We were on Long Island for Christmas, and I volunteered to cook Christmas Eve dinner for the four of us: Ben, his mom and brother John, and me. Ben’s mom can’t eat gluten, so risotto seemed like a natural fit, especially since we were having a big ham on Christmas and a meat-heavy meal wasn’t required.

I made a double batch of mushroom and sausage risotto, since B’s brother eats as only a 6’5″ 20 year old can. It nearly outgrew the pot by the end, but I eked by.

For salad I dressed mesclun with a sherry-vinegar vinaigrette, then topped it with slices from a beautiful Oregon Comice pear, and walnuts that I’d sort of candied with some brown sugar. Here you see my normal-sized salad next to John’s big one:

I was very brave and made a flan for dessert, complete with caramel. Sadly the vanilla extract had gone a little funny, so it had a strange alcoholic overtone, but it looked great—I couldn’t believe it came out of the pan in one piece. I cooked down a bag of frozen organic cherries with a little amaretto for a sauce.