollen is something I would like to make, but probably not gonna happen before the New Year. I have fruitcake bars in the queue too. Not pining to make them, but I have a lot of dried fruit and citron languishing in the pantry to use up. Lebkuchen is what I want to make with the citron. I guess I would put Lebkuchen and speculas as two cookies I have wanted to make this year. Not sure if I will get to them any time soon, but maybe start of next year if I'm still able . . .

Ditto what l pinkmountain said.

@Lars, I sure am glad you posted a link to the Rutabaga noodles Cacio e Peperecipe. I have a small rutabaga (have never purchased one this small) - one of the problems with curbside grocery pickup. Never imagined it with pasta, but that actually sounds very good. Love, love rutabaga.

I didn't get started early enough, so my "to tries" will have to wait till after the holidays. Sounds like a good way to keep busy in confinement.

I , too, would like to try Chicken Marbella and have had the same thoughts as many--I'm not an olive lover, but I do like prunes and want to try it once because of all the raves it gets. I also want to try chocolate dipped cranberry, pistachio biscotti, and Stollen every Christmas, but haven't made it yet. I did get Annie1992's molasses cookies made for the first time and they are delicious-loved the texture!

Gardengal, I had to buy a subscription to view the recipe! Kind of infuriates me because I subscribe to the NYT. Maddening because I saved it to Pinterest when I saw it somewhere, and all the ingredients and directions were saved, etc. but then when I went to look at it again, it linked to the subscription ad and I could no longer see the recipe. Every other place I found it posted always let me back to having to buy a subscription....grrr... but here it is the $40 recipe, lol:

Cranberry Lemon Bars

For the Cranberry Layer:

• 1(12-ounce/340-gram) bag fresh or frozen cranberries
• ¾ cup/150 grams granulated sugar
• 2 to 3 large lemons

For the Crust:

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 ½ cups/190 grams all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup/65 grams granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup/170 grams unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled

For the Lemon Layer:

• 1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar
• ¼ cup/30 grams all-purpose flour
• ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• Confectioners’ sugar (optional)

Preparation

1. Start preparing the cranberry layer: Combine the
   cranberries, sugar and 3 tablespoons water in a medium saucepan. Zest 2 of the lemons directly into the saucepan; reserve the lemons. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until the berries burst and the mixture is jammy, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve.
2. Make the crust: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the
   bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with one large sheet of
   heavy aluminum foil, making sure there are no gaps or holes, then
   generously coat with cooking spray.
3. Whisk the flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.
   Whisk the vanilla into the butter, then pour over the flour mixture.
   Stir until the dough comes together in a mass. Press into an even layer in the prepared pan. Bake until golden brown around the edges and dry and golden on top, 17 to 20 minutes.
4. While the crust bakes, begin preparing the lemon
   layer: Squeeze the juice from the 2 reserved zested lemons. You should have 1/2 cup. Squeeze the juice from another lemon, if needed.
5. Whisk the sugar, flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add the eggs and whisk gently just until incorporated. Add the lemon juice and stir gently with the whisk just until smooth.
6. Let the crust cool for 5 minutes, then spread the cranberry mixture evenly over the crust. Carefully and slowly pour the lemon mixture on top to create two distinct layers.
7. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the filling is set, 18 to 22 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, then refrigerate until cold and firm, at least 2 hours. Using the foil, slide the bars out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Cut into 24 squares, wiping your knife between cuts for clean slices. If desired, sift confectioners’ sugar over the tops just before serving.

Sorry the cutting and pasting messes with the formatting and It looks good until I post it. I've tried to fix it but give up.Share on PinterestShare on FacebookShare on Twitter

I made Chicken Marbella once MANY years ago when I received the Silver Palate cookbook. I was quite underwhelmed, given all the raves about it. I like all the ingredients but think I'm just not fond of sweet fruit in savory dishes. I won't make it again, but would eat it if served.

Thank you!!

I receive a news blip (free) every morning in my email from the NYT. Sometimes I can connect with their more in depth links....other times not. But I have never been able to access any recipes without subscribing!

Now I have TWO recpes I want to try: Sophia Loren's Hot Fudge Sauce and Cranberry Lemon Bars.

Thanks Olychick for posting the recipe.

I’m another one who would like to finally try the Chicken Marbella recipe. I’d probably cut it in half, though. I was always curious, but figured I’d never make it because of all the salty ingredients my husband couldn’t eat. When I rechecked the recipe just now, I realized that it has a lot in common with one of my favorite Greek dishes, stifado. It’s a beef or lamb stew with wine vinegar, wine, olive oil, and some oregano. Big differences are the use of tomato sauce and pickling spices.

Thanks, Olychick, that looks like something I'd like a lot, I love lemon bars. And Elery just bought two MORE bags of cranberries...

I still haven't made that chicken gnocchi that Mother liked so well at Olive Garden either.

Annie

I made the Cranberry Lemon Bars tonight. They are quite tasty; not too hard to make (though lots of time needed to let the elements cool down between steps that kind of threw my timing off). They are not as attractive as I would have liked for giving them as gifts; I couldn't get a good clean cut on them; maybe I underbaked them a bit? But they are tasty! I've got them back in the refer to see if they will firm up for cutting better than they did earlier today.

@nekotish and @foodonastump, Chicken Marbella is one of my favorite dishes, especially when I need a do-ahead for company. I made it once - and only once - with apricots instead of prunes. Nope. It needs the prunes. They cook into nothing recognizable as prunes. If I am having guests, I make it with boneless skinless chicken breasts to make it easier for my guests. I follow the recipe from the Silver Palate Cookbook.

We were in Marbella, Spring 2019, but no Chicken Marbella.

I would love to make bouillabaisse sometime.

I have a pie crust in the freezer, thinking of a lemon pie I make. Thinking about applying the cranberry to it, so I wonder about straining the cranberries. Maybe that would make them hold together better.

Well, the cranberry lemon bars did not firm up enough for a clean cut. The lemon topping is an odd texture that didn't really "gel" completely like a regular lemon bar. I think I might try this again with a regular, tried and true lemon bar recipe and just add the cranberry filling between the layers.

eta: Mercury girl it wasn't the cranberries that were the problem in clean cuts, it was the topping. The cranberries in the recipe I posted cook to almost a jelly. There were still cranberries recognizable as berries, but cooked until so tender they cut easily. Let us know if you try it.

Should work, I know my lemon pie does. Will post if I try it. Merry Xmas to all!

Since I can't share a dessert with anyone before the end of the year (to take it off my hands), and sweets are not really my thing - not even thinking about any of those.

I WILL make: Cotechino con Lenticchie - an Italian New Years dish, with a trial run before January first. This is a dish with a specific pork sausage (cotechino) plus lentils. It is supposed to give good luck for the coming year - something I think a lot of us wouldn't mind.

I WANT to make: a Scottish Forfar Bridie before the end of the year.