My friend invited the BF and I to join her small family gathering last night for drinks and apps. “Stand-around finger foods” and she called it. A great assortment including homemade Brazilian cheese balls (cannot remember the name) which she baked after we arrived so they were fresh. We also brought dumplings and sausage bread.
There were martinis!
Dinner last night was lasagne from the freezer. This batch had homemade noodles, Italian sausage, garden tomato sauce with mushrooms, onions, garlic, yellow and red bell peppers. Really good, H made it. Some inadvertently overcooked mixed veg.
Hungry Onion Meetup!
As far as I can tell, their name is simply (in Portuguese of course) “cheese bread” or “cheese bun” or whatever. Maybe I’ve got the wrong thing but I think it matches.
Probably Pão de Queijo. But I don’t know what hers looks like.
Pretty… and pretty yum.
Chris, that’s a holiday meal!!
Dayam. That’s perfection!
Christmas eve!!
This year’s meal wasn’t planned ahead. H came back from shops at 5 pm, only then I knew what ingredients I had. He bought some Canadian lobsters!!
Made this before, pepper purée, shrimps marinated with lime juice, dill, espellette pepper and olive oil on emmental cream with chicken broth.
I checked with my cookbooks, most recipes had 1 or 2 ingredients missing here . I settled with a Robuchon’s recipe, lobster with morels and leek (asperagus originally). 2.5 cooking in salted boiling water and another 2 minutes in a pan, perfect timing.
The sauced was made with Pineau wine, lobsters shells, cream, very good.
Dessert was a stored bought abricot panettone.
Digestif
It all looks great, as usual @naf! Please keep inspiring us, as you go about holiday, and everyday cooking!
Thanks @Lambchop! Most meals, if they aren’t too repetitive, I take pictures. But sometimes after a few days, they seem a bit distant and become irrelevant and I prefer not to post them.
WFD yesterday was oven cooked quail. Honey sauce marinated and cover with mustard, cooked 25 minutes with foil and 30 minutes without. Served with roasted Brussel sprouts with paprika.
Homemade sourdough, still not quite there… the holes inside was a bit dense and too regular.
Tuesday meal was deer meat with a foie gras brandy sauce. Morel cream tagliatelle. Roasted panisse.
Monday was day off from cooking, H made these pizzas.
Quiet Xmas eve dinner for two - fat ribeye, garlic scape pesto, sautéed shredded Brussels and leeks with lemon and Parmesan. Fabulous red blend (Montepulciano/Sangiovese).
Dove into the freezer for dessert - last year’s nut patties were as good as new after 10 mins in the oven. A slice of mom’s fruitcake (not pictured) also survived the freeze unscathed.
We enjoyed a delicious cheesy dinner courtesy of my Chef friend. We continue to support him during these tough times. We enjoyed garlic shrimp, crawfish quiche, lobster mac and cheese and seafood lasagna with shrimp lobster, and crabmeat. It all went great with an excellent red blend.
What a funny coincidence…my friend Chris in Washington, D.C. made bb with spätzle tonight.
Heh. A carefully-wrapped fruitcake will surely be the last thing left on Earth. 
(No offense to those carefully-wrapped fruitcakes of my acquaintance; I didn’t mean you.)
Now I want a piece of fruit cake with a little hot brandy before bed. In front of the crackling fire .
Fabulous!
