What's for Dinner, Thurs., Dec. 20, 2018

[NJCher]

We had steak, peas cooked with pancetta, and roasted asparagus spears. In addition, the RG made the most wonderful "pudding:" triple cream cheese, acorn squash, and cheese pumpkin. It's all blended together; also has cilantro, half n half, butter.

For dessert we had baklava and orange spice tea.
We also had a few bites of a whiskey cake a friend made me for Christmas.

Then the RG took off for Italy for 15 days, but before he left he made me other Christmas goodies, like lamb stew in the slow cooker. He always goes to Italy or Switzerland for the holidays. I have been finding his computer research on restaurants in Rome for the last six months, so I know he'll have a good culinary time!

[elleng]

1. Nice!

And thanks for reminding me of my one Christmastime in Rome!

Chix soup here.

[Adsos Letter]

2. Slow cooked beans with brown sugar and molasses.

Homemade biscuits with butter and honey. Sliced cucumber, tomato, and garbanzo bean salad.

[MissMillie]

3. meatball & onion pizza

We had a pizza crust left over from the other night, and meatballs left over from when we had spaghetti.... and with things being as tight as they are around here, we gotta use up whatever we can.

Oh, and I put some olives on it too.

[PJMcK]

4. Beef Bourguignon

We're at the mountain house and this morning, the Landlady(!) asked me what I would like for dinner. I asked for this great French comfort food stew. She's serving it with spaetzle and a small salad. We have a nice port for dessert.

The Holiday Party I attended last week was amazing! The food was never-ending.

There was an open bar in the foyer of the hosts’ Park Avenue apartment in New York City. It’s one of those pre-World War II buildings with lots of elevators. When the elevator stops at your floor there are only two doors for each of the North and South apartments. Anyway, the fully-loaded bar was manned by two tenders willing to concoct anything one could want.

There were four waitresses circulating with trays of hors d’oeuvres: small red potatoes cut in half with their centers scooped out and filled with Beluga caviar; small squares of toast with filet mignon topped with a dash of Dijon; small squares of toast with salmon filets topped with a delicious dill sauce; skewers of chicken filets and shrimp that had been marinated in something delicious then grilled; small samosas stuffed with mashed chick peas or spinach and mini veggie-kabobs.

In one corner of the dining room, there was a charcuterie stand with two kinds of pate, three salamis, prosciutto da Parma and cubes of cured bison. Next to this was a cheese board with Jarlsberg, Brie, Camembert, Cheddar and a French goat cheese I’d never tried called Valençay.

The buffet dinner table had chicken cordon bleu, filet mignon, grilled sea bass, a Virginia ham and stuffed filets of sole (bay scallops and bread crumb stuffing). The vegetables included grilled asparagus, creamed spinach, a kale salad, Caesar salad, Beefsteak tomato, cucumber and red onion salad, an amazing five-bean salad, Gluten-free macaroni and cheese (it disappeared!), scalloped potatoes and French-cut green beans almandine.

The deserts were served in the kitchen and I don’t think I saw everything they served! NY Cheesecake, half a dozen flavors of ice cream, several pies, a killer chocolate cake and a huge fruit platter with every fruit I’ve ever seen.

Something for everyone and I’ve been recovering ever since!

My apologies for the long post.

[elleng]

5. OH GOODNESS!

There's NO place like home, I guess (except I've never been to SUCH!!!)

[NJCher]

7. OMD!

That sounds like the party to end all parties!

Interesting that the gluten-free mac & cheese disappeared so fast.

I can do some of these appetizers with items I have in my refrig, so thanks for the "tickler" list. I'm thinking the samosas 'cuz I have both fresh spinach and chick peas. Also mini-vegetable kabobs. Over the holidays, I like to have appetizers off and on throughout the day and skip full meals.

Not to worry about the long post; I enjoyed every line.

[Luciferous]

6. My daughter and I made homemade flour tortillas and then had beef tacos.