Cozy Christmas Dinner

Our tried and true Prime Rib recipe is on the menu. How can you go wrong with a nice slow roast? We paired that with some hearty roasted veggies, a light salad, and our scalloped sweet potatoes for a meal that your whole family will love. We also made a couple cozy warm drinks that are perfect for the season and are going to have you feeling all kinds of festive. Plus, they are both easy to make for small groups.

Picking out a prime rib can be a daunting task, it’s a large investment so you want to make sure to get it right. That’s why we always recommend visiting your trusted local grocer that you know has a great meat selection. Next you’ll need to know how big of a roast to purchase. This can get a little tricky. Most will recommend one pound per person. We found that we needed more than that. If most people at your table love a good roast and have a healthy appetite, we think it’s safe to say you should plan on 1 ½ pounds for those folks. Plus, if you want to plan on leftovers, don’t forget to add that in as well.

Another handy trick to use while you are cooking your prime rib is a meat thermometer. If you don’t have one, it’s well worth the investment. This will help you keep an eye on the internal temperature of your roast and allow you to get it to the perfect temperature. Some models also offer the ability to set it to the temperature that you want, and an alarm will sound when it hits that temperature. We recommend going for 5 degrees below your desired temperature, this will allow your roast to finish cooking while you let it rest. Don’t be fooled, letting your roast rest may sound silly or not really necessary, but man oh man does it make a difference. Allowing your roast to rest for about 10-15 minutes will let the juices redistribute, otherwise when you are slicing and serving your roast all the juice will run out and your meat will be dry.

Now, as for the rest of the meal! We decided to make these delicious Scalloped Sweet Potatoes for a hearty, cheesy and totally yum side dish. For a much healthier side we whipped up Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash. This is a great addition as a side because it is so simple to throw together. With our Roasting Mix, all you have to do is prep your veggies and herbs and toss in olive oil. They roast up beautifully and you get a ton of flavor from the yummy rosemary, sage, and thyme combo. Next up we threw together a salad. We didn’t really follow any kind of recipe here, but we wanted some crunch, so we used 2 heads of romaine lettuce, thinly sliced, paired with a generous couple of handfuls of spinach. We topped that with some sliced beets from Love Beets, crumbled goat cheese, and a champagne dressing. It was divine!

Now on to the fun part: drinks! We loved these recipes because they both are great to make for groups and they were pretty simple to put together. The Cozy Vanilla Thyme Cocktail completely lives up to its name. Cozy is exactly how we would describe it, perfect for an evening in by the fire. Next, we tried our hand at an apple cider, but not just any apple cider. We made this Rosemary Caramel Apple Cider and wow, can we just say this is our new favorite thing. The rosemary and caramel combination is perfect with the crisp taste of the apple cider. This is the ultimate group drink because it is super simple to either make as a cocktail or just as a yummy warm drink, and the best part is you can prep this ahead of time, so one less thing to worry about as you are making dinner. The kids will especially love the whip cream topping with caramel drizzle. Just the right amount of fuss for a special drink for everyone!

We hope you all enjoy this holiday season, full of delicious food and spending time with the ones you love!

Happy Cooking!