It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

Nothing strikes fear in my heart quite like a forecast of heavy rain and high winds.  Why?  Drivers around here do not slow down for anything as minor as torrential rain.  I have an irrational fear of flooding.  We have a lot of big trees that could crush our house.  Worst of all - even a moderate breeze can knock out our power.  No power means no heat, no hot water, no refrigerator (don't open the door or everything will spoil!) and no means of cooking.

Our forecast today includes not only heavy rain and high winds, but wintry mix, freezing rain, and black ice.  Blech.

I know you are supposed to have emergency supplies for this situation, and I do, but I always struggle to come up with food for this situation.  Most things I can think of need to warmed - soup, canned beans - or need refrigerator accompaniments - tuna, salad.

I settled on peanut butter and crackers, cereal bars and fruit.  I made some banana bread this morning so we can have a treat in our candlelit coldness.  I have some juice boxes and bottled water.

If all else fails, red wine tastes good at room temperature.

Wherever you are, I hope you are safe, warm, dry and well-fed.  Be careful out there today!

So, What's For the Most Important Dinner of the Year?

Meal planning is a hassle.  Trying to come up with dinner every night, never mind finding the energy and motivation to cook the meal can be a challenge.  But what happens when you triple the guest list, up the expectations and raise the potential disaster level?

Yes - I am cooking Christmas dinner.

My parents and my sister's family will be joining us for this all important meal.  There are some restrictions - a few allergies, low salt, no seeds - but nothing too daunting.  The more important issue is coming up with an appropriately festive menu.

Tradition in our family means lasagna and filet mignon.  Both things center on beef so I don't want to spend hours preparing a meal that I can't even eat.  Not having pasta on Christmas would be like not having a tree (which would be fine with me - the tree is some much work and totally over-rated) but I can easily replace the meat lasagna with manicotti or ravioli and no one will complain.  Replacing the filet mignon would be a harder sell.  I could not serve a completely meatless meal.  That would not be fair to my guests.  It is my choice not to eat meat, not theirs.  I think I would be comfortable cooking the beef and serving it, though if it bothers me at the last minute I know Matt will pick up the slack.  I just need to come with side dishes that I can eat as a main course and not feel cheated and that still accompany the rest of the foods we have.  No one meal should require this much brain power!

On the other hand, I am so grateful to have this problem.  I have a wonderful family that enjoys spending time together, a house to hold all these people, and the luxury of choosing the food I want to eat.  Nothing like the stress of a big family dinner to remind you of all the good things.

I guess if all else fails, I will have Christmas cookies.  Cookies and milk make everything better.

I Know I Have it Here Somewhere

Sarah is having a friend over on Sunday afternoon.  We are going to decorate the Christmas tree (free labor!), bake some cookies (more free labor!) and visit a house nearby that decorates with some serious lights.  I want to make something for dinner that will be warm and cozy, and that the girls will enjoy.  Vegetarian chili!  I have a great recipe for that and Sarah's friend really likes Mexican food.  No problem, let me just pull out the recipe and write up a shopping list.

The recipe must be in my binder of all my old family favorites.  Not there?  Maybe I just misfiled it under the wrong tab in the binder.  (Side note - yes, I have a binder instead of a recipe box and yes it is organized with alphabetized section tabs.  Don't judge.)  No not in there.  Was it from one of the Vegetarian Times issues?  I went through all the issues I have and could not find it.  I then moved on to my favorite cookbooks, and then my not-so-favorite cookbooks, and then on to the cookbooks I never use.  I know I have this recipe.  I made it all winter last year!

Then I remembered - it was my recipe and I put it on my blog, this blog, that I work on every day.

So, check it out - my Chili-Cornbread Pie.  It really is a great recipe; one worth remembering.

Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving

So how did it go?  All was well on the holiday.

My sister-in-law made me special soup.  This may not seem like a big deal, but it made my day.  We always start the meal with a tortellini meatball soup.  Not very Thanksgiving-y you say?  Too bad, it is my favorite part of the meal.  My SIL made a separate portion with vegetable broth and no meatballs.  No one even noticed I had anything different and I got to enjoy hot soup on a very cold Thanksgiving.

She also made eggplant parm.  Also not typical on everyone's Thanksgiving table, but my husband grew up having an entire pasta course (with meatballs and sausage) at Thanksgiving dinner so this did not seem out of place.   My Thanksgiving dinner consisted of broccoli gratin and eggplant parm.  The only person who commented on my plate?  My husband!  But not in a critical way.  He was worried I was missing out on other things, like the stuffing and cranberry sauce, which I enjoy so much.  I did miss those, and I had a few bites, but it did not go with the other things I was eating.

Overall, a successful, confrontation-free holiday.  Hurray!

In thinking about next year, I want to come up with a dish that will truly replace the turkey.  Not tofurkey, or any of those terrible meat replacement products (you already know how I feel about those).  I want something that goes with the mashed potatoes and corn that I enjoy and makes me feel like I am eating like everyone else.  Suggestions?

For a first meat-free Thanksgiving, I will not be greedy.  I am putting this in the win column and moving on from there.