I spent the day planning our Christmas Eve (Creamy Artichoke Dip and Linguine with Pancetta, Olive Oil, Chile, Clams and White Wine Sauce) and Christmas Day menus (Standing Rib Roast, Scalloped Potatoes and Green Beans), softening butter for the Christmas cookies (Macadamia Nut Chocolate Chip Refrigerator Cookies, Thumbprint Cookies and Mexican Wedding Cakes), picking up some last minute stocking stuffers, and visiting Esther’s Fabrics for thread and a bit of holiday sewing cheer.
The rituals of preparing for the holiday are my favorite moments. The kids now fully engaged in the experience too. All of us looking forward to spending a quiet day at home tomorrow eating cookies for breakfast, playing with our gifts and being thankful for the blessings in our lives.
Wishing you all a peaceful, blessed, and joyous holiday!
xoxo Kathy
Notes on the food:
- As I write this post I’m realizing how big a part food plays in our family Christmas tradition. We spend a lot of time talking about, planning, preparing, eating and enjoying our holiday meals together. Greg and I have been discussing the menu for New Year’s Eve for over two weeks now and again, it will just be the four of us.
- I’ve made all these recipes a LOT and they’re delicious.
- I use Julia’s method of making scalloped potatoes from Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home (one of my all time favorite cookbooks). Yukon Gold potatoes, mashed garlic, butter and milk. My guests always swear there’s cheese in the recipe even though there isn’t. They are THE BEST scalloped potatoes ever and worth the price of the cookbook alone.
- I keep notes every year on the Standing Rib Roast. Last year’s entry says: 6.83 lbs. cooked 20 minutes plus 2 hours. Pulled at 127.5 degrees, rested 15 minutes. PERFECTLY Medium Rare. Best Roast ever! And yes, I use all caps and exclamation points when I write on paper too.
- The linguine recipe by Jamie Oliver mysteriously disappeared from the Food Network website. It’s been a favorite since 2006. Here it is:
| 1 | pound dried good quality linguine |
| Olive oil | |
| 4 | rashers pancetta or dry-cured smoky bacon, sliced thinly |
| 1 | large clove of garlic, finely chopped |
| 1 to 2 | dried red chiles, crumbled |
| 1 1/2 | pounds clams |
| 2 | glasses (10 ounces) of white wine |
| 1 | good handful of parsley leaves, roughly chopped |
| Salt and freshly ground black pepper |
Cook your linguine in salted boiling water until al dente. Meanwhile, get a pan hot and add a couple of good lugs (tablespoons) of olive oil and the pancetta. Fry until golden, then add the garlic and chilies. Soften them slightly and add the clams. Stir, then add the white wine. Put a lid on the pan and cook for a further couple of minutes until all the clams have opened—discard any that remain closed. Remove from the heat and add the drained linguine. Stir in the parsley, correct the seasoning and serve with all the cooking juices.
Happy Holidays to you and your family!
I love the idea of cookies for breakfast.
I love that you keep notes on recipes and they include enthusiastic punctuation. It’s just one reason why you are so awesome. We are the same way about food.
Merry Christmas!!
Merry Christmas to you!
Smart to take notes each year!
I love Esthers too.
Agreed that Julia’s potatoes are the best. So glad others have found these scalloped potatoes. If you have potato pancake recipe from her first cookbook that is also a gem although it requires more ingredients.
And a Merry Christmas to you, too!
Mom’s Macadamia Nut chocolate Chip refrigerator cookies sound heavenly! Thanks for sharing (again!)
?Duff
Wishing you a warm and cozy Christmas. Sounds like it will be very tasty too. Looking forward to a New Year filled with goodness from Pink Chalk.
Merry Christmas to you all,
Veronica
Merry Christmas Kathy to you and your family. Thank you for sharing…it sounds so good. I will have to give those potatoes a try.
Merry Christmas Kathy! You and your hubby sound an awful lot like me and mine! Sometimes I wonder if we care too much about food – but for us, putting thought and care into that which is necessary is part of who we are!
Enjoy your day!
I leave it all to my Mom. We had standing rib roast last night and green beans as we do every year. I swear by goat cheese in my mash potatoes. Merry Christmas Kathy!
Sounds delicious! Food is central to our holiday as well. Thanks for sharing some new classics to try.
Merry Christmas my friend! After a yummy waffle, bacon and homemade cinnamon roll breakfast (post unwrapping) we will enjoy a crock-pot roast with carrots and potatoes this evening. A wonderful, lazy Christmas day.
Thanks for all the yummy descriptions and recipe for your Christmas table! One of the best parts of Christmas is the food!!!!
Sounds like a gourmet Christmas menu! I really need to try some new recipes to have for company this coming year….I think I’m in a rut.
“As I write this post I’m realizing how big a part food plays in our family Christmas tradition.”
Food+family=LOVE around these parts :0). I think it is an awesome thing to have traditions that can easily be carried on by our kids and grandkids—when all else fails, making something to eat and share can open so many doors to communication! Love your blog—have an amazing New Year!
thank for the recipe. Happy New Year and may you have many blessing in the new year.
Those potatoes sound delicious!
your christmas dinner sounds WONDERFUL! happy holidays to you and yours.
Sounds wonderful..!! (Am getting hungry just reading your post!) Happy holidays to you all..
Your dinner sounds wonderful. Hope your Christmas was Merry and your New Year is full of good things.
Happy (almost) New Year! My mother-in-law just gave me a gift certificate to Pink Chalk for Christmas…yay!!! I was just out visiting her on the island before Christmas and spent a delightful few hours at Esther’s myself. Thanks for sharing your holiday musings – preparing food and sewing gifts are always the highlights of the holiday season for me too.
Merry Christmas! I can’t wait to try the recipe!
I made those potatoes too. My guests died over them. That was pretty awesome.
We also had prime rib roast (2) – dinner for 20!
I would love to try the recipe. Thanks and have a great holiday season.
I would love to try the recipe. Thanks and have a great holiday.
Your menu sounds so inviting. Thanks for sharing.
[...] set my butter on the counter this morning. Tonight’s plan includes Macadamia Nut Chocolate Chip Refrigerator Cookies, my mom’s Thumbprint Cookies, and Mexican Wedding Cakes. What cookies are you [...]