Christmas Has Come and Gone...

and so have the excitement, the guests, and the mess! It was a FABULOUS holiday a Chez Ginger, but now all is quiet and that's okay with Miss G and the kitties. For the moment, at least! She's one tired gurl after all this excitement!
On Christmas Eve, Miss G spent a lovely time with her brothers, her niece, and nephews with a low-key, family style seafood feast, a Louisiana Christmas Eve tradition. Brother made fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, and grilled shrimp, and all were delish!
Saturday morning Miss G got up to attend to her meat... it was really large and she wasn't sure how long it takes. You know those really big ones always take forever!

While the meat roasted, Miss G prepared the sides, and delegated the table set to Brother John... under her watchful eye, of course! She chose a blue and silver theme. Not randomly. You will be seeing those blue balls again in early February, although not in their current form! That's all the hints I'm giving!

The sides, by the way, were delish! Miss G did Blue Mac and Cheese, which was as rich and delicious as it sounds! She followed Made in Scotland's green bean technique, and everyone raved that they were so tender without being mushy! There was cauliflower, asparagus, roasted root vegetables, and Miss G's culinary experiment of the year- Yorkshire pudding!

The "yorkies" were delish, but there was only one slight debacle that I'm sure will become part of "the jokes of Christmas Past"....

Yasee, part of the delicious decadance of Yorkshire pudding is that you use pan drippings from the meat to prep the pans and keep the puddings from sticking. You have to get the pans and fat really hot, then ladle in the batter. Miss G miscalculated the capacity of the pans ever so slightly, but that was all it took to run the fat over onto the floor of the 400 degree oven! Good heavens, did it smoke! There was nothing to do but let it burn off while the puddings cooked, and luckily the weather was pretty enough for us to open the windows and let the smoke dissapate! However it went, they were delicious!

The best part of the evening, however, was Miss G's assortment of FABULOUS guests! There was family, extended family, and friends, and we ate, drank, and laughed! It was a great holiday and I'm so fortunate to have such lovely people to spend it with!

How did your holidays go?