Is it over?

NOTE: I wrote this, delayed posting until I downloaded the pics, and promptly forgot it. So here it is.

Most excellent Christmas dinner: Lasagna and a roll

I think it is. Christmas, that is. It’s the holiday I just don’t do well, that always throws me down in the dumps, leaves me weary and depressed. But it’s past, and there seemed to be no major defects, other than the lack of my eldest daughter at the family festivities due to a migraine, and now we can get back to the business of life as usual until this time next week, when we’ll be shrugging off the overindulgences of New Year’s.

The Christmas lasagna was a success; perhaps not the best I have ever cooked, but up there amongst them. I used diced up sopressata and pepperoni, brought back from Philly; it was quite excellent. It paled, though, beside the rolls.

The aforementioned rolls, in a photo that does not do them justice.

These are Miss Mary Loyd Young’s rolls, beloved by anyone who ever ate at the Marion United Methodist Church’s turkey dinner every November since time immemorial. Lovely, light, fluffy things they are; rich with butter, just a touch sweet, soft and airy and pillowy. I make them every Thanksgiving and Christmas because, well, just because you ought to have ties with the past on holidays. And that’s one of them.

To make the rolls:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 package active yeast (a scant tablespoon)
• 1/3 cup room-temp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups hot tap water (the hottest it comes from your tap)
• 1 egg

In a mixing bowl, mix together half  the flour and all the sugar, salt and yeast; use the paddle attachment to cream in the butter. Add the hot water, all at once while the mixer is running. Add the remaining two cups of flour and mix until combined. Knead it lightly, and plop it into an oiled bowl to rise until doubled, about 90 minutes.

Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces and bake as you choose. You can put them in muffin tins, nestle them together in cake pans, or separate them out on a baking sheet for sandwich-style rolls. You can also roll the dough out flat, brush it with melted butter, sprinkle heavily with sugar and cinnamon and chopped pecans, roll up and slice, and have cinnamon rolls. Your only limit is your imagination, and how many of those rolls you can eat before you collapse in misery.

Gratiutous lasagna picture, because -- well, just because.

The lasagna was nothing out of the ordinary in my lasagna-making, although I did use Marcella’s tomato-butter sauce just because it’s easy to do and I was all about easy yesterday. Four cans of tomatos, two onions, four or five cloves of garlic, basil and oregano to taste. Simmer a couple of hours. Smoosh it all up with the stick blender. Simmer some more. I layered that with fresh mozzarella, fresh ricotta, grated parm, the diced charcuterie, and Barilla no-bake noodles because those are pretty darned good. Baked it for 45 minutes, let it set for 10. Good stuff.

Today’s adventures include unpacking from two trips, doing laundry from two trips, getting my nails done and buying a crib for Amazing Grandchild 1, who will be here tomorrow. Oh, and soaking the beans for red beans and rice, which Child B has requested. Some of the leftover smoked turkey will go in that. I’m also thinking on corn chowder with smoked turkey in it to get rid of some more of it. Chili one night, because I have promised NS, and because I have what looks like a kick-ass recipe for Southwest Potatos to go with it. I must go get cranberries and make cranberry salad one more time before year’s end. OK, maybe twice.  I have turkey, if I have not kept it too long , with which to make turkey meatballs in cranberry sauce.

We will not go hungry at Chez Brockwell this week. And we will have us a big time playing with Amazing Grandchild and showing her off. So if you and y’mama ‘n ‘ em don’t hear from me for a few days, that’s why.