Good morning. This is it, for those celebrating Christmas tomorrow: the final push. Maybe there’s a turkey dry-brining in the fridge, or a ham waiting for its holiday glaze. Some will prepare prime rib, or a mushroom Wellington, or crack open oysters by an open fire.
Perhaps you’ll make cookies today, so that the children may leave a few out for Santa in the evening. You could make pastelitos, or a big lasagna, for the coming hordes of family, or to eat slowly over the coming days.
I am partial, myself, to these easy, no-yeast cinnamon rolls, a recipe our Margaux Laskey adapted from the one Allysa Torey uses at Magnolia Bakery. (A mixture of baking soda and baking powder offers the lift.) They’re a perfect introduction to a few days of gifts and carols, cups of coffee and naps on the couch. “Stop what you are doing and MAKE THIS,” one of our readers noted on the recipe. “They are outstanding!”
Featured Recipe
Easy No-Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
As for the rest of the week. …
Monday
If your Christmas plans call for a showstopper, you should consider Alexa Weibel’s ace recipe for a squash and root vegetable ombré gratin, which is exactly the sort of project to keep you out of trouble in the kitchen for a few hours. It’s not just beautiful, but incredibly delicious, a holiday wow.
Tuesday
Yewande Komolafe’s recipe for jollof rice is as suitable for a Boxing Day dinner as it is for the start of the Kwanzaa holiday, a dish worth arguing over and making your own. Braised goat — or lamb, pork or beef — to go with? Yes, please!
Wednesday
I love Genevieve Ko’s recipe for roasted salmon with miso cream, both because it’s fantastic and because it comes together relatively quickly for such a stunning platter of food. I pile thatches of watercress around the fish when I serve it, alongside a crunchy baguette.
Thursday
After days of feasting, I’ll downshift into Sarah DiGregorio’s slow-cooker cauliflower, potato and white bean soup, allow it to burble along all day, then serve it beneath a topping of shredded Cheddar and sour-cream-and-onion potato chips — a homey and, I think, kind of elegant touch.
Friday
And then you can head into the holiday weekend with an easy win in advance of all the Auld Lang Syne: Francis Lam’s stir-fried tomatoes and eggs. It’s home-style Chinese food at its easiest and most delicious, perfect with a mound of rice.
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Now, it’s a considerable distance from anything to do with food, but I ran across a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child that I hadn’t read: “Bad Luck and Trouble,” from 2007. It’s terrific, but if you’d prefer to zone out in front of a screen, the story forms the backbone of the second season of “Reacher,” just out on Amazon Prime.
I also really enjoyed Robert Darnton on the dream of a universal library, in The New York Review of Books.
And yes, you should read Sloane Crosley on Greta Gerwig, in Vanity Fair.
Finally, do take a few minutes to watch and listen to Shane MacGowan’s friends and former bandmates perform “Fairytale of New York” at MacGowan’s funeral in Nenagh, in County Tipperary, Ireland, last week. The bells were ringing out for Christmas Day. I’m off next week, but I’ll see you on New Year’s Eve.
