Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas! 

Today Chris and I had my sister, Lenore and her husband,
Ralph over our house for Christmas Dinner.
I tried, I really did, to keep the amount of food
served down from previous years.
But hey it's Christmas! Mangia!

We started off with cocktails and some munchies. 

Parmesan, Rosemary and Thyme Shortbread.

Roasted Nuts with Sage 

Cheese Straws and Garlic Free Hummus with
Crackers and Veggie Sticks (sorry no photo).

Next was my favorite thing about Christmas.

The Cappelletti. (Sorry no photo for these. 

I was too busy inhaling them to take a darn photo.)

On to the meat.

This year I tried a different cut of meat. 

A New York Strip Roast.

I found a recipe on the Fresh Market site. Loved it.
Simple to prepare and the flavors were over the top.
I did use garlic! But I cut the amount in half.
Honestly 4 cloves would have been too much!

Before and After - 

 

Chris is using one of the knives from
our new set that Santa brought us! 

I made Herbed Polenta and Parmesan Gratin as a side dish
along with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Pecans (sorry no photo!)

Note to self - next year only make 1/2 of the Gratin recipe!! 

And serve it not straight out of the oven. Too hot!

And it's not Christmas without Pop Overs.

 

Everyone enjoyed the meal. 

No there was nothing for Archie today!

But I have to say the cats were so well behaved. 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!