I got all the Christmas food porn you can handle

I promised you Christmas food porn, and I am delivering -- sort of. The recipe for a green bean casserole that I used -- and documented with photos because it was a first-timer -- sucked, so I won't be posting the photos and instructions. Also, I got a little caught up and missed a few end-time photos on the tenderloin. Having given those mea culpas, we will now continue.

The centerpiece of any dinner, especially Christmas, is the main entree. In this case, it was a slab of tenderloin, seasoned according to the recipe of an old friend of my late mother-in-law's. The friend was a caterer who gave me only after I swore myself to secrecy to protect her proprietary information. Since she has since passed, I feel like I can now share the recipe. So here it is.

You will start with a 3-pound (or so) piece of tenderloin, which you will lay out on a large piece of aluminum foil:

You will be rubbing this sucker with a tablespoon of thyme, so you should probably get some time and grind it, so it rubs better:

Take the thyme, rub it all over the tenderloin :

Now, mix a teaspoon of white pepper, 1 tablespoon of seasoned salt, a teaspoon of garlic salt, 1/4 teaspoon of oregano and a teaspoon of salt:

Pour the seasoning evenly over the tenderloin:

Roll the tenderloin around on the foil to pick up all the seasoning, and rub it around on the tenderloin to spread it evenly. And for God's sake, remember, it's a tenderloin. Don't get too excited. Just make sure the seasoning is thoroughly distributed:

Yeah, that's a Diet Coke can. It was 9 am on Christmas Eve. Even I can't start drinking beer that early. Anyway, wrap that sucker in the aluminum foil:

Refrigerate that thing until it's time to cook it on Christmas Day.

Is it time? Cool. Take the meat out of the refrigerator 2 hours before you plan to put it in the oven . Put the beef in a roasting pan, sprinkle it with a teaspoon of salt, add 1/4 cup of of worcestershire sauce and 1 cup of water to the pan/ Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, cook it for about 35 minutes for rare to medium rare. Depending upon the thickness of your tenderloin, it likely will take longer. Yes, I missed the photos of this part of the cooking, but I was up to my ears in people and other food prep. So sue me. Anyway, the meat eventually looks like this:

We also had mashed potatoes (no photo), a sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole and corn pudding:

I baked some bread that turned out pretty good:

And here's a plate with a sampling:

Anyway, it was great. Come New Year's, we'll have the black-eyed peas, so there's that to look forward to. Try the tenderloin for you next special occasion. Not a cheap piece of meat, but well worth it. Bon appetit, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.