More holiday celebration, this time from the bon appétit site yesterday, in “Have Yourself a Very ’70s Christmas Dinner” by Anna Pillai. An advance sample:
(#1)
Succulent golden turkey enveloped in aspic, the finest of brussels sprouts shaped in a mold, more of the finest brussels sprouts scattered on a rigid bed of noodles, and the creamiest of cheese sauces, a rich, creamy blue-cheese mousse, and a snowman cake that would scare even the toughest of your aunts. Such are the dishes that Christmas dreams are made of.
A couple of years ago I started digging into my mum’s old recipe books from the seventies. Then I upped my kitchen game, taking inspiration from the decade in which I was born, making my family meals from these very books, that might not have tasted great but looked absolutely stupendous. How my kids gasped when I unveiled yet another sandwich loaf. How my husband groaned when I placed before him a one of my speciality sauerkraut surprises.
This year, I shall apply the same aesthetic flourish to Christmas, making something truly show-stopping that will capture the magical insanity that the holiday is all about. I shall leave the predictable and pedestrian Yuletide spread to my neighbors with the tastefully understated Christmas lights in their window. Because I know that if there are two things that Christmas should never be, it’s tasteful and understated. Christmas should be colorful, garish, noisy, campy, and slightly obnoxious. In short, Christmas Day should be like the whole of the seventies rolled into one and molded in aspic. Delicious.
Here are just a few ways you can make your Christmas the Christmas your family
The full set: Gelatin Christmas Trees, Holiday Hostess Tree (above), Holiday Tuna Tree, Turkey in Aspic, Brussels Sprouts Mould (#2 below), Snowman Cake, Blue Cheese Mousse (#3 below), Cheese Cones.
(#2)
Brussels sprouts with cheese sauce, and egg noodles, fine. But in a mold?
(#3)
Blue food tends to be unnerving.
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