Buon Natale

It's a smaller celebration than usual this year.

John's sister and her family came back from vacation in Florida with the stomach flu.

So it was just mom and dad, John and me for dinner. An intimate dinner for four featuring three courses from Fine Cooking magazine's Modern Christmas Menu and a Dorie delight for dessert.

At center stage was a Slow-Roasted Beef Tenderloin Roast with Double-Mushroom Ragout -- a hit around the table. We paired the tenderloin with Cinnabar's Limited Edition Teroldego - a varietal prevalent in northeastern Italy but still a bit of an anomaly in Northern California. Fruit forward and food friendly wines are our favorites, and this one screamed "roast beast."

In supporting roles were Lemon-Thyme Spinach and Individual Savory Horseradish Bread Puddings, both of which received mixed reviews. I personally adored the spinach and already have plans to stir the leftovers into scrambled eggs for breakfast. Others found the dish a bit too lemon-forward for their tastes. The bread pudding suffered from the opposite problem, as the horseradish kind of got lost in the mix.

We wrapped up the meal with Dorie Greenspan's Real Butterscotch Pudding, proving again that there is no kill like overkill. Butter. Whipping cream. Egg yolk. Sugar. And a splash of scotch. What's not to love?

Christmas means something slightly different for everyone. For John and me, a huge part of the joy we get from the season is in sharing good food with the people who matter the most to us. Nothing would please us more than the opportunity to break bread with each of you who spends a few minutes of your day here catching up on our latest food adventure. For now, we hope you enjoy our virtual feast and we wish you the merriest of Christmases, the happiest of Hanukkahs, the most peaceful of Solstices, the most joyous of Kwanzaas, and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009.

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