Everyone ready for Christmas? The day arrives in only one week and I’m happy to say that since my frazzled announcement of my lack of preparations I now have a decorated house, a fat tree, and even most of my gifts are purchased. Oddly, in the midst of Christmas preparations my parents held a belated birthday party for my grandmother at their house last night that went over well. I’ve been kicking myself for having lapsed into a cooking doldrum as of late, relying on recipes I know or combinations that are familiar to me rather than challenging myself as I once did. Last night presented an opportunity to create a couple things and borrow one off Tyler Florence, stepping out of the comfort zone to create things that weren’t easy.
I started with what I dubbed “White Trash Bean Dip”, which was essentially a dip made of white kidney beans, garlic, chipotle peppers, olive oil, and a mix of spices. I took the cheap way out in one area – providing Scoops chips rather than creating my own – but people seemed to enjoy it. The harder part came with the Espresso Pots de Creme with Moroccan Chocolate and Pistachio Biscotti I did for dessert. I admit I made the Pots de Creme directly out of a recipe in my Tyler Florence cookbook, but technique requirements still made it hard. When it was done there was only enough to plate up so I actually served it without having sampled it, but appearance wise it seemed to be missing something. So I quickly melted some semi-sweet blocks of chocolate and mixed it in a pot of simmering whipping cream, then threw in a small amount of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ancho chili powder. Alongside a Pistachio Biscotti it seemed to be popular.
I try to make myself sound smart now as I’m sure Mark will, over the course of the next week, discuss his Christmas dinner plans and put me to shame. Mr Maranzan takes Christmas dinner very seriously and the one time I did have a chance to attend their dinner it was something to behold. Hopefully he’ll share his intentions soon, although I still argue a Christmas dinner with no pork tenderloin isn’t worth my time. :P
Alas now I go to get some work done, record the third Christmas podcast, get a 5k run in, and then make a major life-altering decision I’ll likely discuss here shortly. All the best of the season!
Today’s Random Links
Some dude from ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ was on ‘Saved by the Bell’
The Lonely Tree: The Story of A Charlie Brown Christmas
Ms Dewey went and got naked!… nice one, Microsoft. (NSFW)
Time magazine’s lame “Person of the Year” is You…
… but don’t tell Chrysler and their recent ad! Ha!