But seriously, Merry Christmas

 

Luke Bryan is fun, but this is what it's about

Linus knew then, and he's still right:





Merry Christmas, y'all.

Merry Christmas

Wishing for the best for all of you this holiday season. This should perk you up:




Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas, y'all

Hope Christmas is good to you. But remember:

An oldie but goody.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas all of you:

Merry Christmas, all

Just because it's a cartoon character doesn't make it wrong:

Merry Christmas, everyone.

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.

Some more Christmas music for you

The Waitresses probably are best known in this country for the theme song to the very short-lived TV sitcom "Square Pegs,"  although the early '80s college crowd should remember "I Know What Boys Like." Great stuff, both. Here's their take on Christmas, heard less often in this country -- the band was from Akron, but this song charted in the UK, not the U.S. -- but worth a listen:

Merry Christmas.

Bing and Bowie, bustin' it

They only did one duet, and it actually seems less strange that Bing Crosby only did one duet with David Bowie than it does that Bing Crosby did a duet with David Bowie. Unlikely as the pairing might be, it worked really well. I remember seeing this the first time, and had not seen it since, until now. Hat tip to Ace for that.



Please forgive David Bowie's haircut. It was the '70s.

Merry Christmas, y'all

I hope all of you have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I don't care if you celebrate Christmas. I hope the day brings you joy, as every day should. I likewise hope the coming new year is good to you. God bless all of you, and keep coming back.

In case you get jammed up at the mall today, remember this

This is what Christmas is all about, people.

Merry Christmas.

Well, it is Christmas Eve, after all

So I suppose we should have an appropriate message. Hat tip to Ace, and here's the Drop-Kick Murphys:

Merry Christmas, y'all.