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New Years Eve 2005

For those of you who missed it, this was the best dinner, ever! Click on a thumbnail for a larger image.
Becky Becky, who became a skilled Feuerfrau that evening.
Dave I spent many hours getting the bread oven up to the necessary temperature.
Meanwhile Meanwhile, others watched television...
Second fire ... whilst tending their own fire.
Raw Here is a publicity shot of the ten-and-a-half-pound rib roast. We found that we had to re-skewer it for balance, as the clockwork spitjack is a temperamental piece of equipment (as you would expect of Italian-made machinery).
Placement Here, Dave and I position the roast on the spit (the first time). In addition to learning that it needed to be re-skewered, we determined that it was best to attach the spit farther from the fire, and then bring the assembly to the heat!
Rotating Here the roast is actually rotating on the spit. We ultimately positioned it off-center on the spit so that cranking could be accomplished somewhat shielded from direct heat.
Blessed is the meat All systems go! The roast browns oh-so-beautifully.
Parsnips After a half-hour we decided that we should move the roast much farther from the fire (to 5-Mississippi) because it was cooking too quickly. Here, Tom is positioning parsnips for ember roasting.
Midway A nice shot of the roasting about mid-way, with vegetables.
Potatoes Here, Tom demonstrates ember-roasting techniques in the Family Room fireplace.
Bread Becky proudly places her freshly-baked milk bread on a stand to cool.
Gary and Cindy Gary and Cindy arrived at more or less the perfect moment to harvest the fruit of the day's labours. But we did make Gary wind up the spit a few times.
Table Here we are gathered to enjoy this exceedingly home-cooked meal of spit-roasted prime rib with sauces of horseradish and rosemary-garlic jus, paired with a freshly baked loaf of milk bread and fire-roasted onions, potatoes, parsnips and red peppers. Very tasty.
Club room After toasting in the New year with Dick Clark and quantitues of Veuve Clicquot, we retire to the club room for contemplation...
Table ... and s'mores, because yes, there's a fire going in that room too.