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What Christmas Is All About

Sunday, January 8th, 2006

How many people, I wonder, would agree that eating and drinking are the best parts of celebrating the birth of a charismatic and convincing fellow two millennia ago? I, for one, am not above celebrating a Christian holiday if only for the gluttony and sloth associated with it. (Ha! 2 of 7 deadly sins in one holiday!)

For months, I have been looking forward our Xmas Eve dinner. Before my family planned to spend the season in Calgary, we had been planning a decadent and romantic dinner for two in the glow of the tannenbaum lights. Even after learning that everyone would be in town, the idea of this dinner was too appealing to abandon, even for the fun of a family affair.

Sometime in October, I started thinking about ingredients, namely: duck, foie gras and caviar. In fact, when chatting with co-workers about what we wanted for Christmas, they all laughed because they thought I was joking when I said I wanted a great, big, piece of frozen goose-liver fat. I guess not everyone covets foie gras. In the end, it turned out that it would be too expensive and Marc doesn’t really like caviar but we agreed that duck would be divine.

So our menus was thus:

Marinated Shrimp with Champagne Beurre Blanc

Valdobbidene, Mionetto Prosecco

Duck Breast with Crème Fraîche and Roasted Grapes on Arugula

Scalloped Fennel and Potatoes

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Lemon and Bacon

Château de Chamirey, Mercurey, Burgundy

Molasses Ginger Pudding with Caramel Sauce

And it was everything I dreamed it would be.

Part of the fun of this dinner was that we would be able to spend the day in the kitchen together which is my very favourite place to be, with my very favourite person, along with some good music and a little G&T refreshment. I brought out the good silver, passed down from my grandparents, and we set the table to elegance.

The wine was particularly dreamy and complemented the duck as though we had chosen it to match, instead of having just pulled out one of our best bottles for dinner. It started with a cherry – almost candy – nose and then finished with tobacco; truly marvelous against the bitterness of the sprouts and arugula and yet it held out against the rich duck and creamy potatoes. Utterly and sublimely superb.

Finally, the molasses-ginger pudding is the recipe that we had been trying to perfect over the past year and which Marc ultimately mastered. We didn’t get a picture because by the time we ate dessert, we had retired to the couch to watch Xmas movies and sip Grand Marnier.

If this meal is any indication, we are going to have some fine holiday meals. Lookin’ forward to Valentine’s Day.

Edible Xmas

Sunday, January 8th, 2006

I think it’s the little things that are the reason we get along so well together. So often, I have an idea rolling around in my mind that I don’t voice because I still automatically assume that whatever it is is entirely too geeky or corny to be spoken aloud. And then Marc says pretty much exactly what I’m thinking and I am tickled; I love it when he talks nerdy to me. To this point, I was wistfully imagining making some sweet, little gifts from the kitchen this year when Marc suggested that we make some edible presents for our friends. Perfect! Yay!

We combed through the cooking magazines for ideas on what to make and, after sufficiently nerdy research, settled on four targets: port wine jelly, star anise honey, lemon-rose gelées, and chocolate truffles. How very Martha Stewart! However, like anything else remotely Martha-esque that I have ever attempted, it is easier said than done. Thus, as the busy Baby Jesus season descended upon us, we only had time to devote to make three and had to ditch the truffles.

First, we made a special trip to Michael’s to obtain vessels in which to put all our delights. Tiny boxes with crisp ribbon, little jars with corked tops and bits of holly and gold wreaths to decorate, and Christmas-y tissue paper in which to elegantly wrap the treats.

Then began the cooking. I once made jam but neither of us has ever made jelly. This port jelly was a piece of cake to make but the finicky boiling and “putting up” of the jelly was the hard part. And the scrubbing off of dried sticky jelly from the stove top and floor was unenjoyable. In the end, however, we ended up with four cute little jars of very port-y meat accompaniment.

The Honey. Nothing particularly tricky about this and nothing really spectacular tasting. It sure looked pretty, though, in the tiny jars trimmed with red and gold.

The gelées were… involved. They weren’t particularly difficult but had to set overnight and then were painstakingly cut into pieces and dusted with cornstarch. Normally, the work wouldn’t have been an issue but it’s hard to find a spare evening during Crazy Season, let alone two nights in a row. Finally, I had to get up one morning at about 4:00am to finish and wrap them in brown paper packages tied up with string. Not one of my favourite things; if we every decide to make them again, we’ll have to use a lot more lemon because they tasted kind of bland. Again, they sure looked pretty, though.

Ultimately, it was very fun (and ridiculously sappy) to make these gifts as the beginning of our first Christmas together.