In forty-eight hours I will be serving a Christmas dinner to long-time friends, and I feel like I’m in the final count down with all the necessary preparations. As I go through my favorite cookbooks, with an eye to showcasing Mexican specialties, I am thinking what a wonderful year this has been for Cooking in Mexico. Each one of you who has visited, each comment left, each question asked, is greatly appreciated and adds to the value of the shared recipes and food experiences. I love being a food blogger. The cooking, the photography and the writing — it is all so much fun and satisfying. But it wouldn’t mean as much if you, the readers, weren’t here, also. Thank you so much for your visits, comments and new friendships. You have helped make 2010 a wonderful year for me.
Here are some of my favorite recipes from the past that may serve as inspiration as you prepare your holiday dishes.
Feliz navidad! Buen provecho!
Holiday Eggnog Cream Cake A wonderfully delicate cake with all the flavors of eggnog.
Christmas 2009 Cooking and Baking Revisited with links to recipes for lemon curd, beet-pickled deviled eggs, golden onion pie, chocolate biscotti and whole wheat bread.
Jocoque Cheesecake with Lemon-Orange Curd and Candied Orange Zest, the smoothest cheesecake you will ever make.
Grilled Tenderloin of Beef with Grilled Vegetables, for those who want something besides roast turkey, and what we are having for our Christmas dinner this year.
Salsa de Chile Pequin (or serrano chile) to add zip to your left-over grilled tenderloin.
And a few recent recipes:
Alfajores, South American cookies for Christmas
#1 by timethief on December 23, 2010 - 4:21 pm
Feliz navidad! Buen provecho! I hope you have a wonderful mid-winter celebration.
#2 by Cooking in Mexico on December 23, 2010 - 4:32 pm
Thank you, timethief. And I wish the same joy for you, with great thanks for your help along my blogging road.
#3 by Cherry on December 23, 2010 - 4:38 pm
Merry Christmas to you Catalina and to Tomas !!
Cooking is such an expression of creativity and love. It is no wonder it is your passion !
I just prepared a full holiday meal for guests last weekend which was so satisfying to prepare and even more gratifying as it was graciously appreciated. I even printed up a menu to add to the international theme fun. Most of these dishes were my own creations or heavily edited recipes and half of the dishes I made for the first time. Thought you might like to see………Happy Holidays, Cherry
Appetizer
Canadian Stud Muffins for Sam
Mexican Chipotle Agave Roasted Pork Ribs
Main Courses
Franco-Russian Pork Orloff
Onion soubise and Portabello duxelles. (Prince Orloff was a former Russian ambassador to France)
Mexican Pork Green Chile por Cereza
Roasted tomatillos, fire-roasted Hatch chiles, roast pork. (Served in lieu of the traditional Mornay or Veloute Sauce and in honor of our Green-Chile-Loving friends.)
Scalloped Idaho Potatoes with Swiss Gruyere Cheese
Steamed Gailan – AKA Kailan, Chinese Broccoli
Baked Butternut Squash – seed origin Stow, MA
Side Dishes
Hawaiian Pineapple Buttermilk Jello – Rabbit Creek Black Cherry Cream Cheese Jello – Warren, MI
Three Ryes: Munich, Farmer’s, Country – Colorado
Relish Tray
Celery – seed origin Egyptian King Tut’s tomb
Black Olives – Mediterranean.
English Cucumbers
Kimchi – Korean fermented Chinese Cabbage & Japanese Daikon
Beverages
Long Tail Ranch Well Water
Sparkling Swedish Pear Apple Juice
Bean Milk from US soybeans
English Tea
Mexican Coffee Jalisco, freshly ground and pressed
Desserts
Scottish Barley Scones prune, poppy seed & apricot
Japanese Tea Cookies Chestnut and Green Tea fillings
Venezuelan Sweet Potato Custard
#4 by Cooking in Mexico on December 23, 2010 - 4:56 pm
Words fail me. This is quite an amazing menu. Dare I ask what a “Canadian Stud Muffin” is?
Merry Christmas to you and yours, including your four-legged friends.
#5 by Cherry on December 23, 2010 - 7:15 pm
Well as I told my guests, I offered a lot of choices, things to try, taste, choose what you want.
Oh, stud muffins are a brand name for a grain–like “carrier” (horse granola?) that you can use to feed (cover up the taste of) a horse medication.
We have a tradition of serving something odd, and horse related, at our meals with guests. The last time it was a plate of bright green leafy alfalfa hay as a joke for Ken’s salad. Actually it looked incredibly edible.
So this time, I chose Sam to get the strange item.
Makes for fun.
#6 by Vicki in GA on December 23, 2010 - 11:11 pm
La Flor de Noche Buena photo is beautiful.
#7 by Cooking in Mexico on December 24, 2010 - 7:46 am
Thank you. It is a photo of a potted plant in a neighbor’s yard.
#8 by Tess on December 25, 2010 - 12:54 pm
I’m just stopping by to wish you a merry happy Christmas as a turkey roasts in my oven. We are going over to my sister’s house, bringing the food. It’s sort of a sad time, with my father falling deeper into alzheimer’s, so I’m thinking of all the lovely people I know all over the world and how grateful I am for my good life and fine friends.
I’ve very much enjoyed how your blog has developed, and how enjoyably I’ve imagined the foods and scenarios you describe here.
#9 by Cooking in Mexico on December 25, 2010 - 10:02 pm
Thank you for visiting with Christmas wishes, Tess. I’m sorry to hear of your father, but you are definitely on the right track by counting your blessings. Despite what life deals us, we always have so much for which to be grateful.
I’m glad you and I “met” when you answered by blogging question on the Forum. If you can see any progress on my blog, it is due to the Forum volunteers such as you who help us build a better blog.
Happy holidays to you and your wonderful Japanese Kitchen blog.
#10 by Dmarie on December 25, 2010 - 7:26 pm
sooo very glad I found your blog, as I expect to learn a lot from your expertise. many thanks and blessings on your holidays & a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
#11 by Cooking in Mexico on December 25, 2010 - 9:56 pm
Thank you so much for visiting. Happy holidays and happy New Year to you, also.
#12 by Paolita on December 26, 2010 - 12:56 pm
Hi Kathleen,
Hope your “Navidad” was wonderful and best wishes for 2011. I can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with next year for us to delight on.
#13 by Cooking in Mexico on December 26, 2010 - 3:59 pm
I, too, look forward to the treats you will bring to us on Berry Haute. Prospero año nuevo to you, Paolita.
#14 by muybuenocookbook on December 26, 2010 - 1:53 pm
Hope your Christmas was super wonderful! Its been a pleasure reading your posts and I look forward to seeing what you have in store for 2011. ~Yvette
#15 by Cooking in Mexico on December 26, 2010 - 4:01 pm
It was a great Christmas Day, even if I did prepare enough food for twenty people, and there were only five of us. Best wishes for the new year to you, your mother and sister — the blogging trio at Muy Bueno Cookbook.
#16 by chocolate freckles on December 27, 2010 - 8:33 pm
Feliz Navidad!!!!! I hope you had a wonderful time with all your beloved friends!!! .. I can imagine the dinner was very successful!
#17 by Cooking in Mexico on December 28, 2010 - 7:00 am
Dinner was a success, thank you. We are still eating delicious left-overs. Happy New Year!
#18 by Crepes of Wrath on December 28, 2010 - 9:07 am
That poinsettia is so beautiful! I haven’t seen any in New York, believe it or not! Your blog is one of my favorites and I can’t wait to see all of the delicious food that you post in 2011!
#19 by Cooking in Mexico on December 28, 2010 - 9:27 am
What! No pointsettias in all of NYC! Something dastardly must have happened to the pointsettia crop this year….
Thank you for your kind words. I’m looking forward to your great blog in 2011, also. Happy New Year!
#20 by lisasub on January 2, 2011 - 8:38 am
yum! I’m starved for Mexican food after reading your blog! Felice Navidad indeed!!
#21 by Cooking in Mexico on January 2, 2011 - 2:37 pm
¡Y feliz año nuevo! Thanks for visiting. Hope you find, or make, some good Mexican food soon.