Everything is a little bit better when you sing it like Elvis, right?
It's 10 days until Christmas and my act is all over the place. Fortunately, Chef Mary & I have prioritized getting an incredible menu togther for you and yours and it's so full of fun & exciting suprises, you have to check it out RIGHT NOW HERE.
I loooove Christmas. I think because it means I get to make cool things? Because what's a holiday if you're not making something new and exciting? Gifts and all that are great, but for me the joy is in the making and sharing. What is your favorite part? Well, hopefully the sharing of your time and space with your loved ones is high on the list. Chef Mary & I hope to give you as much time as possible this coming week by doing a bunch of the planning, shopping, chopping and cooking & cleaning so you can maximize your last week before the days are upon us.
ABOUT THE MENU + SPECIALS
As you well know, we are always, always, always looking out for and trying new things to bring to you. My sister lives in Boston (I lovingly call it the WRONG COAST) and she texted me raving stark mad about this "squash carpaccio" at Contessa--a new swanky rooftop restaurant in Boston. So I take the bait and start the research, and one thing that gets under my cheffian skin is when restaurants name things to sound cool, but are wholly inaccurate. Do you know what carpaccio is? Raw beef, sliced paper-thin, usually with a little fish sauce dressing. So I'm trying like crazy to imagine raw butternut squash being any good at all because I trust my sister--she has insanely good taste, and I just cannot wrap my mind around it. And it turns out...NOOOOO it's not raw, it's roasted and charred butternut squash.
Insert squinty eyes. Judgy squinty eyes. And irritated folded arms.
But Jaime (yes, the boy spelling--thanks mom for the cheerleader names!) keeps raving about the agrodolce and how it's "Chef's Kiss" good. We dig through recipes and find "it." Kinda. Anyway, Internet inaccuracies and perhaps outright lies aside, this dish looks a little like this:
Only with arugula, and with ricotta--as clearly those two things are not present here. I mean maybe it's ricotta, but it looks a lot like marscapone... And it's not RAW, so I refuse to contribute to the culinary lies that are shopped to the innocent masses. But it IS outrageously delicious--and we are offering a vegetarian meal version or paired with citrus-grilled chicken. Either way, we hope you enjoy it as much as we are enjoying it.
GRASS FED STEAL of the SEASON
We are not Black Friday kinda people, but sales are always great when we can get a great deal on something--as long as it's quality and truly a deal. Well, in my travels I stumbled upon this ridiculous deal on GRASS-FED NY Strip Steaks. And not those whimpy little stubs they try to call steaks, these are proper 10oz steaks with a real fat cap and marbeling and thick, too! So I gathered up as many as I could and paired them with everyone's favorite hasselback potatoes with everything bagel topping becaures it's an everything kinda season. I made a little video a while back of the involved making of the hasselbacks HERE if you want to see. And if you want to see the steaks I snagged that would cost you FAR MORE than the price we are offering for two of these with a complete meal, check out the beauties:
There are only a few of these meals available because I could only get so many of the steaks, but for those of you who want a fancy-pants meal on Thursday (or Friday), order now HERE before they are all spoken for.
TREES and TREATS
This year we have the new stacked 3D sugar cookie trees like we had last year, but so many of you are new that they will proabably seem new to you! They are actually many, many cookies stacked to form modern looking "trees". We are including a decorating kit so you and yours can spend time decorating them...or not. Either way, they are delcious and super cute and you cannot find them anywhere else--especially made with organic flour. Probably because no one else wants to make that many cookies? Have you ever tried to make one of those big stacked star cookie trees? I tried it once and it's a punishing amount of cookie dough. Punishing. No one could eat that much and you need SO MANY to make a decent "tree." These little 3D trees are much more reasonable to make and eat with ~10 cookies and a rolo. Here is a picture from last year:
Pro-tip--if you don't want to decorate, but want them to look amazing, dust with powdered sugar!
Finally, as the last treat, we are offering you little decorated mug-hugger gingerbread houses--only this year they are coming nestled in a cute, clear 4.5" ornament, ready to hang on your tree for your loved ones to find and enjoy with their favorite beverage on Christmas morning. The mug-hugger houses are professionally decorated and in shrink-wrap so they are also suitable for sending and sharing for later. We priced them crazy inexpensive, so if you need a last minute gift or a gift you can afford to give to everyone on your list, order them before they are all gone. They come two to an order for just $12!
We sincerely hope to help make your season brighter, easier and far more tasty. We also have "regular" meals to help you with your weeknight meals HERE.
Season's Eatings,
Chef Ginny & Chef Mary
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