while that was simmering, i pulled out my new, oh-so-lovely, soup tureen, washed it out and couldn't wait to pour my luscious chowder into it. i also pulled out the dough {pre-made/store bought} for the rolls from the freezer and got them into the muffin pans to begin rising. i put them in the laundry room and turned the dryer on periodically to make sure it stayed warm and toasty for them to rise.
next up -- a buttermilk pie. travis really likes them, and i wanted to surprise him with one. i may have made a pumpkin pie or something over the years, but i don't really ever whip up pies. which is weird. my mom always makes tons of pies at the holidays. i don't know why that didn't really "stick" with me. i decided to try my hand.
when i was at reasor's yesterday they were running low on so many things and i wasn't able to get pre-made pie-crust that you can roll out. i was stuck with pre-made pie crust in a pan. i pulled out the crust, and popped it in the oven. my mom has never made buttermilk pies {to my memory} so i looked online. i found a link to the homesick texan's great-grandma's buttermilk pie. i thought, "hmm, can't go wrong with a great-grandma's recipe from texas on something like a buttermilk pie" - so i went with it. i loved how this turned out! when i was making it, travis warned me to not be disappointed. that buttermilk pie is very hard to get right. and that his mom has never been able to make it. he said only his grandma has ever gotten it right. you know what his mom told me on christmas? that he had told her i made a buttermilk pie better than she or aunt sue. yay! he told me the consistency was just a tad off, but as buttermilk pies go, i had gotten the closest. woo hoo! i'll take it!
this is actually a picture from christmas eve dinner, but it's the only one i have.
most of the food i was making took about the same amount of time to prepare and cook/bake, so i decided to make it all ahead of time and then re-heat it as dinner got closer.
justin and lindsay arrived not long after i popped the pie in the oven. justin helped me peel and cube the sweet potatoes while i cut the regular potatoes and started them boiling in a large pot. lindsay started in on the green bean casserole. and i felt really great about how everything was moving.
garlic potatoes:
this particular recipe makes plenty of potatoes to feed ten people, plus have leftovers. you can adjust the recipe to feed a smaller group of people
ingredients:
- potatoes
- garlic {or garlic powder}
- 1 stick of butter {softened}
- milk {or buttermilk}
- salt & pepper
- cube 5lbs of potatoes
- put them in a large pot to boil until soft
- if i have garlic cloves i usually add a full head to the boiling water. since i didn't have any in the pantry, i used garlic powder and just sprinkled enough to cover the top of water
- when soft, drain the water, reserving about 1 cup of boiling water
- put potatoes and water into a large mixing bowl
- add a stick of room temperature butter and a few splashes of milk {i had buttermilk on hand, so i used that}
- with a mixer blend until creamy
- salt and pepper to taste
- add additional garlic to taste
mom's candied sweet potatoes:
ingredients:
- sweet potatoes
- 1 1/2 cups of pot water
- 1 stick of butter, softened
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1/4 cup of molasses
- cinnamon | clove | nutmeg to taste
- 2 tsps of corn starch
- marshmallows
- peel and cube sweet potatoes
- put them in a large pot to boil until just soft {you don't want to over soften because they still have to bake}
- when soft, drain the water, reserving 1 1/2 cups of the water, and pour into casserole dish
- in a small bowl, mix 1 cup of the water, butter, and brown sugar
- in another small bowl mix molasses, spices, corn starch, and the other 1/2 c. of pot water
- add the second mixture to the first and mix well
- pour mixture over the potatoes and bake at 350 until warm
- add marshmallows and bake until golden brown & bubbly
ingredients:
- 4 bags of frozen green beans {8 oz/ea}
- 3 cans of cream of mushroom
- 1 1/2 cups of milk
- 1 cup of grated cheese {i used cheddar}
- french fried onions
- salt & pepper to taste
- mix all ingredients together {except for the french fried onions}
- put in baking dish and bake until warm
- pour fried onions over the top and bake until bubbly
i didn't snag any pictures -- boo -- my goal is to create a holiday cookbook based off of mine and my mom's {and likely lindsay's now} recipes. i really want to make sure i capture everything my mom makes. somehow it always gets too hectic around the holidays to do so, so i think i'll have to plan baking days throughout the year to stage christmas baking and capture photos.
for the beef tenderloin, i used the pioneer woman's recipe. i did just a few things slightly different, but not much. i was lucky enough that the butcher at reasor's prepared the tenderloin for me. i didn't have to remove all the fat or cartilage {and i didn't even have to ask}! i also didn't smash peppercorns. i have a peppercorn grider, and i just left it at the largest setting and used it to put on the tenderloin. i don't know if it made a difference or not, but i put all of the spices {except for the peppercorns} on the meat and then popped it back into the fridge until closer to time for dinner. it was able to sit and marinade for several hours. at about 5:30, i pulled it back out and followed the rest of the ree's recipe.
while this was going on, justin and lindsay helped get the table set for dinner using our new chargers and china. everything looked so pretty.
after i prepped the beef tenderloin, i pulled out the pork tenderloin and set to work on it. i found a seasoned rub recipe on the food network. lindsay prepared the rub for me {doubling the recipe to cover the larger tenderloin i had}. i did the same thing as i did with the beef tenderloin and popped it back in the fridge until time to cook it.
the two tenderloins had to be baked at different temperatures. i set it at the lower temperature first {for the pork}, but i seared the beef tenderloin first, and then used a jelly roll pan with a rack on it to put the tenderloin in the oven {after covering it with peppercorns and butter}.
i seared the pork in the same oil i used to sear the beef, i just added the garlic the recipe calls for. then i placed it in a casserole dish with a rack over it. i baked it for twenty minutes as the recipe calls for and then bumped the oven up to the temperature called for in the beef tenderloin recipe. i let the pork cook five more minutes at the higher temperature and then pulled it out. my mom was at the house by that time, and since i don't cook pork often, i had her take a look. we wrapped it in foil and then placed it at the very back of the stovetop where the heat from the oven comes out.
i kept the thermometer in the beef as ree suggests, but mine wasn't as heavy duty as hers, and it melted. luckily, i didn't melt until after the meat had reached the desired temperature. i let it get just a little bit warmer before pulling it out because travis doesn't like medium rare meat. he likes his meat cooked.
i popped the rolls into the oven and then popped the green beans, sweet potatoes, and potatoes into the oven to reheat.
mom whipped up a gravy from the beef tenderloin drippings, and dinner was ready.
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