A wee break from the busy-ness of Christmas

Hello dear readers. It's me, Bev, the one who shows up in all these posts but rarely does anything. I am the guest editor of the blog for this week!
In the flurry of activity that always precedes the holidays, Andrea suggested a couple of days in upstate New York to get away from it all. The agenda was pretty straightforward: work on some Christmas crafts (shh. it's a Christmas surprise), hike with the dogs, stay in our pjs for most of the day, watch all of Season Two of Downton Abby, read and eat- but nothing fancy.
Andrea and Kris wanted to do some deep thinking about the future of the blog while we were away so they put me in charge of menu planning. I am the master of "keep it simple and nothing fancy" menu planning. I envisioned a lot of cereal, eggs (every way) and salads. Luckily for you, dear readers, Andrea and Kris prevailed on me and I stepped it up with a bit of help from my friends.
So, here you have it: a couple of simple meals for three good friends escaping the busy-ness of Christmas....

Dinner Night One

I came up with this menu all on my own. It incorporates that "nothing but eggs and salad" idea that I mentioned.

Goat Cheese Fritatta (finecooking.com)

Tossed salad (with lots of lemon and avocado)

Asparagus

A little tiny slice of Christmas Cake. The recipe, found below,  comes from my friend, Kathy, who got it from another friend, Vera. In a fit of confidence, I decided to modify it to make it gluten-free and dairy-free for my daughter, Nora, and Andreas kids, Reid and Sam (don't get Tim started on the disaster in the oven that day). Anyway, it isn't pretty but it tastes terrific.  I am giving you the original recipe using self-rising flour.  It is both attractive and delicious!



Breakfast Day one

my menu again. yogurt and fruit. nothing very interesting about this breakfast.

Lunch day two

Andrea worked with my soup idea and came up with this menu (these grilled cheese sandwiches would never have been on my radar but now they are.  They were brilliant and tasted really good with just a smidge of red wine)

Tomato Soup

Saute onion, garlic, a few chopped celery stalks and a few chopped carrots.  Add some cumin, coriander, smoked hot paprika and salt.  Cook briefly until fragrant.
Add a can of chopped tomatoes and a few chopped fresh tomatoes if you have them.
Add 1 litre of chicken stock.
Simmer until the vegetables are cooked through. Puree using an immersion blender.  Adjust seasonings with more salt, if necessary, and a bit of hot sauce. If you like it spicier. add some chopped cilantro at the very end.

Grilled Cambozola and Pear Sandwiches with tomato jam  

Andrea had this tomato jam in her fridge from an earlier meal.
Cooking the sandwiches on a griddle on the BBQ was fantastic!  The cheese started to melt quickly because of the overall warmth of the grill.




Dinner day two

Andrea and Kris got involved in this creation. It was amazing how they scoured the kitchen and put together this marinade for the salmon. I stayed in my comfort zone and made the salad. No dessert tonight... we ate all the christmas cake with some tea in the afternoon.

Salmon with Thai Marinade



2 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp honey
1 tsp sambal oelek
1/2 tsp red curry paste
1 tsp fresh ginger (grated)
1 clove garlic (minced)

Marinate a piece of salmon (big enough for 3 women) for about 10 minutes.
Preheat the grill on medium-high; reduce the heat to medium for cooking.
Grill the salmon for about 8 minutes, turning once.


Tossed Salad
Dressing:

2 parts olive oil and 2 parts lemon juice (I like a really citrus-y dressing. You can change the ratio of oil to lemon juice to 3:1   If you... like Ted... prefer something less tart, add some honey (it is a good emulsifier to give the dressing a nice consistency and it has the added advantage of cutting back a bit on the tartness of the dressing)

salad
chopped avocado
peeled and chopped grapefruit (watch the seeds)
chopped leftover cooked asparagus
toasted pine nuts
some crumbled goat cheese
lettuce

CREOLE CHRISTMAS CAKE (from Vera Woods)

This cake is mostly dark, boozy fruit held together with cake batter.  This cake has no nuts but I add pecans.  I love the taste with nuts.

2 cups chopped dried apricots

2 cups dried cranberries or cherries

2 cups chopped dried pineapple

2 cups chopped pitted prunes

2 cups yellow raisins

2 cups Thompson raisins (dark)

1 cup candied orange peel

1 cup chopped dried figs (I don't add, but add more of above)

2/3 cup rum

2/3 cup brandy

2/3 cup port

2/3 cup Cointreau or Grand Marnier

2/3 cup water

2 teaspoons bitters

1 3-inch cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups unsalted butter, softened

3 cups Demerara sugar (dark brown & granular)

8 large eggs, beaten

3 cups self-rising flour (contains baking powder & salt)

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine fruit in a large pot.  Stir in rum, brandy, port, cointreau, water and bitters.  Add cinnamon stick, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and salt.  Bring mixture to boil; reduce heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes.  Remove fruit mixture to large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for five days, tossing it once a day.  (Add more booze if it dries out too much.)

Prepare cake pans.  This is a large amount of cake and will fit eight gift-sized loaf pans, four 8-inch square pans or any combination of other sizes.  Butter pans and line with parchment paper.

Page 2

CREOLE CHRISTMAS CAKE (from Vera Woods)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.  Beat together butter and sugar until well mixed.  Gradually beat in eggs a little at a time, adding some of the flour if the mixture starts to curdle.

Stir in remaining flour.  Add mixture with liquid to flour and egg mixture.  (Use your hands!)  Spoon into prepared pans and smooth the surface.  Loosely cover top with a double layer of parchment paper.

Bake for about 2 hours for small pans and up to 3 hours for large ones.  Test with a toothpick.  It should come out clean although the cake will be quite moist in the centre.

Cool pans on rack.  Unmould and wrap with foil.  Leave for about 1-2 weeks before cutting.

(I used 1 X 4 small loaf pan, 1 X 6 small loaf pan and 1 small loaf pan.  Don't fill pans too much.)

Bev and Kris work on a project while Andrea keeps busy with her camera and knitting needles