One more Christmas, one more Christmas Eve celebration with my sister Kathy, my niece Nikki and my best friends Lola and Iggy.\u00a0 I usually make elaborate multi-course meals but this year I was tired and not very inspired or enthusiastic.\u00a0 I wouldn’t have minded just getting Chinese takeout (our Christmas day staple), but the family wanted more so I complied.\u00a0 Still, this year my menu was completely streamed down.\u00a0 I loved it!<\/p>\n
I mostly made dishes that I could get ready in advance (at least one day before), and that were not “time sensitive”.\u00a0 That’s important because often times I make stuff that needs to be baked\/roasted and that means that it has to go into and out of the oven at a set time (specially if I’m juggling multiple oven dishes).\u00a0 As my guests are not always punctual (or predictably unpunctual) I have to guess both at what time I’ll start serving dinner and how long it will take to go through each course – I’m often wrong and then the pacing of the meal doesn’t work well.\u00a0 This menu consisted mostly of dishes that I started warming up half an hour before my guests were supposed to arrive, and then I could leave over very warm heat on the stove until I was ready to serve them.\u00a0 This was great! It meant I was able to spend more time at the dining table than in the kitchen, which is very rare for me during Holiday dinners.\u00a0 From now on I’m determined to give up on roasts (I’ve cooked all the ones I wanted to anyway) and instead serve great braises as my main dishes.<\/p>\n
My menu this year consisted of:<\/p>\n
– Curried Butternut Squash Soup<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Now, if it was up to me I would have made my adored mushroom soup<\/a>.\u00a0 But Mika wanted butternut squash soup and, again, I complied.\u00a0 Alas, the recipe I made, while good, was a bit too spicy so she didn’t really eat much.\u00a0 Now I have a whole tureen-worth ready to eat by myself.\u00a0 I’m not too excited, but the soup was good.<\/p>\n – Caramelized Onion and Blue <\/a>or Goat Cheese and Mushroom Pastries.<\/strong><\/p>\n I made the former last year and they were delicious.\u00a0 This year they were a favorite as well.\u00a0 I also tried them with goat cheese instead of blue cheese, and while good the blue cheese ones are better.\u00a0 I made another sheet with sauteed mushrooms, good but not as much either.<\/p>\n – Mixed Greens Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Store bought, but delicious.<\/p>\n – Wine Braised Short Ribs<\/a> with Mashed Potatoes<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n This recipe was quite good, though I probably should have salted the ribs more.\u00a0 Still, we all enjoyed them and they were perfect with the mashed potatoes.<\/p>\n