Merry Christmas

Wishing my readers a wonderful, blessed and safe Christmas.

We're pretty low-key here.

This is all the further any of us got on decorating that tree.  A shame too as it really is a nicely shaped tree.  Those red bows & streamers usually hang from the upstairs railing.  Marty finally went out on Wednesday, to find the lights and he and Nick put them on.  

Marty was up first.  That's normal.  He made the coffee and then puttered around on his computer.

Having stayed up until past midnight watching a Lifetime channel movie, I was up later.  I dawdled around and eventually fixed breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hashbrown patties.

Nick woke up in time for breakfast, still in just his bathrobe as I started to type but is now in the shower.  After breakfast we finally got around to unwrapping presents.  The kitties got theirs first.  They were really into the whole Christmas present thing, and curious as to what was going on.

That mouse is the same color as you Flame!

I'm sure I can fit into this box-lid....um, sure Raven, aka "Chubs"

After opening the presents, I mentioned it would be nice to re-watch some of our church's Christmas concert [www.gracechurch.org/concert if you're interested - it's a very good concert.] so Nick found a piece of equipment that we've had for probably a year or more and never opened, I think it's called Chrome Cast but I could be wrong.  It's attached to the TV but uses WiFi to operate, so he downloaded the app to his phone, then pulled up the concert and we watched on our larger TV.  About mid-way through, I needed to get up and get started in the kitchen.  There was some cleanup from breakfast, and ahem, pots & pans from who knows when ;p that needed to be dealt with.  I also had to put the frozen pie in the oven.  That was actually baking while we watched the concert.  

I decided I'd make a broccoli salad this year, so looked up every internet recipe and then did my own thing using my gleanings as a reference.  To the broccoli, I added crisply fried bacon pieces, sliced almonds, a little sliced green onion, some finely diced red bell pepper - green and red are Christmas colors you know - and then the mayo, a little garlic white wine vinegar, sugar and the usual salt & pepper.  Oh and raisins, can't forget about them.  When I worked for a large aerospace company, our cafeteria had the best broccoli salad and I sure have missed it.  

In addition to the broccoli salad, we will have our traditional prime rib roast - I wrote about it here for Toaster Oven Tuesday back in January.  We will also have crescent rolls from the pop open tube, boiled red potatoes with butter and fresh parsley, buttered corn, cranberry sauce, and for dessert, peach pie - Claim Jumper frozen - and ice cream.  I think that's far more than plenty for the three of us.  I'd have probably skipped the corn even, but Nick wasn't keen on the idea of broccoli salad, so requested corn.  

I also had to get the table cleaned off enough to be able to at least put a Christmas table cloth on half of it and we'll have some nice ambiance for dinner.  I pulled out a couple pillar candles too, and our cable provider has been broadcasting a Yule log with Christmas music, so maybe we'll turn that on in the background and it'll feel like we're in front of the fireplace.  

Marty has taken off to do a short hike while the roast cooks.  We're in the mid-50s here with clear skies, but gusty winds.  Had hoped we'd have the rain today that was predicted a week ago, but as is often the case, the forecast changes daily, and the very little bit of rain came in a day or two early and it's dry out today.  I sure miss the Christmas weather of my childhood, and the excitement of knowing we could get a white Christmas.  It almost always snowed on Christmas or within a day or two either side of it.

I hope your Christmas has been as bright and shiny as Flame's laser-cat eyes.  Stay safe, and give all your loved ones extra hugs.

Toaster Oven Tuesday - 21 January 2014

It was several years ago, probably four or five by now, that I grew tired of fixing our family's traditional ham at Christmas.  We all like ham, but it wasn't special, as ham was something we easily had at other times of the year, like Easter or just whenever I'd buy the 3-count, thick-sliced ham slabs from Costco.  And for Christmas, I wanted something special, more elegant if you will.  

Christmas and Thanks-giving were the only two holidays I really decked out the table even though it's just the three of us.  We of course, do celebrate Easter, but not usually with a big fussy meal as Easter always falls on a Sunday and with going to church, there isn't the same time available to fix a special spread.

Our newest food tradition is to have a prime rib roast.  I've always purchased them at Costco as I love their meats.  I did notice this year, though after-the-fact, that Costco was definitely not the least expensive.  Local chain groceries were selling them cheaper.  I did not check on them at the groceries, so I don't know if their quality was the same or not.

This year's rib roast was a 5.5-lb piece of deliciousness...once it was cooked of course.  A five to six pound roast is usually a good size for us, and I thought it should be perfect for the toaster oven as well.

Since I'd purchased the roast almost a week before Christmas, I stuck it in the freezer, removing it just two days before to thaw in the refrigerator. 

I hadn't checked it until I took it out a few hours prior to cooking, and using my instant read thermometer discovered it was still pretty cold at it's core, like below 28° ! I had some concerns about how much time to allow.

 The first year I made the rib roast, I also found this seasoning blend at Costco and have used it each time.  It smells so-o-o good when it's cooking and tastes delicious too.

Unwrapped, ready for seasoning.

Covered with seasoning and ready to stick into the oven.  The pan I used is the broiling pan that came with the oven.  It was ideal and caught all the fat that melted off the roast.

 Oh yum, it looks and smells wonderful.  It should be obvious, due to its size and height, that I used the lower rack.  I followed the guidelines for roasting that are on the back of the seasoning package which were 14-17 minutes per pound at 325° F.  At the time it should have been done it was still quite far from the needed internal temperature and ultimately took an additional half hour or more to reach temperature, and then still had to rest for 30 minutes.  I don't believe the additional time required was any fault of the toaster oven, but rather due to the roast being still in a rather frosty state inside.

You can see here where it is plattered, that it turned out beautifully, and to just the right level of doneness for our tastes.  We ate heartily, and had leftovers that were reheated on a plate, sliced and put into a sandwich or two, and then finally, the bones were cleaned of meat, then boiled for several hours, picked again for any missed meaty pieces and the broth and remaining meat, along with some vegetables and barley were turned into a hearty soup. So while this rib roast is a pricey cut of meat, we only indulge in it once a year, and we eat from it for a number of meals. 

And once again, the toaster oven proved to be an excellent kitchen tool in the absence of a 'normal' oven.