Christmas Eve Dinner

alternate title:
Adventures in Butchery


I wanted to make an elegant Christmas Eve dinner this year- so Matt and I put together a menu I was really excited about:
Pan-Roasted Pear Salad with Balsamic Glaze
Stuffed Roast Tenderloin (stuffed with caramelized onion, mushrooms, and Marsala wine)
Braised Brussels Sprouts with Sage Butter
Mushroom Risotto
Yorkshire Puddings
and
Egg Nog Creme Brule for dessert.
Yummy!
Well - we had a tough time finding the beef tenderloin. We didn't want to drive all around town because of the nasty weather, so after THREE grocery stores, we went home. VERY disappointed. I called around the next day and discovered that they have them at Costco (wahoo!) so Matt went after work and picked up the smallest one they had (6.6 lbs!) That meant I had a lot of butchering to do. Yep- that's a chef knife in the picture! and my BIGGEST cutting board. Covered in Parchment paper because it's not big enough- haha.
I went on You-Tube and learned how to trim, clean, and butcher my own Beef Tenderloin. This is, by far, the most money I have EVER spent on dinner, and I was a wee bit nervous about getting it just right! So praise God for You Tube, after about 4 videos I felt confidant enough to start slicing into the most valuable part of a dead cow.



beautiful! I got my nice center cut roast for dinner, plus a small, 2 person roast for another night, 6 petite fillet Mignon's, and some stir fry scraps. Oh boy, am I glad for a nice big freezer :o) What treats we have in store for us! This frugal wife almost always buys top sirloin.


Well, I stuffed and tied my roast... a little tricky but easier than I thought! Pan browned and then into the oven for a mere 20 minutes.


Oops, forgot to take a picture until she was carved and half gone!

And here's the plate- my food pictures never look too good.... but I'm more than happy with how it all tasted!
Matt's pretty presentation of the salad


Table for four?

Don't forget dessert! We love to bring out the torch at the table, of course

Thumb Sucker

Oooooh yeah-

That's the good stuff.

Hey Santa!

Despite the blizzard, Nana just had to take Rowen to meet Santa. (How else would he tell him what he wanted for Christmas???) So- we met Nana and Poppop at the mall, and of course Nana brought Rowen a Christmas outfit for the occasion. Since the line was so long, we just decided to dress him right there on the mall bench. How embarrassing for him! hehe.


Funny, Santa didn't ask him if he'd been a good little boy, or what he wanted for Christmas. I guess he already knew!

look out, ladies

We had a really nice "Christmas" dinner with some friends at the Buckendorfs about a week ago. Rowen of course had fun flirting with Miss Riley. Boy, are we going to be in trouble when all these babies get older! There may be no shortage of girlfriends ;)

CHEEEEEESE!

Arctic Blast 2008 with the Happels

My hubby put together this little viddy for your enjoyment-

Rowen was neither pleased nor dismayed at the frigid temperatures- even when I put him down face up on the hood of the car (it was snowing!) to make his first snow angel. Funny guy...
Don't worry, we didn't stay out too long.

ACCF Sunday Services

Due to the school district closure, we will be meeting this Sunday, December 21st, at the
Abernethy Center in Oregon City. We will have two services at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM.
Bring the whole family into the service (We are unable to provide childcare).
Our Sunday evening service is cancelled.
Please drive carefully, and have fun in the snow!

Check the website for more detailed info!

Bustamante Bliss!

Oh. My. Goodness.
A whopping 5 pounds, here is little miss Fiona! Can you believe her hair? Oh man. She is such a cutie pie. Kathleen and Bryan had their teeny sweetie Wednesday morning in the wee hours - about 5 weeks early - but Mama and baby are doing great! Bryan has already warned Rowen that he'd better have Fiona in by 10pm.
Look how giant he looks next to her! I guess he is 35 times her age. (72 days old - 2 days old - har har har)

The happy new family!

We love you guys! Can't wait for play dates!

Oh yeah- and they have joined the blogging world: http://www.bustamante622.blogspot.com/

Rowen's Dedication, part 2

attempting to upload a video.... I think it might be huge. Matt taught me how last night - I think I'm supposed to "compress" it for the web, but I can't remember where that step was... haha. Oh well!

It was 4 weeks ago, but here's Rowen's dedication at church in case you missed it!

Conversations with Nanna

Church is Canceled!

In case you haven't heard and you check my blog often enough: no bible study tomorrow night. They have to go by the school closures- everyone stay safe and warm out there!!