This time of year brings out the 1950s homemaker in me. I didn’t even know she existed but she’s there — alive and kicking.

Cooking a beautiful meal for the holidays is a nice experience for everyone. And nothing expresses love like a great meal.

This is a wonderful, hearty holiday meal that your family and friends will rave about.

Beef Ribeye Roast With Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients

1              3 lb. boneless beef rib eye roast

3/4  ts     Salt, divided

1/2  ts     Pepper, divided

1/2  c      Chopped onion

1/2  c      Dry red wine

1  tb        Cornstarch

1  cn       (13 3/4 oz) single strength beef broth

1  cn       (4 oz) mushroom

pieces and stems, drained

1  tb        Chopped parsley

Instructions

About 1 1/2 hours before serving: Sprinkle roast with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Place boneless beef rib eye roast, fat side up, on rack in open roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer so bulb is centered in thickest part, but not resting in fat. Do not add water. Do not cover. Roast in 350 degree oven to desired degree of doneness. Allow 18 to 20 minutes for rare; 20 to 22 minutes for medium. About 15 minutes before serving, remove roast when meat thermometer registers 135 degrees for rare; 155 degrees for medium. Tent with aluminum foil; allow roast to “stand” 15 minutes in warm place before carving. Roast should continue to rise about 5 degrees in temperature to 140 degrees for rare, 160 degrees for medium. While roast is standing, remove rack from roasting pan; skim fat. Add onions to pan drippings; place roasting pan over medium high heat on top of range. Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3 minutes. Add wine; bring to boil; cook about 3 minutes or until thickened. Combine cornstarch and remaining, salt and pepper. Gradually, add beef broth to cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly; add to wine mixture in roasting pan. Continue cooking. Stir in mushrooms and parsley. Pour into serving container. Carve rib eye roast into thin slices. Serve with Red Wine and Mushroom Sauce.

Recipe courtesy of ichef.com.

Photo courtesy of Texas Beef Council.

Here’s an idea with a little kick for the holidays.

These can be served as appetizers — or if you’re not very formal like us — they can be served as a fun meal. With company coming, these kabobs make for a great, quick, healthy option that everyone will like.

Holiday Meat and Vegetable Kabobs

• 1 cup fresh pearl onions
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Original TABASCO® brand Pepper Sauce
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 pound boneless beef sirloin
• 2 large red bell peppers, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1 large green pepper, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1 large zucchini, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

Soak 3 dozen 4-inch-long wooden skewers in water overnight. In a 1-quart saucepan over high heat, bring pearl onions and enough water to cover them to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 3 minutes or until onions are tender. Drain. When cool enough to handle, peel away outer layer of skin.

In a medium bowl, combine balsamic vinegar, TABASCO^® Sauce, basil, garlic and salt and mix well. Pour half of mixture into another bowl. Cut chicken and beef into 3/4-inch chunks and place in one bowl with vinegar mixture, tossing well to coat. In remaining bowl of vinegar mixture, toss cooked pearl onions, red and green peppers, and zucchini. Let stand at least 30 minutes, tossing occasionally.

Preheat broiler. Skewer one chunk of chicken or beef and one each of red pepper, green pepper, onion and zucchini onto each skewer. Broil 4 to 6 minutes or to desired doneness, turning occasionally.

Makes 3 dozen hors d’oeuvres.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Tabasco.com.

The scene:  it’s just a run-of-the-mill Tuesday night here.

The kids are coloring, throwing the football in the house and fighting. They’ve already eaten since they’re on the 5:30 pm chicken-nuggets-every-night track.

But my husband will be home soon and the adults crave more than dino-shaped poultry can provide.

What to do?

I decided it was time to pull from the freezer the Beef Wellington I had ordered for just such an occasion. It’s heat & serve, but it smelled and tasted like I made it from scratch.

First, I opened up the box of Beef Wellington. They’re individually vacuum-sealed bundles of heaven . . .

Then, I unwrapped them and followed the instructions in the Gourmet Guide that came with the package. I sprayed a stainless steel rack with cooking spray and arranged the pastries on the rack on top of a cooking sheet. That’s so they won’t bake up soggy on the bottom. It’s a very important step.

Don’t they look like the perfect bakery-fresh pastries?

Then, I put them in a 400-degree oven for about 40 minutes according to the instructions. At about minute 6 I started smelling something really wonderful — probably the duxelle.

This is what they looked like after baking to my liking . . .

Oh, yeah. Crispy pastry goodness filled with filet mignon and a mushroom duxelle that is exquisite!

Can you see the amazing mushroom and herb mixture that surrounds the filet? Oh, mixed with the flaky goodness of the pastry and the juiciness of the beef, it is unbelievable.

Now, you can keep yours in the oven for a bit longer if you like a little less pink — or keep it in for less time if you like more pink. You decide.

But I know that this was just right for a wintry weekday evening where a can of soup was looking like it was going to make an appearance.

And this was just as easy! Serve with your favorite vegetable or a wild rice. Yum!

Hooray for heat & serve! Here’s where I ordered mine. Now I’m all out. I need to stock up again ’cause it looks like it’s going to be a long winter.

And this will definitely take the chill off.