It’ll just be us two this year, me and my husband, plus Zoe the dog of course. She has her dinner, taking up much of my freezer.
When I shopped I forgot that we needed to eat for two days, was thinking long-term. The holiday desk didn’t want to deal with me but sent me right to the butcher’s counter (I’m cooking for two) and they took our order. The produce section was busy and if I go again it’ll be early in the morning, or go to another market.
I did make some awesome meatballs for our spaghetti this evening with ground round, sauteed shallot and garlic (allowed to cool), one egg, seasonings, parmigiana and bread crumbs. Plus parsley. They were baked for 40 minutes then simmered in sauce.
Holiday Menus:
Christmas Eve: Rack of Lamb Persillade; Scalloped Potatoes and Haricots Vert. Yes, lamb with potatoes and green beans.
Christmas Dinner: Filet Mignon with Brussels Sprout and Cauliflower Gratin.
Appetizers? I made some spiced nuts today, also perhaps something based on spinach. Desserts? Tomorrow I’d like to make mincemeat tarts. I don’t do dessert except for ice cream and berries and perhaps a berry coulis.
Wishing you the best of times with your family and friends. Cheers and happy holidays! Dee
Cooking with Dee 
I suppose the only advantage of this visitation schedule is the fact that our Christmas celebration gets extended by an extra couple of days (Z gets home Wed, I have to work so we’ll delay our “Xmas dinner” until Thurs)…
Xmas Eve w/mom & dad: Tamales, boiled shrimp, guacamole, spinach balls**
P will roast the turkey on Wed so we’ll have traditional-style Xmas dinner on Thurs w/turkey & dressing, several varieties of potatoes & veggies, etc…
**I made my own version of the spinach balls, using my gluten-free baking mix instead of bread crumbs. I didn’t drain the spinach well enough, so they sagged into “discoids” instead of balls, but they still turned out fairly well. I’ll let ya know if they pass the Z taste test ;-)
Discoids, sorry. You can always take a clean kitchen towel and wring out the spinach. I’m also wondering about the properties of gluten-free flour (never used it) and whether a bit of cornstarch would help pull it together. Thoughts.