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Gruyere Crisps with Honeycrisp Apple Slices
Mesclun Salad with Basic Vinaigrette
We had our first snow of the season on December 1st. We put up our tree that day and had just started unpacking the ornaments as the first flakes started to fall. Perfect timing! We always watch White Christmas the night we put up the tree, and it all seemed meant to be. The scene the next morning was like a Christmas card in our front yard.
It almost felt like rushing things, hosting Thanksgiving and then moving directly into Christmas mode – like everyone else we’re freaking out a little bit about the short span between the holidays this year. This Thanksgiving was the first major holiday since my Dad passed away so it was kind of somber and I’m sure Christmas will be the same, but for now we’re getting in the spirit and letting our traditions and rituals carry us along.
But before we move on from Thanksgiving, I wanted you to see this video I took of Esme that weekend.
First, a little back story: Every Christmas we get our cat a catnip banana for a stocking stuffer. Esme is just two so this will only be her third Christmas with us, but the banana tradition goes back with previous cats for more years than I can remember. These bananas are filled with some kind of extra potent blend, and we’ve seen some hilarious behavior over the years.
So the Friday after Thanksgiving I was alone in the house with Esme while John was out hiking off his turkey dinner. I was sitting on the couch watching Hannah and Her Sisters (a Thanksgiving classic), and Esme was playing. We hadn’t even bought her a fresh banana for this year yet, but she got hold of last year’s banana, which apparently still had some life left in it.
After playing with it for a few minutes she jumped up on the couch next to me and then suddenly seemed to discover that she had hind paws, and they were mind-blowing.
So that was Thanksgiving and now December is already speeding by. We managed to keep Saturday night for ourselves on the 7th, and I made a special dinner for two.
We started with a nibble of Gruyere Crisps and slices of juicy Honeycrisp apple.
The main course was a buttery seafood casserole with a light mesclun salad, and for dessert the season’s first batch of Christmas cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Blobs.
And I needed a soundtrack for cookie baking, so I created a new Christmas playlist. Listen to it on Spotify here, and check out the Playlists page for a couple of other playlists.
The Game Plan
- You can get a lot done early in the day or the day before if you prefer to get a head start: the dough for the Gruyere Crisps has to be mixed and chilled at least 4 hours ahead; the vinaigrette can also be mixed in advance, and the cookies baked.
- About 2 1/2 hours before dinner, bake the crisps, pat the seafood dry and let it air chill until dinnertime, and if you’ve made the vinaigrette ahead, take it out of the fridge to come to room temperature.
- Start prepping and cooking the seafood about half an hour before dinner.
- For a detailed plan with step-by-step instructions and timing, download the Game Plan document linked below.
Saturday December 7 2019 Game Plan
