I made Julia’s Boeuf Bourguignon today – the one from MTAOFC.  Five hours in the kitchen and 2 rounds with the dishwasher, using pretty much every dish/bowl/pot/pan I own.  And the constant mess of grease I was cleaning off the stovetop and counters.  But it was SO worth it for the 20 minutes of blissful eating.  I was going to make some mashed potatoes but then realized that both of the pots that would have been large enough to boil the potatoes were already taken.  So I made some roasted potatoes instead, which weren’t amazing but they worked.  I followed the recipe exactly with one minor exception – I couldn’t find a slab of bacon with rind at the market.  So I used my regular thick-cut bacon, and I’m sure the overall flavor suffered a little bit but it was still wonderful.  I also learned today that if you heat some oil along with butter in a pan – for a saute – that it keeps the butter from burning.

I won’t be writing tomorrow, as we will be en route to Ohio for Christmas.  And I won’t be cooking again until Christmas Eve.  I offered to start cooking dinner a couple of years ago and I’ve been roped in ever since.  Not that I mind, and this year I get to cook for 26 of my family members…my biggest crowd so far.  Mom’s doing some pre-shopping, and we’ll finish it off on Wednesday.  I hope we can make it out tomorrow after the 22 inches of snow that buried us yesterday.  Two days of being stuck in the house is starting to give me cabin fever.  I think the Wrangler should be fine if we can get out of our neighborhood.  Speaking of the Wrangler…I’m absolutely taking it with me to France.