For your enjoyment, here is an array of dahlias (and Mama) from September, out in Canby, Oregon.

Christmas Evening, 2006, Portland, Oregon--Lamont's Main Courses and Kate's Frozen Lime Pies

Lamont slices the roasted pork loins. First he had brined them, then rubbed them in brown sugar and spiked them with cloves. The meat was so tender and tasty.



The big green bowl holds homemade ravioli stuffed with ricotta, roasted cauliflower, toasted pine nuts and green onions. More green onions top the ravioli, as you can see in the closeup, along with bit of cauliflower. Beside this dish is a bowl full of my newest favorite vegetable--brussel sprouts. I could not believe how these little beauties tasted. Lamont told me he blanched them, the quartered them before sauteeing them with oil and butter. He finished them with lemon oil and a bit of basil. With each bite of the crisp veggie, I discerned all those flavors plus the texture of each tightly packed leaf. Amazing. Right above the bowl of brussel sprouts is a bowl of red chard, sauteed. Tasty, too.




It's a tradition in Lindsay's family that her mom Kate makes frozen lime pies. This year she brought the tradition to us, including non-dairy pies for those with lactose intolerance. The sharp lime flavor perfectly complimented the meal.

Christmas Evening, 2006, Portland, Oregon--Lamont's Appetizers

Thinly sliced steak atop crostini spread with goat cheese--yummy.



Actually, the potatoes, with the spatula handle rising from their left, are a main dish called a potato pave, made with sliced potatoes briefly soaked in heavy cream, then layered with a Spanish goat cheese. The dish is baked and then turned out upside down so that it can be cut into serving squares.

All around that dish are the appetizers, including some of the absolutely best tuna salad I've ever eaten. He made the mayo from scratch and used some really expensive canned tuna, he said. Plus, there were saltines which he knew I always had with my tuna salad. You can't see it--it's in that sort of tan-colored deep bowl.



These golden beets are on top of chevre crostini.



Lamont's pose for me is a statement in itself as he looks over the appetizers on the counter. He's thinking and doing what his Mama wants. You can see meats and cheeses and little red cherry tomatoes, waiting to be stuffed with goat cheese.



Red and yellow roasted peppers sit beside grilled eggplant.

More of the rest of Christmas Evening, 2006: Lindsay's Aunt Laura, our Mississippi bud, Cooley, muddling Old Fashioneds, and Aunt Laura's salad

More of Christmas Evening, 2006: Lindsay's cousin Chris, in the maroon, and her brother Evan, in the black--a couple of keepers!