Christmas Dinner

The G-man and I have been cooking Christmas dinner for extended family (usually his, on rare occasions mine) for about, oh, the past twenty years or so. The first year it was self-defense, as I was a bit overwhelmed by la familia Guerrero, and I found refuge in the kitchen. It's certainly no longer about hiding, but it is a nice (albeit sometimes tiring) tradition.

This year's menu for 17 adults (including the priest who baptized Juj) and 4 kids:

• Gin-n-Tonic, Sazaeracs with Blue Cheese Fig Savouries
• Apple-Fennel Salad with Walnuts
• Blanched and Sautéed Green Beans with Shallots, Thyme & Lemon Zest
• Chipotle Sweet Potato Gratin
• Rib Roast & Yorkshire Pudding and Gravy (pan drippings, flour, beef broth)
• Pear & Sour Cherry Brown Betty with Brandy Hard Sauce

UPDATE:  This qualified as one of the both better AND easier holiday dinners we've done.

We rubbed the roast the night before with basic cajun rub - two parts salt, one part each onion, garlic & mustard powders and black, red (cayenne) & white peppers - and had one of the aunties take it back out of the fridge at 7 AM on Christmas Day. Then we seared it on three sides before slow roasting at 250 degrees for about 3-4 hours. (Actually, we cut the one HUGE roast we had in half, and started one about an hour before the other, so that there would be some rarer meat for those that like it that way...like me.)

We also peeled the potatoes and made the Blue Cheese Fig Savories the day before, and bought pre-washed arugula and frozen haricots verts, which reduced the prep time further.  Still cooked from about 9 AM to 2 PM straight through on Christmas Day, but it was certainly less tense than some years!