For tomorrow’s family Christmas gathering…just completed the seafood dish!
" Dungeness Crab and East Coast Lobster stew in a Creamy, seafood, Cognac and Rum sauce "!
The umami bomb, out-of-this-world sauce is perfect for crusty French Baguette!
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Wow 
That looks awesome! That is one lucky family! Can you adapt me 
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Dinner last night at our friend’s
favorite restaurant in Penn Valley CA, “1228”, chef/owner was at the French Laundry before he opened his place. His food is creative & delicious!
Have tried 4 times to upload pictures, no luck 
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Snacky dinner. New to me pate was a bit sweet (the brandied cherries?) and really needed whole grain mustard which I seem to be out of so Dijon had to suffice. Cheese is truffled Fromager d’Affinois, also new to me and delicious. I polished off the olives and Marcona almonds but lots of leftovers.
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Maple mustard sockeye salmon and sauteed sugar snap peas, red bell pepper and onions with Penzeys Mural of Flavor and a pinch of salt/pepper.
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Clean-out dinner. B is eating tacos with pinto beans/cheese/jalapenos. Spring Onion had mac and cheese but had a better lunch of gimbap (HMart) and salmon sashimi. I’ve been imbibing while doing some prep work for tomorrow. I guess I’ll eventually eat something.
SO made his Swedish meatballs for his holiday meal tomorrow. Here he is, mincing onions, complete with (hungry) onion goggles. After the photo, I suggested that he take off his robe.
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Courtesy of my Imperfect Foods delivery box:
Talluto Burrato Ravioli
Sonoma Gourmet Vodka Sauce
Wrangling large ravioli into a dinner bowl isn’t exactly my forte. I used a wok spider to get them from the pasta water into the pan of sauce to finish them - then all bets were off. Photo aside, the ravioli were pretty good. The sauce was … convenient. I ate standing up at the kitchen counter. A slob, just like my plating.
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Lobster, spot prawn and halibut Newburg, with rice. Maple ginger baked beans and pierogis. Corn.
Christmas cookies for dessert.
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I headed out to the pricey butcher this afternoon to pick up my turkey dinner then off to the deli nearby to pick up some dessert. My tradition is to have my turkey dinner on Christmas eve and on Christmas day I dine out with my dinner club. Apparently the restaurant we will be going to tomorrow won’t be offering a turkey dinner since there is little interest so, since I had turkey and all the fixin’s tonight, I can order something else. So dinner tonight was turkey (white and dark meat), stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrots, beans and gravy. Cheesecake and hot chocolate for dessert. (The cheesecake was slightly damaged during transport.)
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He put out milk and cookies for the big guy, but B and I are pretty sure that the gig is up, which makes us feel wistful.
Edited to add: he’s been tracking the big guy on NORAD. Next stop are our friends in Puerto Rico and he’s already distributed 5.5M gifts. Maybe he still believes? We have no clue.
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“TNT Pigs’ Tails and Octopus Tentacles” from Offal Good by Chris Cosentino
or, as BF observed upon seeing this picture while away visiting his parents tonight, “The Color Out of Dinner”.
In any event, this was outstanding, although the tails, being mostly fat, skin, and bone (and a couple tiny slivers of meat) meant I could only eat about a third of one before giving up and just eating the octopus and the salad. That being said, the flavors of everything on that plate really harmonized well together. Cosentino knows what he’s doing!
Merry Christmas Eve to those of you celebrating tonight!
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All quite on the western front. I even had sunshine, I’ll pay for it tomorrow though. Christmas music and a Holiday French 75 while cooking comfort food.
Salisbury steak, mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes and cucumber, tomato, red onion salad with oo&bv dressing. Wine with.
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Celebrating at home tonight before heading out to visit with family tomorrow.
WFD this Christmas Eve is Thomas Keller’s fried chicken (at least his recipes for both brine and coating – I use my own cooking method). Freshly baked angel biscuits with butter and honey. Salad greens in vinaigrette.
Happy holidays to all!
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Mrs. P made an awesome dinner that I would have appreciated a lot more if I didn’t just blow out my knee 
I was stretching and bent my knee a certain way that I heard it snap like a branch/twig. That was not a good sound, and it is very painful. I could barely walk and am afraid I might need surgery. Going up the stairs is the most painful. I think it might be my LCL (since it was the side of the knee). Of course, with the holidays, my Dr. is off until Jan. 6th. Since tomorrow is Christmas, I won’t be able to even go to Urgent Care (which will be a waste), until Thursday.
Well, anyway, we started off with the perfect bite of Jamon ham wrapped around Humboldt fog cheese, toasted slivered almonds, and fig jam. It went great with an espresso martini. For the main course Mrs. P made D’Artagnan Heritage double pork chop stuffed with blue cheese and apples among other ingredients. She also made roasted delicata squash drizzled with hot honey. Mrs. P made Costco’s steamed Dungeness crab for herself. It all went great with Titus Zinfandel.
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I found a small piece of beef in the freezer and wanted to stretch it out into a meal. So, I cooked it, cubed it and mixed it with some rice. I made my mother’s meatloaf sauce (that Sunshine likes) and thinned it out, so it would coat all of the rice. Turned out to be a pretty good meal. Pickled Beets (on the side) for the vegetable (not pictured).
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Looks delicious!
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My kid forgot! I hooked him up after he was asleep. Can’t disappoint Santa 'n all. Pretty sure he suspects but isn’t sure he’s ready to give up Santa gifts. He’s too logical for his own good.
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Don’t forget the carrots for the reindeer!!
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In the What Are You Reading topic, I noted that Stanley Tucci mentioned cod alla Livornese a few times, and tonight I made it. Garlic, cherry tomatoes, basil, black and green olives and chopped capers, simmered down in EVOO, the cod braised in the sauce for just a few minutes. With orzo.
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Thanks! It was 
Your dish looked awesome as well!
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