The theme: Gourmet Holiday Feast
Inspiration: Last year (2010) I had subscribed to Martha Stewart FOOD magazine and around the holidays it was chalk full of really nice looking holiday fare. I just couldn't pass it up. At least three of the dishes were straight from the mag.
Here are some of the guests:
Don't forget about this little guest.
And this little guest.
I wanted to keep the decor (or "tablescape" as the Food Network likes to call it...) fairly simple, but I couldn't help but get a nice arrangement for the centerpiece.
And of course, what kind of holiday meal is complete without sparkling cider?
Now...the food. We'll start with the main course and work our way down. First we have Martha's rib roast with herb crust. It came out a little rare, but I thought it was pretty darn tasty.
For side dishes we had Martha's spinach and gruyere souffle, compliments of Libby. I thought it tasted fantastic.
Melissa brought a classic: green bean casserole and it was very tasty.
I also made rolls. And by "made" I mean let rise and baked. I haven't yet had the urge to pursue the "bread arts", but right now I am in the process of testing all of the brands of frozen dough to find out which one is best. Any suggestions?
And finally, dessert. Martha's maple cheesecake with roasted pears.
I thought it was pretty good, but all in all I think I am done with Martha Stewart desserts. This is the third or fourth one I've tried and they are just a bit too snooty for me. They never taste more than pretty good, and they can be rather difficult to make look even remotely as pretty as the picture in the magazine. I think I'm going to stick to simpler and more ooey gooey mouth watering desserts from now on.December was a busy month so we decided to skip to January. And for that we turn to Libby!!!
