The Usual Season's Eatings

 I hope that everyone had a lovely day yesterday, whether you were celebrating Christmas or not. Today is also a holiday here--St Stephen's Day. And now, we've entered Twixmas, which is my favorite! Things get even more quiet than usual here. We have plenty of leftovers so there will be no meal planning, cooking, or thinking about acquiring comestibles. I look forward to these days. We stopped doing a big elaborate meal over 4 decades ago, so our leftovers consist of what has become the usual holiday fare for us. 

On Christmas Eve, I make a big lasagna in my slow cooker. It doesn't take long to put together and is delicious. I make the sauce, but pre-made would work too. Just layer everything in the slow cooker (do not cook the noodles first), turn it on high for 4 1/2 hours or so, then turn off the slow cooker and take the lid off, leaving it to sit for 15-20 minutes. Then eat. This year I made the ricotta ahead of time.

ricotta being scooped into the slow cooker

ready to turn on the slow cooker

time to eat

On Christmas Day, I make jalapeno cheese puffs for lunch. They're so good just out of the oven, which is the best time to eat them, but they're good heated up too, so I make a double batch and we have them for a few days.

this was one pan of two

For supper, there was smoked salmon spread with crackers. I made the smoked salmon spread the day before, after I started the lasagna.

I don't measure, but dump some cream cheese/soft cheese (as it's called here), some extra mature/extra sharp cheddar, some sun-dried tomatoes, some roasted red pepper, smoked salmon, garlic, chives or scallions, oregano, basil, and a little chilli powder into the bowl of my food processor, fitted with the blade. I whiz until it's all combined. 

So with all that done, I'll be meandering through the next couple days doing what I want when I want. Right now, I'm going to enjoy another cup of caramel coffee. I hope that you have a lovely day today, doing whatever it is you want to do.

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