In the perfect world, I would tell you that yeah, of course, I’ve gotten a thoughtful and well-suited gift for everyone in my family.

I’d even tell you that I wrapped them all in holiday-appropriate wrapping paper, and that I didn’t just reuse a lot of baby-themed gift bags that seem to be overtaking our hallway closet. 

But that would be a lie. Menu planning on the other hand? Well that’s been taken care of already.

Our family’s tradition involves Christmas Eve’s Eve in Madison at our house, a Christmas Eve at the cabin, and Christmas Day in Milwaukee at my in law’s house.

The menu for dinner at the cabin and Milwaukee are traditional and have been perfected over the years.

But the night we spend in Madison, well, let’s just say I get free reign.

Because we always have prime rib for dinner on Christmas Eve and ham for dinner on Christmas day, I usually serve fish as the main course at our house.

This year, I’m going to be making my Russian salmon pie, which comes out of the oven absolutely beautiful and can feed a crowd.

But if I felt like pushing the envelope a little bit more, I’d go straight vegetarian, and serve this beautiful root vegetable tatin.

Carrots, sweet potatoes, purple potatoes, and onions are roasted to perfection and then topped with a flaky pie crust and baked once more.

When the crust is golden brown and flaky, it all comes out of the oven and with a quick flip, you’ve got this beautiful tatin.

This is a meal fit for a holiday table, especially if you’ve got vegetarians in attendance.

So do them a favor, don’t make them fill up on side dishes, and give them the gift of a tart tatin (but also you should probably get them something else too).

Braised Kuri Squash with Shishito Peppers

Vin Chaud {French Mulled Wine}

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
• ¼ cup ice water
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Instructions

• In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Add butter, and using your fingers or a pastry blender, combine until mixture resembles coarse pea-sized crumbles.
• In a small bowl, mix together water and vinegar. Pour a little at a time into bowl with flour, and incorporate into dough just until it hbrds together. Alternatively, you can do this all in a food processor or stand mixer. The dough should hbrd together but still be a little flaky.
• Shape dough into a disc and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least an hour.