Christmas Eve whatnots....

My Christmas Eve started out getting up semi-early (7:00 A.M. isn't that early compared to most weekdays), and heading to work. Yes, I work for one of those places that doesn't shut down for every holiday... luckily, though, the boss-lady was cool and let us go early. I was out the door about 1:15 or so and heading home.


After a few texts back and forth with the kids during the day, it was decided that our Christmas day meal(dinner, lunch...whatever..) would consist of fried chicken, potatoes with chives and cheese, sweet corn, and rolls



Of course, dessert has to include my mom's fresh apple & cheese cobbler (the cheese is the cream cheese in the crust- sooooo good!)

so after arriving home from work, then a trip to the neighborhood Kroger where I bought all the necessaries, including a six pack of a new beer to try...
which, incidentally, was a pretty good choice on my part. *pats self on back*


I stumbled my way through making a chocolate buttercream frosting, adding some brown sugar and pecan glaze so it would got well with the "doctored" duncan hines german chocolate mix...

my doctoring this time wasn't much more than adding some extract and stirring a little more cocoa into the mix to give the cake a richer flavor, but I think it'll be more special than just "out of the box"

I also prepared the crust for the apple cobbler, which is chilling in the refrigerator, wrapped in wax paper.


As for the star of the show, the fried chicken, it is getting its start by soaking in buttermilk and beer with a splash of Louisiana red hot added. Tomorrow it will be seasoned and then tossed in seasoned flour and fried hot and crispy...


mmmmm!


The cobbler will be baked tomorrow, along with the sides of potatoes and sweet corn. Each dish will come together for a really tasty meal.


I think pairing that with gift giving and silliness and maybe a netflix movie or two will make our little Christmas a good one!

Gardening progress, and the accidental coriander surprise

You may recall my post about planting a few little things in my tiny herb and veggie garden

about a month ago. Well, since then I've had some success, which has even a few yummy salads, and some great burger and sandwich fixings!

The lettuce has gotten nice and full, and is still wonderful and mild. The spinach is struggling, but I've managed to harvest some nice leaves for salads.

 

Oh and nothing beats being able to cook with your very own home-grown herbs! I've got sprigs of thyme in a pot of stew simmering on the stove - mmmmm!

 

Another fun and cool thing about gardening is that some plants like to surprise you by spreading their seeds around, giving you new plants when you least expected them. I found a wonderfully fragrant little coriander plant this afternoon - what a treat!

 

Oh and the squash plant refuses to be outdone. If you look closely, there's a tiny squash forming ;)

 

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Příjemné svátky! - Happy Holidays!

So this Christmas, as is tradition with my kiddos and I, we are going to do the traditional thing of having something "different" or "interesting" for our Christmas dinner yet again.

We discussed the possibilities, which, in the past have been anything from a pot roast to pancakes with chocolate chips with whipped cream, and my daughter came up with the idea of having a "Czech" Christmas.

Now, of course, this meant I had to start doing research right away, as the only Czech recipes I remember cooking or eating are kolacky and chicken paprika. I searched online for "Czech recipes", looking for what might make a nice meal, and came up with some really wonderful sounding dishes.

For our main course, we are having Roast Chicken with Mushrooms:
Czech Roast Chicken with Mushrooms

Categories : Czech - Bohemian Cuisine

1 whole chicken -- 3-1/2 to 4 lbs
3 Tbs lard or vegetable
1 medium yellow onion -- finely chopped
2 ribs celery -- diced
3/4 lb fresh mushroom -- sliced
1 tsp thyme
2 cloves garlic -- mashed
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken broth or water
juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbs fresh parsley -- chopped
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)


Preheat the oven to 375 F. Heat the lard or oil in a roasting pan on top of the stove on medium-high heat. Put in the bird and brown on both sides. Remove the chicken and turn the heat down to medium.

Put the chopped onion in the pan and fry, stirring occasionally, till almost golden, Add the diced celery, mushrooms and the garlic. Cook for 3 or Put the chicken back in the pan. Pour on the white wine and the lemon juice. Sprinkle on the parsley and thyme. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put in the oven.

Baste the chicken every 15 minutes or so, adding some broth or water if the liquid dries out. The meat should be tender and the skin crisp after 1-1/2 hours or less.

Once the chicken is done, remove it to a platter and put the pan with its vegetables and liquid on top of the stove on medium heat. Add some broth or water if needed for a good quantity of sauce. Either add sour cream and heat through, or mix 2 Tbs. of flour with some water and hot liquid from the pan and then whisk this into the sauce and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

NOTES : Serve the bird surrounded with mushroom sauce. This dish is good with dumplings

And of course, there will be dumplings - potato dumplings. And there will be green beans in sour cream sauce, Czech style, as well as a poppyseed cake sweetened with honey.

This will mean starting the cooking the day before (which is tomorrow - wow, no sleeping late for me!) but I know I'll really enjoy creating such a wonderful meal.