Here's a seafood dish that I've made a few times now for our Christmas Eve dinner. If you like salmon, this is really delicious and the presentation is pretty impressive. With your requirement of being on the road, this recipe works very well to do all the prep work ahead of time and just put it in the oven to bake. The recipe calls for wrapping 4 individual pieces of salmon in puff pastry, but for a larger group, I just wrap one larger salmon filet in the puff pastry, then bake it a bit longer. I've also made it with filo dough (layer with melted butter 3-4 sheets) instead of puff pastry and it is delicious. Kulebiaka (or Coulibiac) Salmon in Pastry (this is from Bon Appetit) Salmon, Rice, Pastry 1/2 cup long-grain white rice 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter 1/2 cup minced leek (white and pale green parts only) 6 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, chopped 2 sheets frozen puff pastry (one 17 1/4-ounce package), thawed 4 6-ounce (4x2 1/2-inch) skinless salmon fillet 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water Dill Sauce 2/3 cup bottled clam juice 1/2 cup dry white wine 1 1/4 cups cre fraîche or whipping cream 3 tablespoons minced fresh dill Preparation for salmon, rice, pastry: Bring medium saucepan of salted water to boil. Add rice; boil uncovered until just tender, about 18 minutes. Drain. Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add leek; sauté until beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add mushrooms. Cover skillet; cook until mushrooms release their juices, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Uncover skillet. Increase heat to medium-high; sauté until liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl. Add rice. Season with salt and pepper. Cool completely. Butter large baking sheet. Roll out 1 pastry sheet on floured surface to 12-inch square. Cut into 4 equal squares. Divide rice mixture among centers of squares, mounding in oval shape with ends toward 2 corners of pastry. Set salmon atop rice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bring pastry corners up around salmon (pastry will not enclose salmon completely.) Roll out remaining pastry sheet on floured surface to 13-inch square. Cut into 4 equal squares. Lay 1 square atop each salmon fillet, tucking corners under bottom pastry to enclose salmon completely. Pinch edges together to seal, brushing with egg mixture if necessary to adhere. Arrange salmon packages, seam side down, on prepared baking sheet. Cover and chill 30 minutes. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Keep chilled.) Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush top of pastry with egg mixture. Bake until golden and thermometer inserted into fish registers 145°F, about 30 minutes. For dill sauce: Combine clam juice and wine in heavy small nonaluminum saucepan. Boil until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 9 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Whisk in creème fraîche. Boil until reduced to 1 cup, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in dill. Season with salt and pepper. If crème fraîche is unavailable, heat 1 cup whipping cream to lukewarm (85°F). Remove from heat and mix in 2 tablespoons buttermilk. Cover and let stand in warm draft-free area until slightly thickened (24 to 48 hours, depending on temperature of room). Refrigerate until ready to use. Transfer salmon packages to plates. Spoon Dill Sauce around and serve.

Thank you all! I thought I would be exhausted but it was so much fun it invigorated me. But I must confess it took me until today to finish hand washing the last of the wine glasses and I still have the tablecloths and napkins to wash. LOL /biondanonima I separated the skin from the breast, created cracklings and used them as garnish. I used the duck fat to sear the breasts.

I feel guilty that I"ve actually been having a mostly relaxing day while dh is slaving in the kitchen ALL day. He went to the grocery store early and while he was gone, I made marinara sauce for the ravioli mentioned above. I failed to mention that *his* tradition every year is to make chocolate chip pumpkin bread (old Ghirardelli recipe) for all our friends/neighbors/coworkers. He sometimes makes 40 loaves. Well, I thought he was done but nope, got home from the store and made two more batches. Then he started in on the filling for the ravioli. He made the meat ravioli first, finally took a break for dinner, and is now working on the cheese ravioli. Our 13 y/o has been a great helper. The other day, he decided that he wanted to bring pumpkin cheesecake to my parents' house for Christmas. My mom is already making dessert but he decided he wanted this as well so she didn't have to make an additional dessert. I warned him the cheesecake needs to be made ahead. He said he was going to make it tonight. Well, he's already said he will do it tomorrow. Yet I just realized now, at 9:30pm, that he still hasn't made the tiramisu for Christmas Eve dessert. His response - "I got it, I didn't forget. I'm making both tomorrow." Every year he does this. He takes on too much and then complains after the fact about how exhausted he is. I happily would have bought the tiramisu in Little Italy where it is fabulous. Nope, he needs to make it from scratch. I wouldn't care but he makes a disaster out of the kitchen for days on end b/c he doesn't clean up until the very end. I cannot STAND clutter so it makes me nuts that my kitchen is a mess with no end in sight. I couldn't even make dinner tonight b/c there was no room! We had to get take out. I suppose I shouldn't complain - it is nice that he loves to cook. I do as well, but I am much better at planning and timing (and cleaning up and starting fresh each day). I mentioned next year doing a sort of buffet spread of heavy appetizers instead of Christmas dinner (someone else here mentioned doing that this year, and since my mom has decided this is her last year of hosting, I thought that idea sounded good for next year). Of course, he made a face. But we host a sit-down dinner on Christmas Eve! And seriously, I'd like to actually enjoy Christmas not spend two days in a row feeding a formal sit down dinner to my family when HE is the only one who cares. My kids would happily graze all day.

like carolb, everything goes in order of cooking times. Oven on to pre-heat, potatoes, beet, head of garlic, ...all hard roots get a 20 min head start, then radish, carrot rounds, parsnip, Brussels, sweet potato, 20 minutes later, broccoli, cauliflower, squash....beans, and things like asparagus just need 10 minutes usually...delicata squash cooks must faster than most others. Just an example of various roots and veg I might use. Baby potatoes I leave whole, slightly larger I cut in half, cut side down to crisp, Bigger I quarter. Prepping the harder veg/roots first gets then in the oven and out of the way to prep the next. I use parchment. As I'm prepping I toss in a bowl with a bit of olive oil. If I had asparagus or beans in this pic, they would be last with the delicata and the baby rainbow carrots... Sheet pan dinners are usually all on one tray spread out single layer with a quick cooking protein or two, also added in order of cooking time. Busy family weeknight meal all on one tray, easy clean-up....often served tray-to-the-table, help yourself style. Google image 'sheet pan dinners' and you will find hundreds of pics and recipes. link, HERE