Kitchen

[house_cat]

I've decided to make a vegetable lasagna, using eggplant and mushrooms to enrich the sauce.  I'll also make the gnocchi with meatballs, so there will be something for everyone.

They "voted" for the Caesar salad, green beans, balsamic roasted brussels sprouts (Ina Garten), oreo cheese cake and apple pie.  Of course I'll bake some traditional cookies, as well.

My SIL, who is visiting from NY, says she'll bring a chocolate cake.  She likes those dark chocolate flourless cakes that give me an instant migraine, no exaggeration.  She's used to the bakeries in NY... when she gets here she'll realize it won't be easy to find.

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

I've got my menu and an 11"x18" graphic organizer all set up.  I'm ready for this!

[Sammijo10]

As an Italian American from NY, the eggplant sounds like a terrific compromize since there's no need to make an additional vegetarian dish.  As Forrest Gump said," one less thing."

I once made a butternut squash lasagne for a Christmas Eve family dinner and it went over very well.  It was a Giada De Laurentis recipe from Food Network, I believe.  Also vegetarian, but no red sauce.  I also had a 'side' of meatballs for those that weren't vegetarian and needed that red sauce hit for it to be a 'proper' holiday meal!  

[CrazyKittyLvr2]

@house_cat  At the risk of sounding dumb, what do you mean by 8 x 11 grid organizer?

I may make a list of what I need to do but that's it.

[CrazyKittyLvr2]

@house_cat  oops, graphic organizer, not grid.

[AuntG]

Based on the pictures, I'd have chosen lasagna too. Don't do a vegetarian lasagna when you showed a picture of a yummy meat filled dish. To me, that would be bait and switch. You could do both.

[house_cat]

@CrazyKittyLvr2 

I'm a teacher, so graphic organizers work well for my brain.  It's just a huge paper with shapes and arrows and stuff like that... much like a flow chart, but homemade.

I made the meatballs and gnocchi today - it's all tucked away in the freezer ready to go.  There aren't a lot of weekends left to prepare things and I have no time during the week.