After the Thanksgiving meal, I usually prefer to go “light” for Christmas, with seafood. This year, my nieces & nephews requested “comfort food” of either beef or turkey, as they all missed the Thanksgiving meal. As soon as they were all in town, I hosted a prime rib dinner, which I billed as a “proper” English meal before our Christmas dinner; Yorkshire Pudding, anyone?~
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The setting was our Guest House, with high beamed ceilings, English pub chairs and an English oak oval table~
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The firebox is perfectly round, and the mantel is made of stone and ships’ timbers, including the keel; I borrowed the flowers from our Christmas table in the dining room for this evening; it was already cozy before the food arrived~
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While the beef cooked, we prepared the Yorkshire pudding. Do not be intimidated by this fine accompaniment to roast beef; I use a classic recipe that’s hard to mess up: crack four eggs into a measuring cup and look at the volume; add an equal volume of milk and then an equal volume of flour (sifting gets rid of the lumps). Whisk all in a bowl, then let stand for at least 20 minutes~
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In a muffin tin, add a spoonfull of beef fat and drippings to the bottom of each cup~
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Pour the batter into each cup on top of the drippings; using a cup as shown is the neatest way to do this! Fill 2/3 full~
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Bake hot at 425 degrees, and do not ever open the oven to peek! You will be rewarded with this, which you should serve ASAP prior to deflation~
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Add in one British dog~
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and a little tartan (these are actually old draperies I cut up with pinking shears; though they are 40 years old, despite the moth holes I love the Buchanan tartan linen, which Mum brought back from Canada a long time ago)~
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the little knights came from London and NYC by me a long time ago and were lovely on the table next to the Buchanan~
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When the food hit the table, the crowd got right to passing it around, and picking a few weights out of the napkins~
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Multiple batches of Yorkshire Pudding helped sop up all the gravy; the plates were then inspected by the Norfolk Terrier Association of Dishwashers~
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meanwhile the fireplace crackled and the conversation was just as lively~
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Dessert was apple crumble, recipe to follow later~
with home made cinnamon ice cream~
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My flight leaves in 11 hours for Paris, and I am packing while posting….wishing you all a lovely Christmas!