weekend dinner party: christmas in limbo

While I wouldn't go so far as to call myself Scrooge, I'd be remiss to not own up to my lack of "holiday cheer" this year. This has been the result of not sitting still for the past month. Thanksgiving came and went with the blink of and eye and nary acknowledgment and then I flew the coop to the tropics which, needless to say, did not help with my concept of time and seasonality but did, however, thoroughly improve my complexion and mental health by means of Vitamin D and Red Stripe.

I've also come to the realization that Christmas doesn't feel entirely Christmas-y when you're in adulthood limbo. You know, the "I'm no longer a kid but don't yet have kids" kind of limbo. And during this time of my life, I've noticed a significant loss of Christmas libido. Which is why, moving forward, I'm skipping town for the Holidays (while I still can) and jetting off to somewhere with cloudless skies, temperatures in the low 80's, and a light breeze that rolls in and thoughtfully tickles my sun-kissed skin. What a merry, merry, merry Christmas that would be.

But Christmas is in Connecticut this year. And Christmas in Connecticut means one thing and one thing only: Ina Garten. Girlfriend knows how to put together an elegant comfort food spread; the epitome of a Holiday meal. And that mixed with the subtle scent of pine, the sweet yet spicy smell of Glogg gently simmering on the stove, candles flickering, James Taylor crooning "Winter Wonderland" and suddenly there's no where else I'd rather be. On Christmas.

gravlax with mustard-dill sauce

chaource cheese

Hiedsieck & Co Monopole Blue Top Brut

fillet of beef with gorgonzola sauce

potato and fennel gratin

sauteed string beans with mushrooms

baby greens with parsley-red onion vinaigrette

2008 Man O' War Syrah

swedish apple-cardamom cake with vanilla sauce

Wishing you and yours the happiest, healthiest, and yummiest of holidays.

recipes

Gravlax with Mustard-Dill Sauce

Fillet of Beef

Gorgonzola Sauce

Parsley-Red Onion Vinaigrette

Swedish Apple Cake (replace the cinnamon with cardamom)

Painting above by Carl Larsson courtesy of Blog of an Art Admirer and History Lover

why we test recipes

Things are starting to get REAL up in here at Eat and Greet and quite frankly, I dig. Don't you? Sugar coating is for babies (and girls, myself included, when trying on outfits and asking for opinions) and there's certainly no need to do so when panning a recipe.

I watched my girl Ina Garten of The Barefoot Contessa (I ask you, who doesn't want her life?) make a mustard roasted fish and dilled potatoes a while back and the episode quite honestly moved me to tears. I realize I sound like an emotional freak. Truth be told, well, I am an emotional, err, freak. But the simplicity and Scandinavian-esque flavors she was highlighting just spoke to me in the sweetest way. I had to try it out.

And so I did just that. I tried the recipe before an upcoming dinner party to see how fabulous it was before my guests indulged with me. And, well. It was meh.

In Ina's defense, the recipe calls for Red Snapper to which I said no thank you, Salmon, please. I don't doubt that in many ways, the moderately unfortunate outcome of the recipe was my fault. I subbed without asking permission. But I'm the boss of me so I said "dooo it." What happened was the crème fraiche-mustard-shallot-caper sauce that gets spread on top of the salmon and then baked, took on a mayonnaise-y quality to it. Unpleasantly thick and gloppy, it turned a perfectly beautiful piece of salmon into a slightly unenjoyable one.

The potatoes too, need a little tweeking. They didn't come out nearly as crispy as Ina's looked which made us a little sad and feel slightly inadequate. What was going on?!

Was it a #fail? Well, not entirely. But would I make it again? No. No, I would not make it again. And to be honest, this was kind of the shocker of the century. Ina's recipes are fool proof. Classics. Always crowd pleasers. But her Mustard Roasted Fish? Well, it just fell flat for us.

But you need not worry. I got plenty of scrumptious pictures in the meantime.

Enjoy. xo.