Author Archives: Lucky Rhino

That Escalated Quickly

How did I go from Halloween to December in a blink? Seriously, this is the first time I didn’t do a Thanksgiving wrap-up. My apologies. The good news is everything worked out well. I made Ted Allen’s deconstructed turkey again but just used an herb butter of my own making – 2 sticks softened, unsalted butter mixed with 1/2 of mixed chopped parsley, chives, sage, salt & pepper – rubbed under the skin and used a little of it melted for basting.

I used this Serious Eats dry brine, much easier than wet brine. Only difference is I mixed in a little dried thyme and rubbed sage. Used Sally’s Baking Addiction Apple Cranberry Herb Stuffing. A good showing.

If I am making Chex Party Mix, Drummer Boy will walk in the house and say “mmm, smells like Christmas”. So I thought this an appropriate party favor:

A dessert I meant to make for Thanksgiving but ran out of time, should still be made nonetheless, as it is delicious. All the ingredients are from Trader Joe’s and it is practically a holiday in a jar.

Winter Spice Trifle

WHAT YOU NEED (all from Trader Joe’s)
triple ginger snaps
5 TBSP cookie butter
4 oz whipped cream
3 TBSP maple syrup
Fleur de sel caramel sauce

WHAT YOU DO
Crumble the ginger snaps into the bottom of a jar/glass. Combine the mascarpone cheese with the cookie butter. Beat the whipped cream and maple syrup until stiff peaks form. Melt the caramel sauce in the microwave (top off!) until pourable. Layer the mascarpone mixture over the cookies, top with whipped cream and drizzle with caramel sauce. Amounts depend on the size of your jar or glass. Guitar boy had four of these over the course of a day. Shhh, don’t tell him it’s cheese!

So on to Christmas. The tree themes are Rainbow (as a result of me losing the white lights vs. colored lights argument to Drummer Boy).

The ornaments follow the ROYGBIV pattern of the rainbow with admittedly copper/rose gold subbing in for orange.

Front tree is Eat, Drink and be Merry so all food, drink, and music ornaments. It may be a touch too reflective of our lives (hotdogs, donuts and Diet Coke?). Um, can someone buy me an asparagus ornament?!

See if you can spot my new favorite Christmas tea towel.

That’s right, Batman smells has now been incorporated into our decor!

But yesterday we went to the Christkindlmarket, a very cute German market set up in both Naperville and downtown Chicago. We drank cider and cocoa out of commemorative mugs, ate bavarian pretzels and shopped for ornaments. They had loads of delicately hand-painted Santas, stockings, peaceful nativity scenes and woodland creatures. Beautiful. So what did we get #momofboys?

That’s right, can you spot the secret Krampus on each tree? Now I’m being lobbied for an all bad guys tree next year. Darth Vader ornament, I think you are about to have your moment!

Trying out a few Christmas cookies this weekend. These Brown Sugar Shortbread cookies were a big hit with the teen crowd.

Making a birthday dinner tonight for mbork of F’ing Ziti (a nod to season one of Sopranos where AJ is mad that Tony’s panic attack made him drop the leftover tray of ziti – if you are over 18 go watch it, it’s a classic). Really it’s Penne with Two Cheeses from Epicurious, but when I first made it for Aunt Mary and Treasured Guest decades ago, we were watching Sopranos so F’ing Ziti it became. Adding in Smitten Kitchen’s Perfect Garlic Bread because carbs were requested, so carbs will be bestowed!

Next up – Holiday Pizza Night. Have some homemade favors to share with you but more on that later.

Have a great week everyone!

A Girl Has No Halloween Decorations

Yipes, we’ve been busy. Does it show? Like when I haven’t posted since our summer vacation, does that highlight my busy-ness (not business). So now it’s practically Halloween and I haven’t even showed you what I bought! Because I needed more Halloween (just wait until the end of the post)!!

These day of the dead succulents were at Trader Joe’s. So cute!

I legit gave my husband three new Halloween storage bins today for our 22nd anniversary. Because that’s the traditional gift: 1st anniversary – paper, 15th anniversary – crystal, 22nd anniversary – narrower Rubbermaid bins that fit better up the attic stairs.

In between vacation and Halloween (jeesh, again, sorry) we had a goodbye to Middy’s old house party. I made a salad out of Skinnytaste’s Spiralized Summer Bowls

We had Drummer Boy’s final Illuminati Baseball game of the season.

I made Crispy Chicken Thighs with Cherry Jalapeño Salsa from The Kitchn.

We had Epic Pizza Night when our dear Kazzah visited us from Australia with two of her mates.

I made Cheesy Chicken and Veggie Bake from Bev Cooks. Super easy for a week night. Don’t use tomatoes though, made it a little too watery.

The Second Set turned 11. 11!! Here they are with their great grandmother who is 104 1/4.

There was a fidget spinner cake. That spins! By Jen of Pastries So Tasty.

Apple Cider Doughnut Cake from The View From Great Island was a hit.

As were the Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and Brown Butter Sugar Cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction that I made for our bake sale at work to raise money for breast cancer research through Bright Pink.

We had five tables full of homemade treats and raised over $3,000. Yay!

Oh, and we attended the Queen show from Singer Girl, Drummer Boy and Guitar Boy.

Oh yeah, and then the world premiere of Chasing the Blues at the Chicago International Film Festival, the movie that Kevin co-wrote based on one of his short stories. Yeah, that’s the ticket!

Now that we’re all caught up, I will show you the pièce de résistance of Halloween that I now own and is playing in our front window:

It’s not so much that I needed this Halloween projector, but that it needed me. Happy Halloween everyone! Gird your loins for the upcoming practice Thanksgivings!

Report From the Beach House

I kid, I kid (kinda). We were cooking at a point for 25 people. Why vacation small? I say go big or go home. Except then we did go home, so I guess that really doesn’t work here, does it?

Anyhoo, but lots and lots of cousins of different generations had tons of fun.

So what did we eat? We did these Honey Teriyaki Chicken Legs from Skinnytaste. Always a hit. But with a large crowd we had to supplement the 25 chicken legs with 38 tacos. 38 TACOS. Yep, you read that right.

Another night we made these Steak and Brie Sandwiches with Chimichurri Sauce from Martha Stewart:

Sorry about the photo. While this rental house is extremely well stocked for everyday living, it is less so for Instagram-worthy food photos. They didn’t have a drawer of white marble slabs, distressed wood or rumply farmhouse tea towels!

Had plans for another big dish but when the evening came, everyone was tired and over-sunned and a big meal just wasn’t doing it for me. So we did this DIY BLT bar.

Roasted all the bacon in the ovens. Also had choice of adding avocado or Israeli Salad (background photo bombers). Hit the spot. Of course, that meant the 7 pound pork shoulder had to ride home with us. And the pork should didn’t have a iPad so he whined the whole way.

What do you do besides swim and eat? Well, games, coloring, puzzles and drinks!

Brought some Aperol with me and made a sparkling Aperol Rosé Spritzer:

WHAT YOU NEED
1 cup chilled pineapple passion fruit juice (though you could sub in just pineapple or maybe a little grapefruit juice – whatever moves you)
1/4 cup Aperol
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
4-5 tsp sugar
1 bottle chilled sparkling rosé
lime wedges

WHAT YOU DO
Stir first 4 ingredients together until the sugar dissolves. Add in the sparkling rosé. Stir and then serve over ice with a lime wedge.

Also did this Lillet Rose Spring Cocktail again from Grand Maester Stewart.

I was fresh out of edible flowers however, so lime slice it is!

If you’ve got tomatoes coming in from your garden or a basil plant threatening all the other herbs out there, I’d highly suggest a riff on this Tomato Garlic Toast With Whipped Basil Feta from How Sweet It Is. I say riff because I didn’t exactly make this because I’m not a feta fan. I KNOW, then why am I reading recipes about feta? Because then, maybe when you change the cheese its just as delicious as the main recipe would be with feta if you were the kind of person that liked feta. FIGHT ME!

Basically, instead of feta I subbed in Ricotta Salata (not the stuff you use for lasagna, the harder ricotta by the other cheeses). And I added one more ounce of cream cheese and a very full 1/4 cup chopped basil. Otherwise follow Jessica’s directions. But taste before you salt, because ricotta salata is really salty. Salata=salt (free Italian lesson – you’re welcome). I used zero additional salt.

Try to lean back and enjoy the rest of your Sunday as much as D enjoys his sand bed.

Have a great week everyone!

My Big Fat Greek Father’s Day

No, we’re not Greek, but I was in a Mediterranean kind of mood.

We had Fathers Day yesterday because one of my nieces is on her way to Loras Sports Camp today. But not before some Father’s Day corn shuckin’

Made Greek Flank Steak from How Sweet it Is. Her platter was the inspiration for the whole meal.

But also made Slow Cooker Greek Pork from Pinch of Yum. This was seriously easy and good. The only thing I did differently was add about 1/2 cup chicken broth and cooked on High 6 hours then shredded it and left in on Low for another hour.

Made a tomato cucumber salad using Dak’s Spices no-salt Super Greek seasoning. They make a bunch of salt-free seasonings that are very yummy. Not an ad, I just like these seasonings for when one needs to watch salt intake (thanks swollen ankle!!).

Greek Tomato Cucumber Salad

WHAT YOU NEED
1 cucumber seeded and diced
1 container grape tomatoes, chopped
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1/4 cup crumble feta cheese
1/4 flat leaf parsley, chopped
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 TBSP red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp Dak’s Super Greek seasoning (or you could increase oregano and add 1/2 tsp each of dill, dried garlic, and dried onion)
1 clove garlic, minced

WHAT YOU DO
Place the vegetables in a bowl. Combine dressing ingredients (oil to garlic) in jar and shake until emulsified. Pour dressing over veggies and toss. Add the feta and parsley and toss again.

Then assemble the platter. Place the meat on platter and add whatever fixings you want. I added Skordalia, a homemade Tzatziki sauce, black olives, pita halves, dried apricots, whatever floats your boat. Not pictured, corn on the cob, jello and, sigh, buttered noodles.

Here’s hoping you have a silly

exciting

and ultimately relaxing Father’s Day, just like these guys.

Happy Father’s Day everyone! Have a great week.

I Hate You Ham

Per my last post, I should have started the ham last week. How can a 10 pound, spiral sliced, pre-cooked ham take over 4 hours to get to a safe temperature? Why did it make me not only uncover, but take apart, spread out in the roasting pan, up the oven temp twice just so we could eat by 5. IT WENT IN THE OVEN AT 12:30!!!

Ugh, stupid ham. So of course Guitar Boy had seconds.

But everything else was good. Went with the Spinach Artichoke Stuffing mentioned in the last post, Carrot Slaw from Once Upon a Chef, asparagus, lots of fruit, and the hit of the day, made by my mother, was Aunt Carol Wetter’s Cheez Whiz Scalloped Potatoes. Yep, you read that right. Cheez Whiz is the secret ingredient.

There was an epic egg hunt. Make them hard to find, they said. Challenge accepted.

And to answer your question, why yes, that is a Death Star bird feeder. #nerdfoiles

It was so hard to find these eggs that they couldn’t even take a group cousins picture without one half of all participants closing their eyes. But we did get one with GG on her 103rd Easter!

Justifying my large light up bunny purchase at Homegoods were the table favors – white and gold bunnies!!

Guess which favor was Baby D’s?

When GG used to host Easter, she always bought you a ceramic bunny or egg and wrote the year on it, so my favors this year were an homage to GG. Here’s some of the collection:

You may have seen on Instagram, but my sister sent me a picture of a “joke” centerpiece saying “you should do this”. Additional challenge accepted!

So after all that Cheez Whiz goodness, we need to lighten it up tonight with grilled halibut with purchased pineapple salsa. As a side, I made Skinnytaste’s Yellow Rice. Perfect with the fish, I highly recommend it (minus cilantro of course because, blech). Her cooking method made perfect fluffy rice and I made my own spice blend (minus coriander because CORIANDER IS CILANTRO!). And I didn’t have any.

We had beautiful weather for Easter weekend but not to worry, it will be 40 degrees again by Thursday. That doesn’t mean I didn’t just buy clearance garden markers at Target and started planning. And place cards for next Easter. And gold plastic cutlery. Stupid dollar section.

Have a great week everyone!

Easter Guinea Pigs

No, not actual guinea pigs for Easter dinner, how horrific! We were just pig sittin’ (and yes, when you are pig sittin’, you don’t use the second g). But I’m talking about the humans who tested my practice Easter dishes. Though the thought did scare the April Fool’s Day donuts!

So for one of the practice Easters, I made up my own ham glaze with 1 10 ounce jar peach preserves and 1 tablespoon each brown sugar and dijon mustard. Now this was a tiny spiral ham for only 5 people and it still took approximately a jillion hours to get to the safe internal temperature. The glaze was great, but I think I’m gonna start the Easter ham this Thursday.

I might have accidentally bought this bunny with a light up egg. Ok, two. But, you’ll see come actual Easter, there is….a theme! (name that movie).

I made Cooking Light’s Artichoke and Spinach STUFFING. Yes, that’s right, stuffing. Because any reasonable 10 year old would know that if this were called a strata, it would be disgusting. And heaven forbid if one called it bread pudding, then it would be straight-up G-ROSS. But when it is a stuffing, well then, we’re in familiar territory. And it was delightful.

The only thing I did differently was used a mix of Gruyere and Fontina cheeses because that’s what I had handy. And I used canned artichokes hearts and just chopped them up a little, which I would definitely suggest.

Ok, let’s talk about this amazing simple Asparagus and Arugula Salad, also from Cooking Light. Just greens (I used Spring mix), asparagus and hard boiled egg.

I grated one egg over the salad, tossed, and then grated another one. Also added 1/2 teaspoon mustard to the dressing. Don’t be tempted to add more to the dressing, I had thought about dill but then was very glad I didn’t add it. It is luscious as is.

Kevin doesn’t like asparagus so he picked it out, but still liked the salad. I guess I could make it with other green vegetables instead like peas (Kevin – Nope), pea pods (Kevin – Nope), broccoli (Kevin – Nope). But why mess with a classic?

Does anyone want a cocktail? Will be making the Porch Punch from Imbibe Magazine though I cut the proportions down significantly from the 21 cups of tea and 2 bottles of bourbon! How many people does Imbibe Magazine’s porch hold?

Porch Punch

WHAT YOU NEED
5 cups boiling water
3 Earl Grey tea bags
1 mint tea bag
1 cup sugar
.25 ounces orange bitters
.125 ounces orange blossom water
juice of one lime
lemon and lime slices

WHAT YOU DO
Put the sugar and tea bags in the boiling water and stir to dissolve sugar. Steep the tea about 7 minutes then strain into a pitcher and cool. When cool, add the bitters, orange water and lime juice. Refrigerate until ready. Serve with lemon and lime slices over ice. If you had fresh mint, that would be a lovely garnish, but don’t go out and get it just for this.

When buying the boys Easter shirts at TJ Maxx I might have also accidentally purchased these rose gold sandals.

January, We Hardly Knew Ye

How did January go by so fast? Where does the time go? Where is the Fitbit charging cord (seriously, if anyone knows…).

Not a ton of events hosted during this bleak month. We did have one momentous occasion. Guitar Boy entered the realm of teenager.

Neither Hallmark nor Target carries violent video game cake toppers, you have to make your own. Weird.

January definitely is for comfort food. So it was a big soup month around here. I made Smitten Kitchen’s Ultimate Chicken Soup.

I made Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup from Two Peas and Their Pod.

With Italian Grilled Cheese from Stanley Tucci’s cookbook.

Basically it is fresh mozzarella sliced thin on Italian bread, dipped in a slightly beaten egg and grilled. I rubbed the bread with a cut garlic clove and added a pinch of salt to the egg mixture. It was gooey and good, but it needed a little somethin’ somethin’. If I did it again, at MBork’s suggestion I would add grated parmesan to the egg dip to give it a frico type of texture. Or I might make it two cheese with Fontina or another strong but melty cheese. But hey, grilled cheese, no complaining!

Made the easiest Stovetop Mac and Cheese from The Food Lab at Serious Eats.

This was really good. And it heats up well the next day. The only tip I’d offer is don’t add the salt until you taste it. Cheese varies in saltiness. PS, that’s in a clear glass bowl. I don’t just put piles of mac-n-cheese directly on the table. Well, not often.

Drummer Boy advanced to the Battle of the Books semi-finals. They read 7 books in two months. They didn’t win the whole thing but not for lack of preparation. So proud.

Taking a step away from clothespin-on-the-aorta type of recipes, I also made this Detox Salad from Gimme Some Oven.

I didn’t have miso though so I substituted with this Ginger Sesame Dressing from Epicurious. Delicious. Though if you are going to store it in the refrigerator for a day, don’t add the almonds. They get super soggy.

So what food is going to the Superbowly party today? Oh, wait no, it’s Superbowl LI. My bad.

You know how you are walking through Trader Joe’s and they are handing out samples of food and drink. Fatefully one day I was walking through and they had taken their Pub Cheese and warmed it. Just warmed it. And then put it on pretzel bread. And then handed it to me. And then I ate it. And then my whole family ate it. And now Imma gonna eat it again.

Seriously, all you do is warm it up for 30 seconds or so in the microwave and put it over a warmer and slice the bread. As Ina would say, “how easy is that?”. Also bringing the always popular and totally low calorie Muffins That Taste Like Donuts from Tasty Kitchen.

And my 90’s classic – Crab Dip.

Old School Crab Dip

WHAT YOU NEED
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1 TBSP mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced (or use 2 cubes of Trader Joe’s crushed, frozen garlic. I heart you Trader Joe’s!)
Hearty pinches of kosher salt and a grind of black pepper
3 green onions minced or 2 TBSP of finely minced white onion
6 oz crab meat (canned or refrigerated, but fully cooked)

WHAT YOU DO
Combine the everything except the onion and crab meat in a bowl. Blend with a hand mixer until smooth. Stir in the crab meat and onion with a rubber spatula until fully combined. Put it into serving bowl, cover and chill at least an hour.

And so we’re off to enjoy the ~~commercials~~ big game. Have a great week everyone!

For Auld Lang Syne, For Sure

Happy 2017 everyone. I’ve de-Christmased the house in preparation for an organizing binge. More on that later.

Was going to make a bunch of appetizers for New Year’s Eve, but apparently while I was sleeping there was a run on mini-pita breads and red pepper jelly so Imma gonna just bookmark this recipe for chicken salad pitas right here for next time.

Did make these tidbits though. Easy and can be served warm or at room temperature.

Beef Tenderloin Crostini with Caramelized Onions and Horseradish Cream Sauce

WHAT YOU NEED
For the beef:
2-3 lb. beef tenderloin roast
2 tsp kosher salt
1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

For the onions:
1 medium size yellow onion
1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1 TBSP unsalted butter
pinch of salt, pepper and cayenne pepper

For the cream sauce:
1/2 cup lite sour cream
1 TBSP prepared horseradish
1 TBSP pink peppercorns, crushed or ground

1 long French baguette, sliced into thin rounds.

WHAT YOU DO
The day before you cook it, place beef on a rack on cookie sheet. Coat the beef with the salt and place uncovered in a refrigerator overnight (gotta trust me here).

The next day, take beef out of refrigerator about 1 hour before you are ready to cook. Heat oven to 425ºF. Rub beef with the 1 TBSP of olive oil and place back on the rack on cookie sheet. Roast about 30 minutes or until the meat temperature reaches 135ºF (that’s my version of medium rare). Remove from oven and let rest.

While the beef roasts, prepare onions. Slice onion into thin slices. Melt butter and oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until onions are fully caramelized, about 20 more minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350ºF. Place slices of baguette on a different baking sheet and toast rounds for about 10-15 minutes.

Combine sour cream, horseradish and a pinch of the ground pepper in a small bowl and refrigerate until needed.

When ready to assemble, thinly slice the beef (an electric knife is a useful thing here). Place a smidge of onions on each toast, top with a slice of beef, a dollop of the cream and sprinkle with some ground pink pepper. If you had fresh parsley around, you could also chop that finely and sprinkle on for some color.

Here’s a quick recap of Plaid Christmases.

Kids table

Blurry grown-up table

The gang from Plaid Christmas One

Ka-Pow!

Made a new cocktail that was a hit, even with the Manhattan die hards. #diehardisachristmasmovie. It’s call Santa’s Little Helper from blogger Aunt Peaches.

All you do is soak two cinnamon sticks and a bunch of whole cranberries in good bourbon overnight. Note – Aunt Peaches uses cloves. I’m not a fan, I think they overpower. Make your own call, I’m not the boss of you! The next day, fill a glass with ice. Pour in three parts infused bourbon, one part triple sec, and fill the glass with Sprite or even diet Sierra Mist. Garnish with the cranberries from the bourbon.

Onward folks. We saw 2016 off in style, at the Harrison’s last Illinois-based NYE bash before they take the party back to the land of Oz.

There were lots of laughs and many tears. We will miss these people with all our hearts.

But not their Vegemite.

A cup o’ kindness to you all and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2017.

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like The Middle of February

Seriously, 11 degrees below zero in the middle of December? Two major snowstorms? Is the universe trying to stop Plaid Christmas?! Because nothing stops Plaid Christmas. Nothing!

All right, well, the weather did move the first Plaid Christmas back by a week. But I’ll give you the recipes now because now next week I’m doing two Plaid Christmases (Christmasi??) in two days. So not likely going to feel like recipe writing. And thanks to The Block

we did an impromptu practice Plaid Christmas last night when the original got pushed back.

However, moving Plaid Christmas One closer to Plaid Christmas Two allowed me to go to a cookie exchange yesterday.

Twas a bittersweet cookie exchange though to honor our dear friends, the Harrisons, who are moving back to Australia. The Block will be all the less kind, funny and joyful without them. *stupid computer got something in my eyes again*

For the exchange I made these Brown Butter Sugar Cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

We tried multiple toppings and all agreed sanding sugar was a better topping than sprinkles. But everyone loved them, even Drummer Boy, who is not a big cookie eater.

However, those cookies were incorrectly attributed by me on Instagram to What’s Gaby Cooking. So to make up for it, I made her Molasses Cookies. Couldn’t be easier. Used a scant two tablespoon cookie scoop and cooked 2 minutes longer than the recipe called for.

As a gift for the hostess and a snack for Plaid Christmas (one cannot exist on Chex Mix alone. JK – yes you can) I made these Union Square Cafe Nuts via Smitten Kitchen. Only thing I did different is reduced the cayenne pepper a little. Glad I did, they still have heat at the end, but not overwhelming.

On to the meal. Totally pulled a Rachel from Friends – a layer of jelly, a layer of ground beef – when making GF meatballs and marinara sauce simultaneously. I started the meatballs, paused probably to tell the cat to get off the table, then looked up a the meatball recipe and continued. That is, until I got to the “add a whole can of tomatoes”. That seemed wrong. Yep, was following the marinara recipe in the middle of the meatball recipe.

I soldiered on though, and what a happy accident indeed. So I present to you:

Accidental Gluten Free Meatballs

WHAT YOU NEED
1 lb. ground beef
1/3 heaping cup of gluten free panko crumbs
scant 1/4 cup of milk (I actually used a little less)
1/2 TBSP dried parsley
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
3 TBSP finely minced onion
1 egg
2 TBSP olive oil

WHAT YOU DO
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all ingredients except olive oil in a large bowl with your hands until fully incorporated. Shape in to balls with about 2-3 tablespoons of meat per meatball. Heat oil in a skillet and add meatballs. Brown, turning very gently, until browned all over. Place meatballs on a greased baking pan and cook until done, about 15-20 minutes. These can be chilled and reheated in the sauce.

Plaid Christmas will include Skinnytaste’s Crockpot Bolognese Sauce and Two Peas and Their Pod’s Slow Cooker Marinara. That way we take care of the meat eaters, the vegetarians, the gluten free crowd and the butter noodles crowd. Trying a new GF pasta, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Will also be making the world’s easiest Rosemary Roast Salmon that I’ve talked about before. The only thing I do differently is mix olive oil with dijon mustard and pinch of chopped rosemary and rub it over the salmon before putting the lemons on. It’s a hit every time and can be prepped ahead and kept in the fridge. Thanks to The Block for taking care of yesterday’s salmon with gusto

all the while not being allowed in the front room or dining room because I had already set the tables before Plaid Christmas was moved. So it was a cozy practice Plaid Christmas.

In between all these festivities, we had one of the best School of Rock shows to date. Drummer Boy, Guitar Boy and friend and neighbor Singer Girl were all in the Motown band together and they killed it.

See Kevin’s Facebook account for some video footage if you are interested. Or I can send you some, I only have like 40GB of video though #proud parent.

I would be remiss in all my talk about Plaid Christmas – which, by the way, I’ve been planning for 4 years because that’s the McNamara Christmas rotation – if I did not link to one of the funniest annual features on the internet. The 2016 Hater’s Guide to The Williams-Sonoma Catalog. Even though it is a little close to home this year (ok I know he’s making fun of me), it still is one of my favorite reads. Not safe for delicate eyes though.

May Santa bring you all a Murder Vacuum. Have a great holiday everyone.

Dry Rub Dry Run

They say practice makes perfect. I don’t know about that, but people do seem to enjoy the practice efforts.
The Kiddie Cocktails do make it go down a little easier, if ya know what I’m sayin’

First up, the turkey. I made this Cranberry Dry Rub from Foodie with Family. The only snafu was I could not find freeze dried cranberries anywhere. So I had to oven-dry Craisins as I mentioned in a prior post. Nonetheless, I used Foodie with Family’s Turkey recipe, replacing sweet potatoes with regular and used butter instead of olive oil. Turned out great.

The potatoes underneath were just so-so. But not to fear, made Smitten Kitchen’s Sweet Potato Roast. Even people who don’t like sweet potatoes liked these.

Made Pioneer Woman’s Beautiful Brussel Sprouts. Sorry PW, it’s not you, it’s me. Just not a huge sprout fan.

And now this.

Hey, it is practice after all. I might add, this was the only dish completely polished off.

We finished with Smitten Kitchen’s Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble with vanilla ice cream. It was delicious.

I found some gluten free gingersnaps yesterday at Whole Foods. Might try this again for McNamara Christmas. Which is what I’m practicing for today!

That’s right, I have 6 events in 45 days here. So there’s a lot of list-making and practicing coming up. For now, I think I’ll practice with some sangria.

And leave you with this, from our event last night at the Museum of Science and Industry. I hope science can fix whatever is wrong with Guitar Boy’s neck.

Have a great week and a safe and warm Thanksgiving everyone.