Christmas day was lazy for me--years ago, i used to be the one trying to get the potatoes to be ready when the stuffing was ready when the turkey was ready, and remember how the heck to make gravy. These days, and for a number of years past, i contribute in some small way, but haven't been the main chef. This has been due to the fact that my oldest loves to cook, and my youngest daughter's husband loves to cook. Me, not so much. So i'm very happy to be the cheerleader: "Go, team, go! Cook, team, cook!" These days the biggy for me is making cinnamon rolls for whoever is at my house on Christmas morning.
This year we had Christmas dinner at my daughter Corinne's house, where she and husband/chef Luis were in charge of the eating festivities. For appetizers we had a selection of cheeses with baguettes and red grapes. Then we had a tender lamb roast stuffed with sauteed chard and feta cheese, with herbed mashed potatoes, and roasted parsnips and carrots in a maple and mustard glaze. Luis had roasted beets and did whatever one does to roasted beets, and made a lovely salad of beets, watercress, and candied walnuts in a citrus vinagrette.
At not-quite-seven, grandgirl Cassidy loved the sugared walnuts and the dressing, but wasn't so crazy "about the cress." She also wouldn't eat the carrots, but ate the parsnips. Haley, ten, will eat pretty much any vegetable, and has been caught with her finger in more than one dessert, but she didn't like the sugared nuts. What kid doesn't like pretty much anything covered in sugar?
Our family seems to have a gift for overdoing the whole dessert thing, though. We had less than the usual almost one dessert per person--only a one dessert to two people ratio this time around. We all managed to get some of that down. It was a great meal, the 11 of us fit just fine in a small living/dining room, something i think a few of us (namely Corinne and Luis!) were concerned about.
It's a bigtime thankful thing for me, being together like that, especially while enjoying someone else's cooking.
3 comments:
So of COURSE I want to know what the desserts were!!! I made my lemon curd tarts and daughter's boyfriend thought they were from the bakery so ate half of the 24 I brought. Everyone was distressed because they know how much work they are and that I won't make them again for another year! Esp. Audrey, who didn't get a single one. Ah, the fun things of life....
I do so love it when other people doing the cooking. For some reason, unknown to me, when I do the cooking I just don't enjoy it like I do when all I have to do is sit and eat.
Glad to see you made it through Christmas. Happy New Year to you and yours. Perhaps we can get an update pic or two of yopur grand brits soon. I have been courious as to how much the new baby is growing.
i want a lemon curd tart!! We had pecan pie, a chocolate Yule Log, a white cake with coconut frosting, a half and half cake (white and chocolate) and Corinne's homemade gingerbread cookies and chocolate cookies.
i am SUCH a fan of being the dishwashing cooking appreciater--i'll work on getting some new photos up of the grandbrits and the other grands as well!
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