Christmas Recap

The holiday of eating is officially over. I'm finally writing about my Christmas dinner, and actually have a New Year post...I'm probably the busiest unemployed person I know. Anyway, without further ado, our Cook's Illustrated Christmas Feast.

Cornbread and sausage stuffing

Definitely the most popular dish of the night: cauliflower gratin

Simple roasted green beans (something healthy!)

That's me attempting to cut the ham the way Cook's Illustrated recommends. Worked well until I gave up.

Tangy and delicious buttermilk mashed potatoes

Yep, that's a feast (grandma's macaroni and cheese is also featured). This is also my one and only picture of the amazing mustard vermouth pan sauce I made to accompany the ham.

Chocolate tart (before the refrigeration)

Apple upside down lemon-thyme cake (similar to a tarte tatin in method, but with a cake underneath instead of crust)

Most of the dinner went pretty smoothly. It all came out hot and on time. The only hiccup I had was reading the very lengthy directions on the cornbread stuffing. I sat there with my cream mixture and broth still sitting out of the dish wondering what in the heck happened. I somehow missed that step that said to let the broth and cream soak into the dried cornbread. Oops! Well, it fortunately turned out just fine, as you can see.

The cauliflower gratin was the hit of the night--who doesn't love creamy, cheese goodness topped with crispy breadcrumbs?? Although, if you ask my grandma, the chocolate tart was the best. A woman who normally doesn't eat much and isn't a huge fan of chocolate managed to sneak more than half of my mom's dessert while we were all talking.

Happy Holidays everyone!