So, sinus infection headache notwithstanding, Vonnie perused the pages of Tom's brother's edition of the landmark cookbook - which contains little notes about what he had tried and approved of - and selected the following:
- Bifteck Saute' Bearnaise (pan-broiled steak with Bernaise sauce)
- Gratin Jurassien (scalloped potatoes to die for - probably literally)
- Choice of three sauces - mushrooms in pan juices, regular Bearnaise sauce, and Bearnaise with pan juices
To round out the meal we added too many loaves of bread and a regular old tossed salad that allowed us to pretend we were offsetting some of the saturated fat content of everything else. Plus the usual pre-meal treats which we always say we shouldn't do because it fills us up too much and then we always go ahead and do anyway.
The result: spectacularly tummy-filling. We deemed the pan-broiled rib eyes to be as good as grilled. The potatoes were yummy, done just right (we think because we actually followed the instructions to put them in a shallow baking dish). We could feel our arteries harden as they went down, but what a way to go. We agreed the enhanced Bernaise took top spot among the sauces but they all were pretty darn good. Recipes here.
We topped off the evening with Vonnie's award-winning Kahula and coffee, a round of Wii bowling which was won by Vonnie, and midnight mimosas as we wondered what on earth possessed Jennifer Lopez to choose that awful body suit to sing in Times Square and on national television.
The Odells lasted 20 minutes into the new year before heading home. George made a night of it with a world-class case of the hiccups.
Given this year's hideous year-ending weather - remembering it was year-end hideous weather that started our tradition in the first place - we're thinking a New Year's Eve in some tropical location might be in order for our 32nd annual festivities. Stay tuned.
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