Hostessing Again!

Hosting our dear friends for supper before a little gift exchange......this time our cozy winter dinner consisted of--

*pork barbecue for the bbq-eaters
*Parker House rolls
*kale-brussels sprouts salad
*roasted sweet potatoes & regular potatoes
*lemon icebox pie

I kept it very easy because today was fruitcake-baking day in my house.  Every year I make fruitcakes for my father from his mother's recipe (which was also his grandmother's recipe).  He loves them and I will never skip the tradition--even if I end up baking them late, like I am this year.  It's a classic, traditional fruitcake and the first year I made it I was only a few weeks from giving birth to our second child and I was unprepared for how epic it would be.  Now I am wise and start one day ahead to save myself the backache.

We had such a nice evening, with the children screaming wildly like banshees downstairs and the adults upstairs lingering over the meal.  We exchanged gifts and dear Allison gave me the softest pajamas, lavender dryer bags, lavender salt scrub and a glorious jar of lavender-rosemary dish detergent, which I cannot *wait* to use! We love to give each other gifts that are useful and luxurious--it's so nice to make everyday tasks more pleasant.

That's all the hostessing I will do until my daughter's birthday in early January.  We return from our New Year's trip on January 5th, and it will only be a few days until I pull together a little sparkly party for her.

Christmas Dinner

Christmas dinner at my husband's aunt's house is an annual tradition and I always look forward to the wonderful spread of food she creates--the same dishes, basically, every year, and always so salty and unusual for us. This year I decided to try to do my best to record what we have.

*red punch (my favorite!)
*green punch
*this year, they added mocha punch--which was truly the only dessert I wanted or needed

*sausage balls
*crab meltaways (my favorite)
*chicken puffs
*little sandwiches: chicken salad, ham salad, egg salad....
*tiny country ham biscuits
*ham delights (a small roll, with poppyseed-mustard dressing, and ham and cheese, all melted together...)
*marinated mushrooms (my other favorite!)
*chips and dip
*shrimp cocktail
*meatballs
*new on the menu this year: a cranberry-jello salad
*oyster crackers
*cheese straws
*hot dog bites in a tangy sauce--I'm not sure what this is, b/c I never eat it
*this year my sister-in-law provided brie & apricot jam in phyllo cups

*prune cake
*coconut cake
*cookies: Russian tea cakes, 7-layer cookies, candy cane cookies, sugar cookies, chocolate cookies
*chocolate peanut-butter balls
*chocolate-covered pretzels
*spiced pecans
*peanut butter fudge  and chocolate-nut fudge
*and of course, little bowls of red and green peanut and regular M&Ms on various tables, which little fingers love to grab when no one is looking......

Usually we make crabcakes to take but this year my husband's aunt suggested that they had plenty of food and that we didn't need to bring anything. So I put a few rice krispy goodies on a tray and that was our contribution!!  Next year I think a crudite platter would be nice, because a nice foil to all that rich, salty food is the satisfying crunch of raw vegetables, so that's what I will plan to take.

What a delicious feast--I am so grateful for the hospitality they show--the food is not only delicious, but their house is decorated so beautifully for Christmas with trees, a little lit village, Christmas prints hung on the walls, special Christmas soap dispenser in the bathroom, et cetera.   After we eat we have our gift exchange; at Thanksgiving, his extended family draws names out of a hat and we play "Secret Santa!"  Last night I got two beautiful Root candles from my generous Secret Santa--my mother-in-law!

Hostessing

In one week, I have hosted four different times!

Last Saturday we celebrated my sister's birthday with:
*roasted vegetable platter (cauliflower, broccoli)
*English fish pie
*gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate pie

--and used the cream-and-brown china, with the aqua napkins (flowers courtesy of my father).

On Sunday we hosted my in-laws for my mother-in-law's birthday.  We made:
*pork barbecue
*rolls
*purple cabbage-carrot coleslaw
*steamed broccoli
*roasted potatoes and carrots
*key lime pie cheesecake

--and used the white fine china with the Christmas linens.....

On Monday and Wednesday I did scads of Christmas baking.  On Thursday we hosted our neighbors for:
*salad "bar" (lots of toppings in individual jadeite bowls)
*spaghetti with meatballs and freshly-grated parmesean
*fresh foccacia kissed with pink Himalayan salt
*platter of Christmas goodies

--and used the jadeite, with no tablecloth (easy cleanup in case of spaghetti spills! five children between us, and all of them small....) and paint-dipped pinecones.

And on Saturday we threw a little Christmas luncheon for my grandparents featuring:
*chicken salad with pecans
*fresh Parker House rolls
*potato-onion soup
*buttermilk pie (my grandfather's favorite!) & decaf coffee

--and used the cream and delicate aqua-flowered china passed along to me by my husband's grandmother, set on top of a cream tablecloth with aqua napkins....so beautiful!  My centerpiece was a fruit bouquet my neighbor made and brought on Thursday evening.

Now I'm done!

Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free Chocolate Pie

I've made this pie twice now and it is a keeper! The second time I made it, for my sister's birthday, we topped some pieces with dollops of freshly-whipped cream, for those of us who are not dairy-free...and a few graham cracker crumbs from the crust.  There is, in fact, a pie underneath all that whipped cream. I promise!

I made a graham crust with gluten-free graham cracker crumbs and dairy-free 'butter'.  Then I followed the recipe for the chocolate filling. It uses pantry staples and no soy, and the chocolate flavor is dark and not cloyingly sweet, which I like!

For a completely dairy-free version, you could top with whipped coconut milk....

Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free Christmas Baking

The tree has been up for a couple of weeks and the house is decorated so it's baking time!

I always bake traditional fruitcakes for my father every year, full of gluten and butter (and many pounds of nuts and fruits, a dozen eggs, a pound of butter..you get the idea).

But for our own purposes I am baking a smattering of gluten-free, dairy-free goodies that I hope will carry us through to the New Year.  Here's the list:

Chocolate truffles (a must-have holiday treat for my son!)

"Reindeer Food"--a nightmarish concoction involving rice chex, powdered sugar, peanut butter, chocolate.....my son loves this stuff....

Chocolate hazelnut meringues

Peanut Butter Balls

Almond cookies

Rice krispy candy 

Last week I made the rice krispy candy.  Today we're whipping up the meringues and the truffles.  I usually make truffles beautifully with two ingredients: chocolate and cream.  This year I had to modify to make them dairy-free. We'll make everything else later in the week. 

If I have good luck with these recipes I will share them!  

Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins, that is.  Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and yummy.

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Waffles

We've got a gluten-free, dairy-free boy roaming these lands, and he is a Huge Eater.  He ate two waffles this morning.....

1 3/4 cup rice flour 

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar (I use sucanat) 

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Create a hole in the middle and add in: 

1 1/2 cups rice milk with 1 tsp. white vinegar swirled into the milk {if you are not dairy-free, use real buttermilk--from a local creamery, if you can get your hands on it! or half regular milk, half thick Greek yogurt}

2 eggs

1/4 cup oil

Mix and mix until well-combined with few lumps.  Then cook in your waffle iron.  They freeze very well...easy to pull out for those fast mornings when you have to be out the door quickly, and much, much cheaper than the store-bought waffles. 

My son tops his with nut butter...and sometimes a tiny sprinkling of chocolate chips. Yum. 

Dairy-Free Fish Pie

Here's my version of British fish pie--I used a Jamie Oliver recipe for inspiration and then morphed it to suit our needs.  It's great comfort food for these brisk autumn days!

*Peel and dice 1-2 regular potatoes and 1-2 sweet potatoes (I use a total of three potatoes) and place them in a pot set to boil. Boil them! 

While they are boiling, grate a carrot and place it in the bottom of a greased 8x8"-ish casserole dish.  Then stack a good layer of spinach on top. 

Use whatever fish you want as the next layer--I like to use one tilapia fillet per person, plus some salmon.  Cut the fish into small pieces and layer it on top of the spinach, then juice one lemon and pour juice on top of the diced fish. 

I create a bechamel sauce for some richness because we can't do cheese here.  To do that I melt 5 tablespoons of dairy-free butter and then whisk in 5 tablespoons of rice flour, then slowly whisk in 1-2 cups of rice milk.  I stir and cook until it is thick and smooth, and I always add some 'crazy salt' (a salt-pepper-spices combo that my family always has on hand). 

Pour the bechamel over the fish layer. 

Drain the potatoes, then mash them well, and spread them over the bechamel layer.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes.  We like to serve with steamed broccoli or roasted brussels sprouts--some kind of green wintry cruciferous vegetable!

It sounds like a lot of work, but it's really pretty easy, and worth it because both of my children polish off second-servings with gusto!  See also: omega-3s......

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Winter Dinners

Comfort food doesn't have to be mac-and-cheese. For the dairy-free, gluten-free, or both, I submit this non-comprehensive list of dishes we all like: 

*black bean soup, cornbread, green salad (the adults eat salad; the children ignore it)--my children eat black bean soup by the gallon, it seems

*enchilada casserole with green sauce, refried beans, salad or steamed broccoli 

*salmon burgers, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts/steamed broccoli 

*southwestern chicken soup, cornbread, salad

*fish pie (an unfortunate name for a delicious warming dish), roasted cauliflower (see also: shepherd's pie, which is quite similar) 

*butternut squash-sausage over rice, kale chips

*chicken pot pie, kale or broccoli 

*polenta pizza topped with assorted roasted vegetables--you can add bacon if you want, or sausage

*red lentil-coconut-carrot-curried soup (a family favorite) with green veggies on the side, and maybe fresh (gluten-free) bread or biscuits 

Tonight I made a version of the enchiladas--simple and so delicious, just layers of salsa, corn chips, spinach, ground beef/spicy bechamel sauce (with onions, cumin, garlic, peppers), and green enchilada sauce. 

I personally adore making vegan or vegetarian meals--I'm talking lentil loaf, stir-fried tofu, Indian dhal, the works--as a former vegetarian, these are my favorites!!--but my children frequently reject these meals.  I try one every couple of weeks, though, just to keep their horizons broadened!