Worth Saving: Christmas Day

This Christmas, Lynn had the great idea to serve prime rib (2 pork and 2 beef--there was plenty left over.) Our sides were ranch potatoes, gratin of cauliflower, green bean casserole and spinach salad.
A decision was also made to discontinue the sibling gift exchange (unless we hear feedback :)) and try a gift exchange that includes everyone who brings a gift. We did a trial exchange this year, using Mr and Mrs Wright.

Nigella Lawson's Poinsettia Punch
Makes: 5 2/3 cups (1.4 L) for 8 to 9 glasses
(for approximately 16 drinkers we used 3 batches of ingredients in bold)
Ingredients
(2 bottles of Cava) 750-mL bottle Prosecco or other fizzy dry wine, chilled
(1 cup of Triple Sec) 1/2 cup (125 mL) Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Triple Sec, chilled
(4 cups of cranberry juice) 2 cups (500 mL) cranberry juice, chilled
Instructions
Mix the Prosecco or other fizzy wine with the Cointreau (or Grand Marnier or Triple Sec) and cranberry juice in a large pitcher.
Pour into wineglasses or champagne flutes.


Spinach Salad with Bosc Pears, Cranberries, Red Onion, and Toasted Hazelnuts Epicurious 
November 2009
by Diane Morgan
The New Thanksgiving Table
This spinach salad speaks to all the wonderful autumnal flavors of the Pacific Northwest. The new crop of bronzed Bosc pears is piled high at the farmers' market; the hazelnuts have been harvested, shelled, and bagged for sale; and the cranberries arrive from the Long Beach, Washington, coastal bogs. I buy sweetened dried cranberries from a local producer, but they are readily available at the grocery store (Ocean Spray is a good-quality packager), found alongside raisins and other dried fruits. This salad is a snap to assemble if you buy the packaged prewashed and trimmed baby spinach.
Yield: Serves 8

Dressing ( S tweaked this. Lemon juice is all I can remember)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

1 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries
8 cups lightly packed fresh baby spinach leaves, stemmed if needed (or big container from Costco)
2 firm but ripe Bosc pears (do not peel), quartered lengthwise, cored, and cut into long, thin slices
2/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted (see Cook's Notes) and chopped

To make the dressing, in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. Cover tightly and shake vigorously to blend. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Set aside.
Place the onions in a medium bowl and cover with cold water. Let stand for 30 minutes. This crisps the onion and takes away the raw onion taste. Drain well and pat dry on paper towels.
In a small bowl, toss the cranberries with 2 tablespoons of the dressing to soften them. Set aside for at least 20 minutes or until ready to serve the salad.
To assemble the salad, place the spinach, onions, and pears in a large bowl. Give the remaining dressing a last-minute shake and pour over the salad. Toss to coat evenly. Arrange the salad in a large serving bowl or divide it evenly among 8 salad plates. Scatter the cranberries and hazelnuts over the top(s). Serve immediately.

Cook's Notes
(use boiling water/baking water method to remove hazelnut skins)
Try to buy shelled hazelnuts (also called filberts) with the brown, papery skins removed as well. To toast, spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and place in a preheated 375°F oven. Toast for about 12 minutes until lightly browned. If the nuts still have the skins on, transfer them while they’re hot to a clean kitchen towel. (Use a clean towel that is old or you don’t mind washing with bleach, because the skins tend to discolor the fabric.) Rub the nuts to remove most of the skins (they never come completely off).
You can substitute unsalted cashews for the hazelnuts. Toast cashews, as directed above for hazelnuts, for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned.

Do Ahead
(add cranberries and sliced onion when making dressing ahead)
The dressing can be made up to 1 day in advance, covered tightly, and refrigerated. Remove from the refrigerator 2 hours before serving. The nuts can be toasted up to 1 day in advance; store at room temperature in an airtight container. The onions and cranberries can be prepared up to up to 4 hours in advance. Set aside at room temperature.

In the Shower with the NRA

After listening to Wayne LaPierre off and on throughout 12/21/12, I first struggled with my idealist belief that an organization that has (like so many other groups and organizations over the past 12 years) isolated itself from public opinion and discourse, might come out with a speech that would rock our world--in a good way. Sadly, they responded (after an entire week to contemplate) exactly the way realists predicted.

I come from a long line of hunters and gatherers, and for the most part, this heritage has ended--with the exception of one nephew. But the memories of my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and their friends, planning their hunting trips and then gathering together around one of their dining room tables to carefully cut and package what would help feed each family, are still fresh in my brain. As well as the deer leather gloves each family hunter received from the donation of hides and the collection of rifles kept under lock and key  in our home (though hardly secure in that beautiful, glass front cabinet). Why do I tell you this? To add necessary shading to the  illustration of my point of view.

And now I come to my second thought (which came to me in the usual place--the shower). Perhaps it's finally time for the rest of us to foster the creation of a new organization, peeling away the layers of a group that once claimed to promote gun education and rights. The need for gun safety and education is at an all time high and so is the need to eliminate the NRA's promotion of fear of our fellow human beings and over losing gun rights. (Have gun rights ever truly been threatened?) Possible name:  "Responsible Gun Owners of America"?

Those who seek change, could use social media to broadcast and promote this idea. I believe it's time. What say you?

Opinion piece from Michael Bloomberg
Opinion by Tom Watson on Forbes

Merry Christmas Franny dance

Snowflakes, Starflakes and Swirlflakes

For your winter break enjoyment:

Operator, information . . .

Not sure if I should feel comforted or slightly freaked out. In the wee, dark hours of the night, I thought I heard a phone ring. I lay in bed and waited for another ring or for F to come into the bedroom and tell me someone was on the phone. Of course, my first thought was concern that maybe something had happened to my dad. And it's during this recounting that I realize I must've been asleep. Why else would I have stayed in bed and not checked my phone?

When I woke up in the morning, the feeling someone needed me or needed to get in touch with me was still strong. I emailed my sisters after checking for messages and missed calls. They both told me all was fine, but my oldest sister reminded me that last night was the anniversary of when my Mom has passed away in her sleep.