A Holiday Feast

Yeah, I know I haven't been blogging much. I have be recuperating from all the craziness of the last six or so months. I hope to get you all caught up on all my news in the coming year.

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So, yesterday was "Happy Ho Ho" Day around here. Hubby and I are not Christian, but we still have a nice holiday meal together around this time of year. I didn't feel like turkey, so I thought I would give a new recipe a whirl. I decided on 5 Cheese Crab Lasagna with Roasted Garlic and Vegetables. The recipe is one I have been looking at for a long time, but is rather involved and expensive, so I waited. I thought it would be a nice treat for us on our first Christmas in our new house. The recipe is quite easy if you follow the directions exactly. I found that the instructions made cooking this recipe an almost no-brainer because everything (including when to turn off the broiler!) is included. The instructions may seem overwhelming, but in reality, they aren't. The only thing I found that was a bit of an oops for me was that 8 oz. of dry lasagne noodle are only 9, and you need a minimum of 12 noodles (plus extra for the ends of the layers for my pan). I did cook a few extra, so one layer was missing a bit of noodles, but, really, with everything else going on we didn't miss them at all. The cheeses all were delicious (including the havarti with dill, who would have thought of putting that in a lasagne?) I used a slightly aged fontina as well (had a red wax rind) and is probably not what the cook intended, but the taste was mild and it worked too. The only thing I omitted was the Old Bay seasoning sprinkled on top; I didn't have any and was not about to buy a bottle for 1/4 t. And here it is, the star of our holiday feast:






I forgot to take a picture of the whole lasagne in its glory yesterday. I arranged the asparagus in a chevron pattern on the top, with the tips touching along the middle, and had one or two going up the center. It looked a bit like a pine tree, and was very festive indeed. The darn thing was also quite heavy; not surprising with the poundS of cheese and pound of real crab meat in there. This is NOT a recipe for: those who don't like cheese, who don't like crab or those who don't like vegetables! ;) I think if you don't like crab, I bet you could substitute 1 lb cooked grilled chicken breast, flaked or diced instead of the crab (and maybe just use plain havarti instead of with dill). The wine I used was Lindemans Bin 65 Chardonnay 2007 (Australia) ($7.99 on sale at the liquor store). I don't tend to like very dry white wine, so I tend to avoid whites altogether (especially out, since most restaurants seem to think the puckerier the better), but this wine was quite delicious. A little sweet (but still only a 1), and definitely had a "soft smooth finish" (like the back of the bottle says). We drank some with dinner, and both of us quite enjoyed it.

We have a ton of lasagne left over, which I am very glad indeed. Leftovers are certainly most welcome with this dish! I had some today, and it was even better since the flavours had had time to meld. I am going to freeze whatever is left, to enjoy at later dates.

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I just thought I would add a picture or two of the view from the front of my house. In November, we had "ice fog"; looks like fog but gives everything frost.



The trees that look covered in snow are really covered in ice fog.















This last pic is just one example of the splendid views I see all the time:




There are times I just can't believe I get to see this every day!