A Christmas Dinner

After an afternoon of National and International Skyping we needed to toast to absent family. We mixed up our usual cocktails, with Jim attempting a new one - a Bourble! It turned out to be a disappointing drink and not one we would recommend (but at least we gave it a try!)

We wanted to have a Traditional Christmas Dinner, so we roasted up Turkey Breast and enjoyed it with homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Homemade Stuffing
Old bread, cubed and toasted in the oven till dry
In a pan, sweat 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves of garlic with butter and a bay leaf. De-glaze with white wine and add the remainder of the stick of butter. Add 1tbs each of thyme and sage, 1/2 tbs rosemary and 3/4 of a carton of chicken stock. Pour this over the cubed bread and bake in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes.

Green Beans & Cherry Tomatoes
Trim beans and bring to the boil in a pot of water. Prepare an ice bath, to plunge them into once boiling commences - you want the beans to still be crunchy. In a frying pan, toast slivered almonds (set aside to garnish dish). Once the almonds are toasted, toss the cherry tomatoes till they are warm. Then add the cooked green beans and toss all together. Serve on a platter with the cherry tomatoes around the outside and the toasted almonds on top.

Sweet and Russet Mashed Potatoes
No big deal here. Dad likes sweet potatoes but they're too sweet for Jim. So we compromised and added two big sweets to two or three Russets. Nice light color and moderate sweetness.

Mom's Almond Puff
We forgot to write down the recipe, but I believe that this one is the same. Jim's brother Mike and he loved it as kids and one of those recipes that doesn't seem as outdated as Betty Crocker creations.