the fire was blazing, the irish music was playing and on the menu for the night a soup bowl of split pea with some pepper jack cheese melted on top. yes the evening started, dare i dorkingly say it, have a hobbitish sort of feel to it. all i was missing was a merry to my pippin and some really good ale!
this might have just made my night
festive table
if i can i always like to host christmas eve. this sometimes is a hard sell on the rest of the family. steph likes to do her tradition of cashew chicken, mom always likes everyone under the same roof on christmas eve, if dinner isn’t at her place i think she fears this might not happen, and of course its hard for dad not to cook up his own meal. then of course there is trying to come up with a menu that will suit everyone. this year i created a baked potato bar for the fam. i actually got the idea from work. the kids used to love baked potato bar and i figured that’d give a wide range of options for everyone’s taste buds.
waiting for dinner
what is a baked potato bar? baked potatoes and lots of toppings; broccoli, cheese, sour cream, dill dip, green onions, bacon bits, along with a big ol’crock pot of beans and sausage! i seasoned the potatoes with olive oil and sea salt. good thing steph showed up early to help. this turned a little messy doing five potatoes that way. i’m used to just my one baked potato prep mess. i also decided to do up a big crock pot of beans and sausage. i knew dad would want some sort of official meat and ever since i saw the english put baked beans on potatoes i’ve been a bit sold on that practice.
toppings
mmm good
my plate!
after the main course the fam has a tradition of playing the christmas game. kind of like monopoly but with reindeer, Scrooge and getting stuck at places called gift wrap. dad of course always starts complaining how he doesn’t like the game when he gets stuck at traffic jam, roll 7 or doubles to get out!! while we played we nibbled on yummy holiday cookies. this was the easiest dessert every. leftover cookies from my holiday cookie party frozen and then thawed out for christmas eve….thanks friends for baking my dessert!!!
having song a lot about wassial during christmases past, but never actually done any wassial drinking, i threw a wassial and cookie party this year. friends were invited over for wassial, board games, and holiday cookies. they of course were encouraged to bake goodies or bring board games.
the wassial was an interesting mix of wine, cider, baked apples, cinnamon and of course butter. i baked up peanut-butter blossom cookies, chocolate-chip candy cane cookies, and created some chocolate dipped marshmallows, all i must admit were yum, yum and yum.
my cookie tray
this was kind of the best idea EVER
mr. raymond showed up with a platter full of baked goods, including a sugar cookie as large as ingrid’s face, pretty impressive for his second attempt at baking
ray showing off his giant sugar cookie
ingrid quickly claiming her favorite cookie of the night
jess arrived with a yummy plate of pumpkin snikerdoodle cookies, yes that is correct pumpkin snikerdoodles. friends these cookies were savory yet sweet moist with just the right amount of crispness. this girl knows how to bake.
the best way for a friend to arrive at your house with a plate of cookies
the wassial started to pour and the conclusion was that rum was needed. then the board games were busted out. by the second passing of the rum bottle and lets just say the clue game became very series.
col. mustard in the study with the rope…………
RECIPE: CHOCOLATE-CHIP CANDY CANE COOKIES
makes 2 dozen
1 bag sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup broken up candy canes
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
6-8 drops red food coloring
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
*mix cookie mix, butter, extract, food coloring, and egg in a bowl. mix until soft dough forms. stir in chocolate chips and candy cane pieces. the easiest way to form cookies to make small balls of dough. place balls of dough about 2 inches apart because the dough does expand while baking, bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.
a dinner experiment
every once in awhile i make myself make a recipe that i have held onto for sometimes years and have never made. thus i wind up with a little experiment. this meal was such a meal. it was for a casserole entitled “indian chicken.” lesson one make sure you have all spices that are required. for the life of me i still can’t believe i was out of ginger. the creative substitute, nutmeg. while i think the ginger would have defiently given it more of an asian feel, the meal was still yummy. and i also created a “curried pea” dish. aka peas with lots of curry powder, garlic and olive oil. that my friends i highly reccomend.
turkey reuben with some kick-ass potato salad
i don’t know about you but i’ve been fully in love with my sandwich maker for some time. and the other night my love was validated yet again. the sandwich master piece was a turkey reuben, turkey, swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and thousand island dressing, with some very good homemade potato salad. oh sandwich maker i love you so!
RECIPE: Lynley’s Potato Salad
4-5 potatoes, peeled, cubed and boiled
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1 tsp dill
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 TBSP mustard
1/2 cup mayo
combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well, salt and pepper according to taste. for a “dirty” variation leave potato peelings on potatoes.
breakfast of champions
december is official oatmeal month, as well as fiber month, meaning at least once this month you need to eat yourself a bowl of oatmeal. my favorite toppings for oatmeal….spoonful of peanut butter, banana slices, and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
part one of meatless monday was a sudden menu change. after working 4 hours in studio the last thing i wanted to do was go home and make banana pancakes. so instead i busted out an old favorite, paul newman’s with vegetarian buffalo wings and plenty of kraft parm. ya that hit the spot.
bowl of yum
but part 2 of this meatless monday is on tuesday night. i did make my original meatless monday meal of banana pancakes with vegetarian bacon. oh and it was so good! i just might start doing all these meals in 2 parts.
nothing beats butter and maple syrup
i’ll admit it i sometimes get a little too excited about planning meals and then going to the grocery store. i love it, what can i say. that excitement was rapid the other night when i new on the menu was…..bratwursts with sauerkraut and blue cheese mashed potatoes. my friend elise was over for the day, we were both working on art projects for an upcoming gallery show, and the smells of the brats in beer and sauerkraut teased us all afternoon. but then it came time to mash some potatoes and bust out the plates for dinner.
good ol’german meal
elise ready to chow down
as elise and i dug into our meals we played a few rounds of dominoes. and for dessert? kit kats! oh yes it was a good yummy fun dinner.
bones baby
blue plate special
there used to be this great cafe in downtown springfield, when i was growing up, the moon city cafe. my fam went all the time on saturdays. i loved it. a little dingy and funky with npr always playing. my favorite thing to get, a tuna melt with pasta salad. i had the sudden realization the other night when for dinner i was making but what? a tuna melt with pasta salad, i think since the age of 10 i may have been trying to recreate my favorite meal at moon city! this i will say was one of the best versions of the melt plus pasta salad combo in a long while. the secret to this time’s success? oh the wonderful sandwich maker! this is my ode to moon city cafe. i do miss you so!!
a little muffaletta
the question was…..can you freeze a whole muffaletta? the answer is YES! when i made a vegan muffaletta for meatless monday some months back i had a whole uncut muffaletta left over. so the experiment began, freezing the sandwich. this week was a clean out the freezer week and the muffaletta came out for this monday’s meatless dinner. and yes shockingly you can freeze a muffaletta. i rebaked it and added a little provolone cheese. it was as yummy as the first time. the ladies at work got curious about it when i brought in the leftovers for lunch. this resulted in a little muffaletta tasting with the extra slices. conclusion…….yum!
Hearty Eaters 