Appetizers - and strawberries

New Year's Eve dinner in the living room of appetizer-y things: pizza rolls, mozzarella sticks, spring rolls, rangoons, taco dip with tortilla chips, the summer sausage TMOTH got from Santa, and pickles. Plus, Safeway had Florida strawberries at buy 1 get 1 free, so we had some not-so-terrible-for-winter strawberries as well. I thought about miso soup but didn't get started early enough - nearly everything else was just pull out of the freezer and stick in the oven.

Leftover leg of lamb

Just warmed up the roast lamb. Made broccoli, pasta, and had some summer squash from the freezer. Rolls from a can.

The lamb then got taken apart. We now have a nice-sized piece and a package of big cubes for kebabs in the freezer, and a few leftover bits to combine with leftover chicken for something - shepherd's pie, perhaps?

Menu planning

Wednesday: Not much leftover chicken, so we'll be having the leftover lamb. Probably make a focaccia to go with it. Sauteed bok choy and broccoli. Au gratin potatoes or rice.
Thursday: Appetizer buffet (goes well with the champagne!)
Friday: ? Hard to plan for this - we'll be in DC most of the day at the Terra Cotta Warrior exhibit, and don't know what time we'll get home. Maybe dinner out at Red Hot and Blue or takeout from somewhere. Need to have hoppin' John!!
Saturday: Omelettes, bacon & sausage, toast
Sunday: Pork loin roast, fried apples, canned biscuits
Monday: need something fast and easy - both Boy Scouts and Quilt Guild meet that night. Burgers and tater tots!
Tuesday: Lizard on a stick, rice or couscous, some sort of vegetable.

Stuffed flounder

It was...interesting. I made the filling with some onion and celery, chopped shrimp and artichoke hearts, and crushed wheat thins. I went to add some sherry to the mixture, and - what the HECK just went into my pan?!?! That's a little too dark and thick for sherry!!! Turns out the last time TMOTH bought sherry, he bought the wrong kind - some kind of sweet sherry that didn't turn the dish inedible, but didn't help all that much. A little bit too sweet. I think I'd make it again, only with a dry sherry.

I also made coleslaw, even though I'm the only one that eats it, and hushpuppies. Heathen kids had frozen fish filets or frozen chicken fingers (well, they were cooked, but they started out frozen).

Roasted chicken leg quarters

And the chicken was eaten by all but one kid!

Home-made bread (which said kid made up on), mashed potatoes (courtesy of TMOTH) and gravy, cantaloupe, and cucumber.

I think I forgot the leftover lamb on the menu planning. It needs to get re-eaten the next few days.

Soup

Potato soup for me and TMOTH, tomato or cheese for the kids. Yum.

Menu planning

One of the resolutions for 2010. Again.

I have almost a week to "practice" before the rubber hits the road, so I'm going to give it a go. Only the main dishes to start with; no need to go crazy :)

Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Potato soup
Monday: Roast chicken
Tuesday: Fish
Wednesday: Quesadillas (with leftover chicken)
Thursday: Appetizer buffet (goes well with the champagne!)

Christmas dinner

Roast leg of lamb, macaroni & cheese, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots, raw carrot sticks, sweet potato casserole, and home-made rolls. Stocking candy for dessert!

And Jeff - get yourself a g-mail account so I know for sure it's you when you comment!!

Lasagna

Thankfully, DH cooked dinner; lasagna and garlic bread. Dinner planning will be one of my 2010 goals...

Leftover turkey

Probably the last dinner appearance of the old bird :) Leftover dressing, macaroni & cheese, sweet potatoes, green beans, canned biscuits.

Kona got the rest of the cornbread dressing and Cletus got the rest of the green beans.

Last night was pizza, to get everybody fed before Boy Scouts.

Turkey noodle soup

Aaah, leftovers. One of the best parts of Thanksgiving.

Tonight we had a turkey noodle soup - homemade turkey stock from the turkey carcass, onions, celery, carrots, turkey, and egg noodles. The big kind, of course.

I spent most of the day making Christmas cookies. Nearly all of the recipes come from my first edition Betty Crocker, published in 1950. It has a LOT more recipes than the newer edition. My favorite Christmas cookie recipe is an alternative to the "key" recipe.

Merry Christmas Cookies - Light Dough
1/3 c shortening
1/3 c sugar
1 egg
2/3 c honey
2 3/4 c sifted flour (I don't sift and it works fine)
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
(the recipe calls for 1 tsp lemon extract, but I like the cookies better without it)

Cream shortening and sugar, add egg and honey and mix well. Sift together flour, soda, and salt and add slowly to wet ingredients. (I do sift at this point so I don't wind up with a big clump of soda in my cookies.)

Chill, roll out and cut into shapes. Bake until lightly browned. Cool and decorate if desired.

This is a very forgiving dough - the instructions call for rolling thick (1/4"), but I usually roll thinner. It holds together very well when rolling - I always roll between two sheets of wax paper - without too much added flour.

I love these cookies, but the rest of my family doesn't care for them much. So, I bake them at Christmas, enjoy and share them.

Cheese & Crackers

Really, who wants to seriously cook the day after Thanksgiving???

Thanksgiving dinner was great - turkey, macaroni & cheese, 2 kinds of dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, asparagus, and raw vegetables. Three pies - pecan, chocolate, and lemon. All taste wonderful, but the lemon meringue filling is not as firm as it could be.

Soup and Salad

Brought to you courtesy of Small Man. I'm not sure what prompted this - it was the Cars soup for the soup, but he told me "I LOVE lettuce!" in the produce aisle, which I had no idea about. And he ate a whole bowl of lettuce. TMOTH and I had fancy greens for our salad, and Phillips cream of crab soup. Yum :)

Dinner has been going steadily downhill lately, and I've tried to reverse it starting this week. Posting on here should at least keep me accountable.

For Thanksgiving, I have the turkey in the freezer and need to go clean out the fridge to make room for it to thaw. I have cornmeal to make cornbread for dressing and Wednesday night bean soup. I have an Oreo crust and humongo chocolate bars from Trader Joe's to make chocolate pie. I have potatoes and sweet potatoes and marshmallows and green beans. (No cream of mushroom soup, though. Real mushrooms and white sauce for MY green bean casserole.) I need to check on the supply of eggs and flour and sugar, and I know I need cream.

Pork

chops & ham. Some like one, some like the other. Fried potatoes, carrots & cucumber, and french bread. Strawberries with vanilla cupcakes for dessert.

Lasagna and chicken nuggets

When one family member is not yet 4, chicken nuggets can be a part of ANY meal.

TMOTH is away, so the lasagna asked for by the teen and endorsed by the mid-kid went over well.