One Stop French Chat! Pull up a stool and have a wine! #9

[Brit in Texas]

Hi. Ratie

What fish do you do and how do you prepare it? Sounds interesting. I have done present shopping but not food yet. We have our tree up too. Maybe I'll get creative and take a picture and try and post. We have company lunch today and DH and I will go and get some groceries after. There will be 9-11 of us. I am doing a prime rib and turkey roast potatoes roast parsnips Yorkshire puddings and an assortment of steamed veggies plus stuffing and gravies. We also have 1 vegan coming. I told DH to say he is more than welcome as long as he doesn't get grossed out by medium rare beef . Dessert is a lemon cheese cake on a ginger cookie crust and I made Tarty's Christmas mincemeat so I am going to make some mince tarts. The vegan can have some mincemeat with vegan ice cream.

We are having our master bath renovated. What turned out to be 4 days is now 10 and almost done. Boy it's hard to find good reasonable help.

Off to do some work.

[RiverRat]

Hi, Bitsie. That's quite a menu you've got planned there. Our Christmas Eve dinner consists of fried smelts, bacala (dried codfish) salad with olives, celery and hot and sweet cherry peppers, and linguine with olive oil, garlic and anchovies. I use my late MIL's recipes for all of those things.

[Zurie]

Oh I am SO happy to see some of you posting!!!!

French Tart, it seems (not that she ever really chatted) seems (as her page says) "lost in France ..."

I am still the same old, same old ...

My darling only child and his family (2 grands) cannot make it to us over Christmas, as he has his own agricultural-financing business, and we are just too far away -- about 700 km/500 miles on a highway which must have the most speed limits and hidden speed cameras than anywhere in the world, which makes it slow and really not worth the effort.

So it's DH and me, and sister and her DH. I am over-organising as usual. They'll be here for the weekend, none of us want to eat a midday dinner, so I had to plan for 2 festive nightly dinners plus the lunch snacks in between.

As I told her when she kept saying (YOU know the refrain) "don't go to any trouble!" it's NOT going to the trouble!! It's the bloody planning!! When to make the sauces, when to defrost the huge ducks, when to defrost the calamari (starter), when to use the ovens, which veggies to prepare. I do NOT mind the actual cooking. It is the organisation which gets to me!!

I've laid the table, simple as it is -- and I must remember to take a photo for Dreamgoddess's forum, whatever it's called: "Decor and ... something" forum.

So far it's been Murphy's Law: our main landline phone went dead. (Service??? This time of year??? In South Africa??? )

My aged mother, nearly 93, is, thank God, with my brother and wife (WAYYY closer to her retirement home than we are).

My menu, depending on Murphy's Law:

Christmas Eve, main dinner:

Salad with calamari in a dressing made from lemon juice, olive oil and capers. I'll add S A peppadews and probably a few marinated olives.

Roast Ducks with the cherry, port and redcurrant sauce I have on this site.

Fresh green beans from my organic garden

Young peas (from 2 tins )

(Rest to be decided ...)

Fresh organic salad from my garden.

Ice cream with some kind of sauce for those who still need sweetness ... (We are not great dessert eaters).

My dear friends, (who I miss so much on this thread), I'll probably look in again -- but have a good Christmas and for heaven's sake, let the men and the boys clear up, wah up and dry and put away after the meals!!

[Brit in Texas]

Hi ratie so you meals is a typical Italian holiday one?

Hi Zurie. My friend promised me not to cook anything small and cute which included duck goose and rabbit. However she will have no issues with medium rare prime rib. Go figure. We bought some "burgers" for the vegan! And dairy free ice cream. He's a nice lad so I dont mind. As you say Zurie it's the planning. I've started digging out dishes tablecloths and things already as I know often I think I'm organized but one the day find I'm not as far along as I thought. Oh funny last year an Irish friend and his wife turned up several HOURS early. The turkey hadn't even made it to the oven, I was in a pink house coat with my hair in a towel. Another time he turned up with a friend of his. So I've made it very clear not to arrive before 5 and be here by 6 with no uninvited people.

Just made ginger cookies for the cheesecake. The recipe for the cookies was a Bon Appetite magazine one and jolly yummy. Uses fresh and crystallized ginger.

OK off to fix dinner.

Take care ladies and have a wonderful Christmas.

[Zurie]

Oh no. Oh nooooo ... !!!

What has happened to you all? WHY don't we chat like in the old days?? Where are you all, and what are you doing?

I really miss the casual chats. I sooo wish you would all come back and chat again.

[Cookgirl]

WHERE IS CHEF KATE?