Merry Christmas ya filthy animals! It's weird having Christmas midweek and I assume many of you are also off at least part of the week like I am. Wanted to wish all of you the happiest Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever else you celebrate. Also want to know who's cooking what?
For the first time in my life as an adult, I am not going anywhere for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It's been 40 years. I can't tell you how relieved I am just sit and relax for the holidays and have some people to my house.
Christmas Eve we are hosting Jewish friends for a Christmakuh, as Hanukkah starts on Christmas Day this year. (We have many Jewish friends as my wife is an executive director of a synagogue) Will be doing something pretty simple with an arrangement of charcuterie and make your own deli sandwiches.
Christmas Day I'm making a butter mustard herb encrusted 6 and 1/2 lb prime rib with double stuffed potatoes and green beans almondine for ourselves and my parents and brother.
What do y'all got in the works food wise? Do any of you do the full Seven Fishes meal?
Regardless of what you're eating I hope you all have a meaningful, safe, and happy Christmas or Hanukkah with your families!
Love ya all FAM!
Comments
I'm leaving tomorrow to drive me and the dog back to NOVA with an overnight stop outside of Columbus. Usually it takes about 1.5 hours to get from Wrigley Field to the Indiana border, so I'm hoping on Christmas Eve that'll be maybe 30 minutes and then no Beltway traffic. I'll miss half of Jewish Christmas, but I should be at my parents in time for Chinese food and lighting the menorah.
Chag Hanukkah sameach!
Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, and Happy New Year. Just made some homemade chocolate chip cookies, which the wife requested. Nothing much special planned beyond mass Christmas Eve and Longwood Gardens on the 26th.
To one and all from all persuasions, happy holidays. Cooked a small rib roast yesterday, nearly finished with my 4th batch of holiday Chex Mix, and planning to try air frying some oysters for Christmas dinner. Will have to actually deep fry some hushpuppies, I mean, how else to cook them? Ceasar salad to top it off. Visiting the outlaws in the Shenandoah Valley (Bridgewater, Parnassas and Staunton) over the weeknd. Just the two of us, parents gone, my family on west coast, but Christmas movies and some decent egg nog are making for a cozy week so far. Best to all!
Gonna need a follow up on air fryer oysters, hope they turned out great!
While I'd love to say they were great, and my wife thought they were, I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed. Still and all, better than the mess of deep frying, and they cooked in 8 minutes per batch which was nice. I will admit that I'm still learning the air fryer and while some things are no brainers (like frozen sweet potato waffle fries), and unbreaded shrimp are very good as well, some things fall a bit short of the idea of sparing the evils of deep frying with little trade off.
The oysters were super fresh and local, and turned out very crispy, a big plus for me, but could have been a bit overbreaded. I'll try them again another day. Big plus in the clean up department for sure. My air fryer basket can be washed and put away in two or three minutes with no dirty oil to dispose of.
At work it is great for reheating meat to put on a salad.
Yeah, it'll do a lot of things and most very well. My biggest problem with it is that our kitchen doesn't have a lot of available counter space for another appliance so it's just not as handy as I'd like for just quickly heating something up and that limits my experimenting a bit. I'll say this about the oysters, though. If I were cooking for company, I'd fry them in a big kettle of peanut oil I'd just cooked a big batch of wings in for an extra flavoring. Bigger mess, no difference in prep, but I know I'd like them better.
8 minutes at 390 for most sausages. It crisps the outside casing more like a grill than anything on the cook top.
Also have gotten air fried meatballs down pat as well.
Plan to try an air fried ravioli recipe I found next.
+1 for Shenandoah Valley and the air fried oysters. I have not tried air frying them but now I might. As long as they're edible
Ours were more than edible. I just think I could improve with a bit of experimentation. A bit lighter coating and maybe a bit shorter cooking time to have a juicier oyster.
Practice makes perfect. When it comes to food (especially oysters), I don't mind multiple experiments trying to perfect...
Heading to Bridgewater tomorrow. Won't have to cook for a few days, a relief for me. I'll be taking another crack at them in the New Year. They'll be around and fresh all winter here. Lot of other ways to enjoy them, but I did want to see if I could do them justice in the air fryer.
Where do you get your oysters from?
I live in Mathews, and we have two good places to buy them. The Seafood Shack and The Island Stop markets sell them, but there are other people selling them if you know someone who's dredging them. I've stopped oystermen at the boat ramp on occasion and bought them off the truck right after harvesting, and also gone out and harvested them myself in the non-polluted creeks near the mouth of the East River of the Mobjack Bay. For frying, though, I prefer to get them shucked and in the jar. Cleaning and shucking oysters is time consuming and a pain in the butt, but I want to shuck them myself, or have it done just before eating at a restaurant if I'm eating them raw.
One year, I got a guy who used to sell on the street to come up with a couple of bushels of Rappahannock oysters which were outstanding, though the guy turned outlaw and I'll always suspect they came from protected waters.
Man, that sounds good. Fresh is the best. I've wanted to go harvesting myself but am too afraid i'll get some bad ones.
I know what you mean. I haven't done much harvesting, it's just too messy and hard to get enough to make it worth the trouble, then there's cleaning them up so you can shuck 'em clean. I didn't have a pressure washer at the time so I spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning the mud off of them with a hose and a scrub brush. That mud was sticky and it wasn't fun. The oysters were outstanding, had time to mature and were easy to get wading. Another time I had friends whose oyster cages were destroyed by a big nor'easter and the spat ended up on their rocks and dock pilings in the mouth of the Piankatank. It was maybe not the best time of year, but I pried a few loose and ate them on the dock, and again, outstanding.
Worth dying for? Nah, but raw oysters eaten anywhere are a bit risky and they tell you that on the menu as you know, so when I have gotten them myself, I just look for healthy looking and not from polluted water, and alive and hard to shuck. Still haven't found a pearl, though.
Funny you mention the Piankatank; the best oysters I've ever eaten were in Deltaville
Rappahannock oysters are as good as any and better than most I've had. Mirroir (Rapp. Oyster Co.) in Topping serves them up. Another oyster, Crab Creek oysters I got in Nags Head, maybe at Henry's, were a cut above most oysters, and I did have some top flight oysters in N'awlins at Acme Oyster House. But Deltaville, with the Piankatank on one side and the Rapp. on the other, is a good place to get some super good oysters, for sure.
Not sure what side they came from but they were definitely fresh and probably the biggest i've ever seen. And did i mention delicious?
Enjoy all yalls respective holidays and drink responsibly!
Staying relatively local this year. Cousin's house on my mom's side for Christmas Eve -- traditional Polish meatless with pierogi and seafood. Brunch on Christmas Day local to us at my brother's house, then to the in-laws' big bash up in Westchester Co NY in the afternoon.
Perhaps headed to Darcy's in Bradley Beach for Boxing Day EPL as Mrs Chumps is working but I'm not
Don't tell me what to do!
I'll try to be responsible for as much drinking as I can.
Kindly receive the well intentioned guidance of the moderation team as per CGs
I collected as many of the Hardywood Christmas beers as I can, and I intend to drink them all. That said, I will be about 200 yards from my bed tonight and have a driver.
Imbibding on the gingerbread stout tonight 🍻
So wait, are you saying you need a driver?? Or you have one? Cuz I could use a new one as well. Specifically one that starts with a "P" and ends with "ING"
Going to my parents place in Md. I'll be with his brother and his family plus my parents and my family.
Cooked lamb leg today for my family dinner. I'll visit some old friends on Thursday night.
Have a wonderful week, everyone. May all of your coach dreams come true.
Keeping it simple. Christmas eve dinner at home hosting my father in law and his girlfriend with a Mississippi Roast, potatoes, and broccoli/cauli/carrot medley.
For some reason, even though no one asked I'm making an apple pie. I'm not a baker and this has been not one of my smartest decisions, but I'm having a Templeton Rye neat now after the "1.5 hour" total recipe is finishing up about 3 hours later and my house smells delicious. I forgot to peel the apples before I cut them. My wife graciously helped me with the peeling of slices. Recipe was easy, user was stupid.
We're going to spend Christmas eve and morning with my family before driving up for a few days with the in-laws. I'm making a bucatini amatriciana, my dad's frying a turkey, and my grandma decided last minute to come down and is bringing some ravioli she made. A little heavy on the pasta and carbs, but there's worse things.
Hope everyone is able to spend some time with friends and family and make some great memories.
Wishing a very very happy holidays to all of the great peeps on here. I love you guys. Hope you and you family enjoys this great season. Go Hokies.
Just the Mrs and I tomorrow. She's baking today...some cookies and caramel pecan rolls...made some gingerbread bars with cream cheese icing last night...yum!!! Keeping food uncomplicated this year. If the ocean is open, Plan A is fried shrimp; if it's closed, it'll be steaks.
Daughter and her partner are here on Thursday afternoon. Started the week with his dad's memorial service yesterday. Very sad but not unexpected...multi-year battle with cancer. So they and his sister's crew are sticking close to his mom for a couple days.
and here we go; Happy Holidays to all!
Merry Christmas and Holidays all.
Wife and I are staying in Bburg. That is where most of the family are anywhere.
Ham, Green bean casserole, Broccoli slaw, pickled red beats and eggs, au gratin potatoes, mac and cheese and rolls on the menu for tomorrow night.
Well, I am glad I plan for leftovers. My plan for 7 adults and 2 toddlers turned into 16 adults, and 2 toddlers.
Merry Christmas!!!
Went to visit my parents and brother and his family in ATL last weekend. Mom made ham. Stopped in Charlotte to drop some stuff off and my son and his wife make dinner. Ham. They laughed about her grandmother making ham when they go visit her in RI the 27th. Got home and put the ham in the freezer. Making a rib roast tomorrow instead. Traditional baked potato, green beans, Caesar salad. Father-in-law, both kids, wife and daughter-in-law. Breakfast casserole in the oven now. Doing a fusion hot pot for dinner tonight. Pho broth with kimchi and instant ramen mix in a fondu pot where everyone can cook what they want. Rice noodles, mini-potstickers, tofu, shrimp, bok choy, sweet potato, mushrooms, shaved beef.....
Had big plans to cook some homemade pasta and sauce for the fam after we took an Italian cooking class. Instead, I'm in quarantine in the guest room of my house with the flu. Thankfully it's mild but nobody wants me hand-mixing their pasta (understandably), so it looks like some store bought sauce and spaghetti!
We'll do a nice New Year's Day dinner instead. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays TKP!
That sucks. Hope you feel better!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays my fellow TKP'ers. Here's to enjoyable times with friends and family.
We are hosting this year, as we usually host either Christmas or Thanksgiving each year. Keeping in the family tradition. Christmas Eve Mass, followed by Chinese food. Cooking up a few beef tenderloins for Christmas dinner, watching a lot of Christmas classics with the family while tending to fire in the family room masonry.
Everyone in the house has RSV, but it's all just congestion and fatigue. We just have a big platter of the Lord's Chicken for tonight and we will do a big brunch tomorrow. My family is still braving the trip to see the kiddos open Santa gifts and my dad made sure we still have the Christmas Spirit.
some one has really good taste
Welp, we did such a great job hosting Thanksgiving, Christmas got moved from my in laws to our house this year. I'll miss celebrating around the Christmas tree of a non practicing Jewish/Buddhist household. We are doing heavy appetizers and a ham to go with my mother in laws baked pineapple dish. Then to North Carolina after Boxing Day to visit my family.
I hope everyone on here has a great holiday, or at least just a break. May your next week be filled with portal commits and the new DC that YOU were dreaming of.
Maybe DCwilson selecting that username was foreshadowing his new career opportunity in 2025 as our new defensive coordinator.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, all.
Wife is catholic and I'm Jewish so our spoiled kids celebrate both holidays.
Unfortunately Middle kiddo has HFM so we're basically quarantining for Christmas. Wife is upset but honestly it's not the worst.
Ugh HFM is the worst. Hopefully it isn't too miserable of a case.
Thanks, It's not that bad. She's fussy but no fever (yet). This is her second time getting it this year (I guess there's 3ish viruses that cause it, and when you catch it, you only build an immunity to one). We also missed thanksgiving due to a sick child. Such is life with little kids in daycare though 🤷♂️
Our oldest has had it 3 times, so here's to hoping she's done with it. Hope yours gets well soon.
Nothing made me feel so bad as getting my grandma sick (and everyone else except my dad, but I felt the worst for Grandma) on Christmas when I was a kid.
IDK how my kids missed the HFM viruses, especially with my daughter being a prolific thumb-sucker. No luck like dumb luck!
Twice this year for the boy. First time was almost no rash but fever and mouth/throat stuff. Second time was rash and nothing else. Naturally he gave it to me both times since I never had it as a kid.
I'm putting together an Ikea desk right now and I am beat. Getting old is awful.
As a geriatric 74 year old, I heartily concur, but have to mention the obvious. Beats the alternative.
I finally feel the need for a workbench. Getting up and down from the floor was a workout.
My wife wanted me to stay with her while wrapping presents which meant I was on the floor and on carpet instead of the table I've used for 15+ years. I groaned standing up and then she yelled at me for being sore.
I'm scheduled for a knee replacement in a couple of months. I won't be kneeling for a while, and if I'm on the floor, it'll not be a good thing.
I am building a new workbench for the new house. Just hit 50, and I am noticing getting up and down the mountains isn't quite as easy anymore.
Staying home this year, my sister had to work today and will have to work Thursday as well and she's the one that hosts the family dinner. My parents and the in-laws are coming over for a visit so it'll still be a full house.
Happy holidays to all of TKP!!!
Happy holidays to everyone. Hoping everyone is enjoying the time they have with the people they love. Cheers to all.
Go Hokies <3
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone. Doing annual Christmas breakfast tomorrow morning and I'm bringing the biscuits.
To all a good night.
Merry Christmas!!!🎁🎄 Happy Holidays to all!
Happy Hokidays duders. Just finished Santa duty, time to sit down with a stiff drink before calling it a night
Happy/Merry Christmukkah.
Headed to the in laws for Christmas festivities, but I'll be frying up some latkas as well.
More importantly, a happy belated festivus!
A Festivus for the rest of us
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all.
Came up sick for first time in a year...I'm sure one of my patients got me, just in time for my first week off this year....but.... some rest, etc will knock it out. Christmas Eve, Day with wife's fam in town. Then a day in North Carolina with mom: her first Holliday without dad. I'm planning on spending some (more) time attacking trees down from Helene in backyard. I'm about 50% done. On the positive, I've got generational firewood now. May everyone stay safe and enjoy whatever plans, etc you have. God Bless!
FAM !
Merry Christmas everyone! Beef bourguignon on the menu here. Maybe a pumpkin cheesecake if motivation sticks and the toddler cooperates.
My daughter put together this charcuterie/deli sandwich set up for Xmas eve.
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My prime rib for today...
I'm drooling....
So the secret rub is catnip?
my cousin always does a whole thing for Christmas eve eve, and had some amazing mango cheese this year along witht he rest of rhe charcuterie. She tried some ratatouille tart this year that I liked and then a bunch of baked cheese and meat in bread thingys, bruchetta, spinach and artichoke dip, stuffed mushrooms, and a bunch im probably forgetting.
Nice catch. My Cats love that shit! (But it's not on the prime rib)
well maybe it should be!
Where did you find a maroon tree?
Home Depot Clearance about five years ago. Wish it was taller. My ornaments to tree ratio is close to max capacity.
Amazon has a few options
Here is one. I may upgrade to the 7.5 foot one.
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Choice-Products-Artificial-Decoration/dp/B0D...
Happy NYE!
Question: When celebrating NYE, and NYE exclusively, do you use the current year number or the new year's number? I ask because this will be our eighth Waffle House New Year, where we go to WH for a late dinner on NYE, but not late enough to ring in the new year there. (Think 9-10pm.) I was looking back at FB memories, and noticed that some years, I used the current year, and other years, I used the new year. So I thought I'd throw it out to y'all to deliberate.
This is from two years ago.
"not late enough to ring in the new year there"- there is your answer... tonight at 9pm is 2024
If you are referencing NewYear's Eve - it's the current year, I.e. 2024. If you are just saying New Years, it's the new year, I.e. 2025 as 2025 is the new year.
And I figure this was the thread to add this pic, since I know y'all loves you some Emma Watson, and here she is in a holiday sweater.
that's not emma watson my guy
Close enough
Who cares?