Merry Christmas, everyone!

Made myself a Christmas breakfast: 2 eggs over easy, two strips of bacon and toast. Did some last minute cleaning, then set the table. Unlike last year, I remembered the chargers I had bought. The deep red charger, with my white plates and green trim were as festive as I'd hoped. I called my Mom, Luanne and Jeremy to wish them all a merry Christmas. Now to cooking...

I took the rib roast out to come to room temp at 11:00 AM. Sauteed onions and garlic, added two ham hocks, two big cans of chicken stock and some bay leaves, brought that to boil then turned to simmer as the base for Carla's collard greens. Took out the though inside stem of a LOT of collard greens, then cut into big pieces. Here's where I screwed up: Having made spinach and beet greens, I thought the collard greens would shrivel when wilted. They don't. Damn! So, I served big hunks of collard greens, that tasted okay to me, and Carla said were good, but difficult to eat... Okay, so one failure so far...

Prepared the roast. made a paste of chopped thyme and Rosemary, crushed garlic, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper all mixed with olive oil. Cover the roast with it and put the roast in a pan on a rack. Surrounded it with carrots, potatoes and onions, all rough chopped. Added the meat thermometer probe and put into a 325 degree oven.

Meanwhile, Jake and Carla showed up. They offered to help but I refused, so they sat in the kitchen and chatted while I cooked.

Made the creamed pearl onions again (I served these at Mom's, too). However, I must say these were much better, as my frying pan allowed me to brown the onions better (sorry, Mom and Carl). Okay, one win!

Sauteed the leeks in butter for the mashed potatoes. Added two cups of chicken stock, let them simmer 20 minutes and then let them cool. Put the mixture into the blender and pureed it. Added it to the cooked potatoes (6 large baking potatoes, cut into cubes and cooked fork tender). Then added one cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of whole milk and used a hand mixer to mash them. Carla seasoned them (substituting black pepper for the white pepper the recipe called for - its an ethnic pride thing, I think, lol!) Okay, so I must say, the rib roast was perfection, but these potatoes... Oh my God! The flavor was fantastic! Like Jake said, it was a rich, elegant flavor and, with a little more milk, this would make the best potato soup, too.

The internal temp alarm went off, so I took the roast out and let it rest. We took out the veggies and Carla deglazed the pan. I added some meat drippings I had saved for this, then put the whole mix into a fat separator I had bought specifically for this recipe. Put the fat-free liquid back in the pan, added two cups of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon) and the veggies back in and cooked until the sauce reduced. Used a strainer to get a clear au jus sauce.

Jake carved the roast, and it was time to eat...

We had wine with dinner and the only other additions to the table were green and black olives and some of that horseradish sauce I had made for Mom's dinner (I realized a bit late I didn't have any bread, biscuits or dinner rolls). Results:

Roast was a little too rare, but fork tender, delicious and the crust was awesome.
Potatoes... Ah, the potatoes... to die for!
Creamed pearl onions, very good.
Collard greens - good flavor, but cut too big. (So, now I know for next time)

We cleaned up and opened presents. I got them each a signed cookbook from their favorite chefs, and they got me a great, multi-tool Braun immersion blender! I am going to make the most fantastic soups!!!

Now, the moment of truth: Installing the microwave. Like the rest of this project, it should have gone smooth, but didn't. We couldn't get it on the bracket and Carla, our spotter, said it have to go over about 1/4 inch. So, I grabbed a drilled and moved it. Bingo, got it one the bracket, but now the screw holes on top were wrong. So, we used a drill and enlarged the holes. Now the screw heads are too small, so Jake suggested using the 1 inch tube he'd bought to install seats the the drift car. I cut it off with the SawZall, and bingo! It was up and working!!! I still need to cut the hole through the roof, and add one piece of molding, but its up, it works, the fan isn't too loud and I love it!

We played a game of cards (Phase 10 I think it was called) and then two games of Clue. They left, I turned on the dishwasher and went in to watch TV, satisfied with my Christmas day.

P.S. later on, reheated some potatoes for a snack... Oh my God!