Before I get back to cleaning, I thought I’d post this. Of course, my robot vacuum decided to die today (Carson is his name and he needs new batteries). So horrors of horrors, I have to do my own vacuuming.
This is one of my favorite nights of the year. Friends come over for Christmas Eve dinner and then we watch a movie. Tonight: Strictly Ballroom, a quirky Australian treat by Baz Luhrman.
This year I had a request to make Spinach Lasagna again, I haven’t made it for a few years. I really like it because I can prep it ahead and the night of the party I’m not stuck in the kitchen.
On the board:
- Spinach Lasagna
- Green Beans Tossed w/Butter & Lemon Pepper
- Garlic Cheese Bread
- Ice Cream Sundae Bar
This recipe takes about an hour to prepare and another hour to cook. It easily serves 6 – 8. I made it on Sunday and refrigerated. It will need additional cooking time to bring the center up to temperature.
Spinach Lasagna
Sauce:
- 3-15 oz cans tomato sauce
- 2-6 oz cans tomato paste
- 14 oz can diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp oregano, crushed
- 2 tsp basil, crushed
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 medium carrot, peeled & finely grated
- pinch of sugar (reduces acidity of the tomatoes)
- Optional: ½ lb ground beef and ½ spicy Italian sausage, browned
Saucepan
Add all ingredients to saucepan on medium-high, stirring constantly until it begins to boil lightly. Turn to low and let simmer while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
Lasagna:
- 1 pkg lasagna noodles (16 oz), cooked and placed in cool water until layering
- 16 oz ricotta cheese
- 8 oz package frozen spinach, thawed or 8 oz fresh, washed and dried
- 1 egg
- 12 oz sliced mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
13×9 baking dish (I prefer glass), lightly oiled
To prepare: Mix ricotta, spinach and egg until well blended. Ladle a layer of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.
Cover in a single layer of noodles. Ladle sauce over noodles. Spoon ½ of the ricotta mixture evenly (if you place large dollops evenly like putting cookie dough on a baking sheet, fairly close together, it will spread as it cooks, no need to smooth it).
Layer 1/3 of the mozzarella over the ricotta. Repeat: noodles, sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, noodles. On top of the last layer of noodles, add remaining sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, uncovered – I like to place the baking dish on a baking sheet to catch any spills as it bubbles. Place knife through the center, if it comes out heated through, remove and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. If it needs more cooking time, you can cover with foil to keep the cheese from burning and cook 10 more minutes. Let stand uncovered before serving.
Garlic Bread
I made my Crusty Slow-Rise Bread and then sliced it length-wise, slathered in garlic butter, mozzarella and Parmesan and broiled until golden brown. Yum!
Green Beans Tossed with Butter and Lemon Pepper
This one is so easy. I used fancy frozen green beans, steamed, drained and then tossed with lots of butter and lemon pepper seasoning. You can substitute EVOL if desired.
Dessert is our annual Ice Cream Sundae Bar – lots of vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, peanuts, almonds, walnuts and pecans. I also put out any remaining Christmas cookies.
I have to get back to cleaning the house! Merry Christmas Eve!
Oh, and it looks like we may have acquired a new duck (click here for the reveal, LOL)
Consider this an all-purpose open thread.
Lee
Test post. Was having an issue commenting at work.
schrodingers_cat
test
Tom V
“Scott, you’re still our Number 1”.
Aleta
Gabe wants that house. Who wouldn’t, it belongs on the pages of DuckHouse Beautiful of the R&F.
TaMara (HFG)
@Aleta: And I got it for $50 on craigslist. That’s when I knew the ducks were staying.
Everyone else – the site was down, once again, so hopefully you’ll now be able to comment.
zhena gogolia
Gabe is my fave!
502 errors all yesterday and today.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: I know. :-( Did you see my reply to you in the earlier thread?
WaterGirl
The new duck is quite handsome.
germy
@schrodingers_cat:
A new film release. I don’t know if it’s good or not, but it looks interesting:
The Warrior Queen of Jhansi
TaMara (HFG)
@WaterGirl: Isn’t he, though. I think he gets to stay. LOL
Dorothy A. Winsor
That sounds like a lovely Christmas Eve tradition, TaMara.
germy
WaterGirl
@TaMara (HFG): Definitely a keeper! :-)
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl:
Yes. I hope this is something fixable? I rely on BJ to get me through the holidays, dammit! ?
zhena gogolia
@germy:
Oh fuck that asshole. Sorry, advertisers.
zhena gogolia
@germy:
Great reply —
Doktor Zoom
Replying to
@GovMikeHuckabee
“Couldn’t actually get the ducks tho, since my son strangled the retriever.”
germy
@zhena gogolia: So he’ll be killing in paradise.
Interesting window into his
soulmind.schrodingers_cat
@germy: She was one of the leaders of the 1857 war of Independence which lead to the end of the British East India company and direct rule by the Crown. Which actually was worse for India than the East India Company.
germy
@schrodingers_cat:
Well, they made a movie about her. Directed by Swati Bhise.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl:
I hope you feel better.
eclare
@TaMara (HFG): $50? Wow, that is sweet!
Mary G
Happy Birthday to me! I am 64 and have had that Beatles song running through my head for days now.
Just got a call from a friend who had been going out of town that they are back early so I will have to get dressed and go to Christmas dinner tomorrow after all.
Also Happy Birthday to Zinsky too.
germy
@Mary G:
And Paul was about sixteen when he wrote it.
In an interview, he said he went through a brief emotional crisis the day he actually turned sixty-four.
opiejeanne
Is it ok to share our own recipes? Because while I may no longer be allowed near a roast, I am still competent enough to produce desserts.
This is one I’d like to share:
https://flic.kr/p/2i3yNn9
Gin & Tonic
@germy: If there is an afterlife, and if Huckabee gets the one he deserves, he will have no difficulties with roasting those ducks he kills.
schrodingers_cat
@germy: She is an icon of Indian Independence there is a famous Hindi poem describing her bravery written by Subhadra kumari Chauhan which was banned by the British.
Sure Lurkalot
Getting ready to pack up the car with gifts, food and bags, then to the airport to pick up the niece before heading up to the mountains outside of Boulder to feast with in laws on Xmas Eve and Boulder friends for Xmas dinner. All friendly like-minded humans…I can walk under ladders.
germy
@Gin & Tonic:
Those must be some really naughty ducks, if he finds them in hell.
TaMara (HFG)
@opiejeanne: Recipe exchanges are always open to everyone’s recipes. Love getting new ideas. And that looks yummy.
germy
@schrodingers_cat:
I thought it was refreshing that a movie shows a different side to the usual UK story.
schrodingers_cat
@germy: I don’t know what the second picture is supposed to mean. British Empire was not a crazy person. It was a methodical draining of resources from the rest of the world to Britain. No matter how many people suffered or died.
trollhattan
@germy:
They know what they did.
germy
Louisiana Church Filled A Plane With Holy Water And Blessed A Whole Community
germy
@trollhattan:
Wasn’t there a FarSide cartoon where a duck hunter dies, goes to heaven and is met at the Pearly Gates by a duck in a long robe?
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Everything is fixable. But the day before Christmas and on Christmas isn’t the best time. :-)
We are trying two things today. Removing recent comments to see if that helps in the short run, and also asking front pagers not to be logged in to WordPress unless they are creating or editing a post.
I am normally a “change only one thing at a time” girl, but this is the holidays so I’m willing to change two at once to see if that can get us more stable for the next couple of days. So we’ll see if this stops the bleeding.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Thank you! I almost never get sick. Bad timing! Of course, it’s never good timing, is it?
Gin & Tonic
A wonderful headline in the spirit of the season.
Brachiator
@schrodingers_cat:
She was one of the leaders of the 1857 war of Independence which lead to the end of the British East India company and direct rule by the Crown. Which actually was worse for India than the East India Company.
There is a new book out about the East India Company by William Dalrymple, Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company, which apparently tries to be honest about the devastation it caused to India.
jeffreyw
We were at the local Kroger for some last minute shopping, along with much of the rest of the county, it seems. While I was waiting for the butcher to bring out a rib roast he was prepping for us, I told Mrs J to go get a bunch of celery. I had it on the list but forgot to grab some when going through the produce aisle. She came back with a big bag full. I told her that was way more than I could use. She reminded me that told her I wanted a bunch of celery and that’s what she brought.
trollhattan
@germy:
uhhh…
I’m convinced. If they want to do something useful, get that plane to Australia and pitch in with the firefight.
Any Jews on Cow Island? (I think I know the answer, still….)
Mnemosyne
@schrodingers_cat:
Did I tell you about the book I bought at the LA Times Festival of Books that was about one of the pre-British queens of India? I have it at home and can send you the title/author later.
Mnemosyne
I was instructed to bring a side dish to this year’s Christmas dinner, so I’m going to make roasted carrots and parsnips since it’s chilly in LA and having the oven turned up to 400 degrees will be a good thing. There is much julienning of vegetables in my near future.
https://www.weightwatchers.com/ca/en/recipe/roasted-carrots-and-parsnips/562606996dbe4a123407e180
Mo MacArbie
I have found the secret to lasagna, which I will now share: double the recipe and make two.
debbie
@Gin & Tonic:
Perfect!
Sister Golden Bear
For tomorrow’s side I’m bringing Summit House creamed corn — recipe from the restaurant where my mother and I went to Thanksgiving for years.
Tasty and ridiculously easy to make.
If you’re making it using frozen corn, it’s a bit runny (from the moisture that comes off when thawing), so I cut the amount of cream by a a third.
J R in WV
@opiejeanne:
You are allowed to do roasts of all sorts in the future, your accident was a technical error, not a cooking error, all the problems were because of technical errors with new and untested technology, NOT YOUR FAULT!
Plus that Almond Tart/tort, which ever speling is correct, is a beauty and should be shared with all the Jackals asap.
opiejeanne
@J R in WV: Thank you for your support. I would make you one and send it to you if I knew where to send it.
Tamara, here it is.
Start with a 9 inch tart pan, cut parchment paper in a round to fit the bottom of the pan.
For the pastry crust:
In your food processor pulse
1 Cup of all purpose flour,
1Tablespoon sugar,
and 1/2 Cup butter, until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
Work in 1/2 tsp almond extract +1/ tsp vanilla (or skip the almond extract and just add a tsp of vanilla.
Add 1 Tbsp of cold water (or more if needed, but I’ve never needed more). Be careful not to overmix.
When the dough forms a ball press it into the tart pan, being careful to smoosh it up the sides of the pan and evenly across the bottom.
Chill for one hour, dock the bottom with a fork, then bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
For the filling, stir together 1 Cup sliced almonds, 3/4 Cup sugar, 1 tsp almond extract (again, you can substitute vanilla), 3/4 Cup heavy cream, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 tsp Grand Marnier, or Orange Curacao, Hiram Walker Triple Sec, or other orange liqueur.
Stir all the filling ingredients and let stand unit the sugar dissolves. at least 20 minutes. When the crust comes out of the oven pour the filling into the shell, return to oven and bake 30-40 minutes at 400 F, or until the top is brown and the sugar has caramelized. Serve at room temperature.
Don’t panic if the filling leaks through the cookie crust. The parchment baking paper should allow the crust to release in one piece, as long as you are gentle. If you didn’t line the bottom of the pan, the filling that leaks through the crust will glue it fo the pan.