Meal No. 410: The Christmas Eve Eve Eve Dinner

In my world, the actual date of Christmas (and you all know why this is) ain't the thing. It's the holiday and the season and all that goes with it. The way life works, it just wouldn't be worth it to me to elevate an allegiance to December 25th over and above the chance to make a happy gathering occur when it works better for people. Celebration is a state of mind. Happiness is largely a choice. And I'm pretty sure I get to retain a more peaceful and contented soul by looking at it this way.

So the Roediger House's celebration of Christmas revolves mostly around a meal. (Go figure.) This year it was a bit more tough to nail it down to work for the usual comers, but it was still a nice affair for the five who sat down tonight for the 8 o'clock Christmas dinner.

In a rare display of multi-course-ing it, which is not part of entertaining that I've found myself drawn to, I offered up a soup service. Pictured above is my first attempt at butternut squash soup. It's fancied up with the addition of some cider cream. I thought it could have been a bit better but I was secretly (till now) very pleased when people went back for second bowls, even though a lot of food was about to follow.

And enough food it was, once we traveled the buffet line on the kitchen counter to fill up our plates: roasted herbed turkey breast, dressing, gravy, layered green bean casserole, corn pudding, and sweet potato casserole.

By night's end, I'd sent a plate of full leftovers home with one guest, and slices of turkey breast for sandwiches on homeward-bound travel for another. There's still a little bit of most things for me to snack on over the next day or so, which for a long time has been one of the reasons I love making this meal. Leftovers!

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"Butternut Squash Soup with Cider Cream," from The Bon Appétit Cookbook by Barbara Fairchild, 2006, p. 99-100.