Christmas Eve at the Ranch 2010

A big standing rib roast with porcini and bacon sauce, Yorkshire pudding, jeweled roasted vegetables and chestnut mashed potatoes. We are indeed blessed. Merry Christmas to all!

Sondra and Leigh enjoy a pre-dinner martini.

So we went to the 4 o’clock service at church this year, the kid’s mass. When we got back about 5:30, we started getting ready for dinner and enjoying cocktails and hors d’oeuvres by the fire.

Grandmom and Boo:

Some delishy pate:

Cherries:

Some lovely hams that Tasha and Shannon brought us back from their afternoon at Eataly:

In the meantime, we set about getting the roast in the oven. We seared it:

Little did we know it would take four hours! Oh well, that gave us plenty of time for cocktailing and laughter.

It also gave the porcini-bacon sauce plenty of time to reduce:

The makings for jeweled roasted vegetables, beets, par-boiled root vegetables, pancetta and chesntuts:

Hunna helps with the dishes:

Once the roast was in, we retired to the living room for conversation. Mom has set a beautiful table:

Cheers, mom!

And Leigh:

Some great giggling:

Some great photos of Mom and Leigh by the tree:

The gang:

Me:

We toasted the evening with a bottle of Pol Roger:

And then we were waiting for the meat. (Is that the name of a Doors song?)

Prime Rib Roast, or, as the Anne Bramley, the author of Eat Feed Autumn Winter, likes to call it: A Jolly Great Joint of Beef.

Jeweled Roasted Vegetables:

Yorkshire Pudding:

Porcini and Bacon Sauce:

and Chestnut Mashed Potatoes:

(I don’t have a recipe for those, but I made them by first making a chestnut puree, and then stirring it into potatoes I’d put through the ricer.)

Christmas Eve dinner!

Not the most beautifully plated thing, but it was about 10:30 at night and we were hungry!

It sure was delicious!

And for dessert, a buche de Noel, brought by Boo from Didier Dumas:

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

2 Comments

  1. Thanks for the great photos! A lovely evening and a delicious dinner. 🙂

  2. Pingback: Beef and Barley Soup Recipe | Sour Cherry Farm