quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
It will be a small group. Me, my partner Debbie, mom Helen, and the V-Tails.

Post up your menu!

Merry Christmas, and Glory to God in the highest!

Hallelujah! Today our Savior is born!

A little late, but here we are:

Two beautiful ladies, Artie's mom Helen, and my wife, Lynda V-Tail:

Lucky (on the floor), Lynda V-Tail (background), and Debbie (Artie's partner, foreground):

Artie, carving the roast:

Some of the dessert offerings, and the loaf of bread that I baked:

The food was outstanding, but the company and the friendship made it a really wonderful day.

Looks great V-tail!

^^^^^
The credit goes to Artie and Debbie.

Excellent stuff, great pictures, everyone looks to be having a great time...

It was just four of us for Christmas.

6.3-pound standing rib roast from Costco. Put it into the oven on a rack in a pan at 500 degrees using the 5-minute per pound calculation. Reduced the temperature to 275 degrees, took the roast out and rubbed with butter, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Cut two onions into quarters, peeled a small bag of carrots and cut them in half, and about a dozen garlic (already peeled). Put them all under the rack for aromatics. Into the oven - used the oven's temperature probe. I put the stop temperature too low by accident (rare instead of medium rare - didn't get any complaints). I did confirm the temperature with my new ThermaPen One that arrived two days prior (got one for my sister as well for a gift). I cut the main portion off of the bones and let my sister take that home.

Took the roast out and put it under foil to rest. Didn't get a lot of juices from this roast in the pan but took what I could. Mixed some of the onions and garlic with red wine and a bit of rosemary and stock. Reduced it a bit and strained out the vegetables and had a red wine reduction.

Mashed potatoes with gravy made from Bisto granules since we didn't have a lot of drippings - it works well. Should have made Yorkshire pudding but had enough other things.

My sister brought a stalk of brussels sprouts - I took them off the stalk, then my sister cut them in half. I put them in a pan with a bit of water and covered with foil to put into the oven to let them steam. Took the foil off after about 20 minutes and let them roast in the oven. Didn't thing to drizzle a bit of balsamic vinegar over them - oh well.

Salad - a simple bag of mixed greens that came with dressing in the bag.

Dessert was two things - a frozen raspberry dish with a pretzel crust or pumpkin pie. My nephew and his wife came over with their 9-month-old son for dessert - I got the honor of squirting the first bit of canned whip cream into his mouth - what an expression!

Got part of the cleaning done and the dishwasher filled and started, then took my sister and brother-in-law home. Came back in time to unload the dishwasher and clean up the rest of the kitchen (made for a late night but was worth it).

Dad, as some of you know, is a World War II vet and 104 years old. He dug into his plate and finished it all! That, to me, is more important than anyone saying anything. It had been a roller coaster week (had to take his dog to the vet for the final trip). I have some leftovers for him to use over the next few days.

Thanks for posting V-Tail, was a great day.

What he didn't say, was there was scant opportunity to take pictures, as just as all of this was coming to a finish, one of our horses took out a fence, and broke a waterline that fed the house. While I was finishing the cooking, Debbie went out in the fields, dug up the broken water line and capped it, so we had water to cook and clean with.

I am truly blessed.