We celebrate Christmas with my in laws next Saturday. It's convenient for everyone to have it a week early. We exchange pressies and usually have a wonderful very Aussie buffet style spread and catch up with a side of the family that we love but don't see that often whilst sweating under the ceiling fans until it's cool enough to sit on their deck and catch a glimpse of the ocean. This year, I volunteered to do an entree. Naturally I wasn't anticipating getting home long after the fresh food shops have shut (only the supermarkets are open until 11 and their fresh produce is rather questionable. I'm always suspicious of food you have to spray with water to keep it looking good!). So, I will have to purchase any thing fresh and de-lovely on Friday evening at Harris Farm and prepare something mindblowing. I have a reputation to maintain you know.
- Now there are provisos.
- It must travel well. Whatever I take can be packed into an esky full of ice but can't be 'spilly' or collapse if the traffic's bad
- It needs to be something that I can prepare on Friday night or 'assemble' on site
- It needs to be tasty, refreshing and not too heavy, we have high temps forecast this year
- It can involve a frying pan or a barbie but the oven will be in use
- It needs to be something a little different. . .a little special. None of this melon and prosciutto or prawn cocktail stuff. It needs to look and taste spesh
. . .the perfect entree for 10 people aged 16-81. Fortunately, their tastes are varied and nobody's very fussy about food. OK, Hit me with your best shot . . and go easy you yanks, we don't eat big meals.
Now this looks nutritious . . .
43 comments:
I just ADORE those bucktoothed crudites, those are going on my Christmas plate this year.
No ideas here for food, I'm awful at that and tend towards lazagna and the like. The surf and turf sounds wonderful to me. Have a fun early Christmas
That pic looks like Bill and Ben The Flowerpot Men, which was LONG before my time and every mention of it irritates to this day.. especially "LITTLE WEEEEED". Give the little shit weedkiller, I say!
Also Copenhagen ~ what a waste of aviation fuel when they could have done the entire thing by e-conference!
Just love the crudites flowers!lol
Wait I'm going to have a look I get back at you via emails!
Brie fried in batter with a fruit sauce poured over is nice.
The mini surf & turf sounds like a great idea to me. I'd go with that!
yikes this reminds me, I'm hosting xmas dinner and as of now clueless to what to make! I better get moving!
I don't usually eat cute but I'd make an exception for those little veggie flowers
A hearty piping hot Irish Stew! Perfect for the infernal Aussie temperatures!
No wait, I've got the logic messed up there..
And hark at you using the word 'bollix'! Love it!
I'm a terible a cook, so I don't have any suggestions. But I do love the silly flowerpots.
Tiny yorkshire puds, served cold with a little horseradish sauce and topped with a small slice of cooked fillet steak? They're yummy!!!
your suggestion sounds yummy...i am definitely the wrong one to ask...i just eat what is in front of me...even if it smiles back like your pic. lol.
Well, even the greatest writers have a kind of crisis period when they can't write.
I would like to show 2 photos of me, which you may like.
I love that mini surf-and-turf idea, it sounds scrumptious. No choices in my house; if it's not turkey and oyster stuffing, it's not Christmas. We are the children of routine!
Had to laugh when seeing Himself and Herself on a plate, but as a child I'd be terrified. LOL
That idea of yours beats any of mine to hell. Being in cooler weather for most of the year I am more expert on comfort food that sticks to the insides and warms you up!
Now that we moved a couple of hours south we do get 3 months of warm weather instead of 3 weeks!
Go with the filet...sounds delightful and very special...at least at our house it would be! We only have filet on very SPECIAL occasions!
As for the salad...well the photo HAS to be it...nutritious AND entertaining!
Well Mim you're no help at all. If I can't do fabulous food, at least I can do 'fun' food!
Not before my time Gledwood, I remember them well and 'little weeeeeeeed' I agree, Australia alone sent 90 representatives, how's that for a carbon footprint.
Thanks Candie, loads of inspiration there but I will need a translator for the recipe!
Ian, your cholesterol must be over the roof! It's tasty alright but not on a 40 degree day.
Thanks for the vote of confidence there Roy! Your headgear looks quite tasty!
Hehe nah, I'm not putting buck toofed tomaties on my Christmas entree plate Kim!
That's the Irish influence Tezza. Stew? Man it's Christmas and we didn't actually have a 'recession'. Jesus, I get so fed up of restaurants trying to convince me that Jugged Hare is a delicacy! Good to have you back my man!
Heather, I've occasionally done good lookin' food to get kids to eat veg. It doesn't work!
Brian, you're my kind of dinner guest!
Thanks Ropi, they're lovely photos. I'll reply via email.
Suze, we're not having a traditional meal, tends to be ham, cold turkey, seafood and salad. Oyster stuffing? Yum! Maybe I'll just do Oysters Kilpatrick or something.
I guess with a traditional Christmas feast, you don't really need an entree but we don't do all the roasty bits and mince pies and pud. More of a lazy graze.
Jill I've found a butcher who sells long fillet for $15 a kilo. It's cheaper than lamb! Thanks to the export market and the drought, lamb is the new lobster here!
Don't ask me for food ideas. I just eat whatever happens to be in the fridge. My hors'douvres run to cut up veggies or celery stuffed with cream cheese or peanut butter. No imagination in the kitchen department. A casserole would be my offering of a main course. Yours sounds way better.
I like the little celery and tomato people. They look almost....well...almost good enough to eat. ;o)
Me? I just open a bag of potato chips - or, as the Brits like to say: Crispspspspspsps.
Do a batch of filo parcels with various fillings - I like goat cheese with cherries, cranberry and brie, spinach and ricotta .. you get the idea. They're pretty and festive and actually very easy and quick to make if you use the ready made pastry. ;)
Just don't do the fancy 'screwed up paper bag with a frill' type parcel if you're transporting them, because all of those paper-thin frilly bits will fall off en route.
I've got nothing...
Except, perhaps, for a Baino-induced grumbling stomach.
I need to quit reading food blogs!
Don't ask me, I only know how to cook beans :)
Lamb kebabs; shrimp kebabs; veg kebabs. marinate the veg and shrimp in same mix (your call). Salad of chickpeas, sundried tomatoes in oil (snipped), celery, feta in vinaigrette. Rice salad with roasted peppers and pine nuts.
Bet that's boring stuff to you. But it works around here!
Nutritious AND fun!
glad you got some suggestions...i think cold beers and hot dogs would be good enough for me.
Oh what could be better than these fun looking morsels you have here on the plate! They look healthy, colourful and cheerfully festive. Add a dollop of dipping sauce and er a couple of meatballs? Sorry cannot help you, my head is spinning enough as it is this time of year. I'll preparing for a pre christmas rellie bash this weekend myself. Have fun, xx.
Gnocchi withe meat sauce and Italian Sausage!
True what you said about Lennon. 30 years and still fighting the same crap!
Lordy, those hellish tomato faces are going to give me nightmares!
As for food, your suggestion sounds brilliant. Mine tends to be dips and rice crackers, so you're way ahead already :)
Cute crudites, Baino. I'm a vegetarian, so I'd tend toward a dinner salad with lots of vegetables or a quiche, but that's way off your thinking. Enjoy the gathering!
Have to object to your comment about supermarkets spraying their fresh produce. YES, we do it, but so do smaller specialty shops. They're just less obvious about it. I buy my fruit and veg from a smaller greengrocer when I can afford to because a lot of their stuff is local, by which I mean South Australian, not just Australian, and I've witnessed the spraying.
No help with an entree though. We don't do entrees, just a main meal with an occasional dessert.
BBQ'd prawn kebabs with a lime/chilli marinade?
I like the tomato faces, might try those myself.
I'm significantly turned on by the mini surf and turf - festive !! Have great fun this holiday !!sandy
I can't even figure out what to make for dinner anymore. I just go buy prepared food at Costco and heat in the Microwave and then tell hubby I cooked. I would just say to go to the Food Network and see if you can find something that looks good.
I did see an entree on The Clever Pup's RSS feed for Spinach and Garlic Spaghetti. It looked good and I am trying to get brave enough to try and make it someday.
Well this is the best I can do. I guess I now suck at cooking. Too much fast food and restaurant eating.
Oh Betsy has some good food blogs in her RSS feed too. I get too hungry when I see them. I need to lose weight. And if you click on the Food tag at Willows then you can scroll through her many recipes, they look yummy. Oh my, I am now getting hungry.
PS and in my RSS feed is "Lynne's somewhat invented life", her site leads you to her "The Snyder Family Cookbook", which has lots of great family recipes.
Have fun and good luck on figuring out what to make.
God bless.
I want to make this for Josephine.
You know I would do anything to help you, but I seriously cannot cook worth shit.
I'm a horrible cook and actually never do it.
xoxo
Hmmm I'm not very good with cooking but I can tell you this...hope you enjoy that special day (and tell us all about it later) lol lol
Seriously you don't want my proposal...but you have my mental support :)
PS funny thing with the word verification. I got the 'word' 'trelas'...if you change the "a" into "o", we got 'trelos' meaning "crazy" in Greek...I know its irrelevant but I couldn't help it :)
xoxoxo
Tsup*!* mint leave ice cubes ;)
I said more or less the same thing, and they are all still milking it. I even tried to force them to take the stockings to their own houses.
xoxox
[got here only cuz you made a comment on my post, still can't see my sidebar links GRRRRRRRRR]
mini surf'n'turf sounds like the way to go... and a bottle of aperitif ;) lol
Hey! When did you take that picture of me and the Wonder Husband in bed?
Your Mini Surf and Turf sound grand!
Ok, maybe mini surf and turfs are too heavy on a hot day? Because you'll probably have nibblies and then a big roast wont you? Remember years ago we had a really nice Mango salad, I think it had fancy lettuce, fresh sliced mango, proscuitto or something, plus avocado and cucumber I think -all easily assembled on site and easy to take up with you - it was a salad starters but it was fresh and most delish. Hot days demand a salad. Just a thought - then again I'd eat mini surf and turfs!
lol to Ronda's comment!
I enjoyed reading all the food suggestions, but I've got nothing to add to the general deliciousness.
Well clearly you all spend too much time on the interwebicles, with a few notable exceptions, and not enough time chained to the fridge! Thanks for the comments, this week has been rather harrowing.
The beauty of mini mignon . . I can get a man to do the cooking! Fortunately, the weather's turned 'chill' today so looks like a cool weekend. Big fat apologies for not responding individually and thank you Candie for offering to 'transduce' the french recipes. It will be either spinach and smoked salmon roulade or mini mignons or maybe crispy Thai beef or . .I wish they liked thin slices of rare beef because I have a killer pepper crusted carpaccio on watercress with balsamic vinegar and horseradish cream . .damn, I'm still confused!
sorry, i don't think i can do better than mini surf and turf
:-)
I came on the slow train and now it is all over. :( So what did you have eventually?
These look scary to me – I don’t think I would eat them – it must be the corn teeth. What did you decide to cook? (I have to be careful and write the correct identification word because I must have messed up – my last comments never showed up.)
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