Christmas time is here

With the weather at 60 degrees yesterday, it does not feel like Christmas at all in NYC.

Alex and I are hosting a holiday party this weekend so most efforts this week will be put into that. I promise promise promise to try to take pics of the cooking process and post them later but in the meantime, here are the recipes I'll be using:

Antipasto
The usual salami, cheese, cornichons, olives and bread plus:
Mario Batali's eggplant caponata - I picked this one because it had mint and cocoa powder and pignoli nuts.
Roasted garlic
Balsamic onions (all of this inspired by ino one of my fave restaurants):
1. Dice sweet onion into 1/2" pieces. Vidalia or Maui onions work best.
2. In a saucepan, start sauteeing with unsalted butter.
3. When they've caramelized a little bit, add a bit of water.
4. Reduce, then add balsamic vinegar little by little.
5. Continue to cook, alternately adding water and balsamic vinegar until you've reached your desired taste. There is no set amount - I just keep tasting until it tastes like ino's.

Salad/Sides
Ginger Jeweled Salad from 101 Cookbooks
Vibrant Tasty Greenbeans from 101 Cookbooks

Mains
Mac n Cheese (making this with scallions, tomatoes, creme fraiche, fontina and gruyere - recipe is from Bon Appetit magazine, minus the cauliflower)
Smoked ham with spiced peaches

Dessert
Emeril's Rhum Baba

Kind of a lot of stuff but much of it can be made ahead of time, which is what I like best. Hope there will be enough food as we'll be feeding about 20 people who are coming with drinks and big empty stomachs.