Sunday, December 26, 2010

Sage Browned Butter Mashed Potatoes

Sorry for the lack of pictures. You can sort-of see the dish in a picture at the bottom of this post at the back-right of the table. This recipe has become my alternative to garlic mashed potatoes because my husband is not quite the fan of garlic that I am. It was inspired by this William Sonoma recipe, but I omitted 1/4 of butter. I especially love it because of the fried sage. The only trouble is the difficulty in preventing myself from eating all the sage before the mashed potatoes are done.

3 lbs potatoes (red and idaho)
1 stick butter
1/2 c fresh sage leaves (at least 20 leaves)
3/4 c milk
salt and pepper

Directions

Dice and boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. (Typically this involves bringing the potatoes to a boil, covered, in the salted water, then about 10 minutes more, but it may take more or less time depending on your potatoes.).

Melt the stick of butter in a medium skillet. Fry the sage leaves and remove from pan to a paper towel to drain. Continue cooking butter until browned, 1-2 more minutes.

Warm milk in a saucepan or microwave (do NOT boil).

Sprinkle potatoes with salt and pepper. Mash or rice potatoes, alternating milk and butter.

Sprinkle 1/2 - 3/4 of the fried sage leaves and mash them in. Adjust seasoning to taste. Garnish with remaining sage.

Serves 6-8.

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Xmas dinner, 2010

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Xmas "Be Merry" Banner

Here's the Christmas banner I made for my auntie on Christmas morning...yes, down to the wire, but better late than never. I hope she likes it. I used the following Cricut cartridges: Doodlecharms, Simple Charmed, Basic Cakes, Pooh Font.

Here's the whole banner. Sorry the lighting is so bad. I'm getting an Ottlite for Christmas, so hopefully that will help some.

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I hope everyone is having a wonder Christmas filled with family and friends.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas! I hope yours is filled with friends and family. Sorry for the lack of posts this past months, new job and the general chaos of the holiday season. I did try a few new recipes over the last month or so, and hope to post them one of these days. Today, the plan is to make Christmas pancakes for breakfast, then head over to my auntie's for presents. Later, a friend's coming over for dinner.

Our family tradition is to decorate the tree on Christmas eve, then leave it up till New Year's. In Hawaii, that actually works with the heat. My auntie and I decorated last night while my husband was kept occupied with the computer. I got him to help in 2006, just before we were married, but that's about it. I'll try to remember to take and post pictures.

Christmas Eve Menu

- Prime Rib roasted in a chocolate-ancho chili rub
- Sage Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes
- Salad with roasted asparagus and colored peppers
- Chocolate Cream Pie

Christmas Menu
- Herb roasted turkey
- Basalmic-onion gravy
- cornbread and sourdough cranberry stuffing
- roasted butternut squash
- roasted green beans with sauteed mushrooms
- A new recipe for bread pudding made by my auntie

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas! I hope yours is filled with friends and family. Sorry for the lack of posts this past months, new job and all. I did make a fair number of holiday cards and projects, so I promise to show a few of them in the coming weeks. Today, the plan is to make Christmas pancakes for breakfast, then head over to my auntie's for presents. Later, a friend's coming over for dinner.

Our family tradition is to decorate the tree on Christmas eve, then leave it up till New Year's. In Hawaii, that actually works with the heat. My auntie and I decorated last night while my husband was kept occupied with the computer. I got him to help in 2006, just before we were married, but that's about it. I'll try to remember to take and post pictures.

Merry Christmas!