Happy New Year!

I just love the holidays!  Its the time when all the aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents get together and celebrate! We all usually take turns hosting the event.   So this year, yep, you guessed it, we celebrated at Auntie Heather’s House this Christmas Eve!  It rained all day (actually all week I think!) so we couldn’t use our BBQ or smoker.  My husband and son were so disappointed!  But we improvised with a traditional menu. For appetizers as always we served the CHIPPED BEEF DIP WITH FRITOS (see website for recipe) and shrimp cocktail.  For dinner we served prime rib with selection of au jus or beef gravy, smoked ham, green beans with bacon, garlic mashed red potatoes, au gratin potatoes, tossed green salad and fresh buttermilk biscuits.  The prime rib was injected with a garlic/herb sauce and rubbed with a rosemary/herb blend.   The ham was served with a brown sugar glaze.  It was amazing!  And so were the dishes afterwards!  LOL  I have to say I have been blessed with an incredible husband (aka Uncle “D”) and he did the majority of them for me!  Truly a gift by itself! But the best part was catching up with my family!  I had cousins come that I haven’t seen in over ten years!  I had to laugh because as well as I planned the event (yes, it was actually on a spreadsheet with time allocations….some of you may have forgotten Auntie Heather is also a Corporate Controller! LOL), there were things I actually forgot!  Like the horseradish (which I don’t eat so I didn’t miss it LOL), the relish/olive appetizer plate, the chocolate cream pie (however we had so many other desserts to distract from it!), the mixed nut bowl…..and that’s just what I remember I forgot so  I am sure there was more LOL!  The great thing was my family didn’t notice anything was missing!  I really have been blessed with an incredible family and it was my honor to cook for them this holiday ! 

 I repeated the same dinner (included the forgotten items this time!) on Christmas Day for my other side of the family!  Yes, Auntie Heather did a LOT of cooking this holiday season.  So what did she do for New Year’s?......  SLEEP and recovered!  LOL  I hope your holidays were as enjoyable as mine.  My New Year’s advice to you after my holiday adventure….”Anything worth doing, is worth over-doing (our family motto LOL) and when you over-do and it’s not perfect, don’t fret.  Just smile and remember you are in the company of loved ones and chances are they didn’t notice anyways!  If you worry too much about the particulars, you forget to celebrate and rejoice in what is actually happening, which in my experience, is usually pretty awesome and memorable!  So don't pout or you'll miss out!”  ;) 

 Happy New Year AHH BBQ family and may God bless you and your families throughout the year!