The original menu wound up with a few tweaks after the testing phase, a few substitutions once I was in the grocery store and couldn’t find a couple of items, and a few total changes when I decided to just totally change things (or just forgot about them).

We normally do a separate Amuse, but decided to just do a bigger appetizer once we (my sister and I) saw these huge new plates my parents had bought.

On Christmas Eve I put some fresh sage and about a cup of whipping cream in a jar and set aside in the refrigerator to marinate? season? make sage yumminess spread to whipping cream. I whipped the cream (leaving in just a few smaller bits of sage) a little before serving time, and the taste of sage was definitely present and delicious. Scallops were seared in olive oil, plated immediately, and then topped with a bit of the sage cream and a dollop of caviar.

The other side of the plate houses an escargot pie. I used a cream cheese crust (1 c butter, 16oz cream cheese [2 c], 3 c flour – mix and form), and filled it with a mix of egg, milk, and butter/garlic sauteed escargots.

Of course nothing is complete without alcohol, and everyone in my family does better after a personality drink, so we make sure to get something extremely yummy so no one will consider not having any.

Have I used the word yummy enough yet? Probably not. I’ll make up for that in part 3.

A few years ago, maybe 2006?, my sister and I decided that this whole buying Christmas gifts for our parents was totally crap, and we weren’t having any more of it. Instead we made the Christmas Dinner the gift. Until then we had always had turkey et al for Christmas dinner; now we put together a 7 course meal complete with wine pairings. I act as the chef, and my sister is the sommelier. Each year we pick a theme and base the menu around it; we’ve had a cheese theme, a seafood theme, and this year we decided on:

A Time for Luxury: 7 courses, 6 drinks, much merriment

The drink: Champagne

The Amuse Bouche – Mini escargot quiche

The Appetizer – Caviar on toast points

The drink: probably a Sherry, but really, whatever is good to soak chestnuts in

The Salad – Roasted chestnut, apple, and squash with Boston lettuce, warm goat’s cheese, and a vinaigrette

The drink: something with alcohol, who gives a shit by this point?

The Soup – Creamy mushroom soup with truffle oil (because as much as I love my parents, I’m not buying actual truffles)

The Sorbet – Champagne sorbet (though this time it’ll just be something cheap and bubbly)

The drink: some sort of white wine

The Entrée – Lobster Newberg with some sort of vegetable and either saffron rice or saffron mashed potatoes

The drink: Sweet warm milk with brandy

The Dessert – Chocolate 3 layer cake, vanilla bean cream, strawberry filling, dusted with edible gold

Should be yummy!

“Your baby appears to be reasonably humanoid and free from grotesque abnormalities – congratulations!”

1. I hate when companies call me, and before I can even say hello I realise that I’m already on hold. Why not wait until there’s someone available to speak to me before the autodial calls? Is that really such a difficult piece of programing? Really?
2. ‘Disappearing’ the neighbours’ dog is not an option.
3. Leeks are awesome.
4. My mom and 3 of her friends (all over 60) are planning a trip to the Caribbean, and when she invites me along she’s actually serious. How does she come to the conclusion that this will be fun for all? This isn’t even fun for some. This wouldn’t even be fun for her. And she’s a bit miffed that I declined.
5. I need to move my seedlings into the garden early so as to deny The Princess the opportunity to kill them while I’m travelling.
6. I don’t know what I’ve eaten that’s made me this gassy.
7. Leeks are still awesome.