the occasion is rare (but not the meat)

I don't often follow an entire meal's worth of recipes; usually I just pick out one part because I don't want to screw up multiple parts in one dinner. But everything was laid out perfectly in Cooking Light's Herb-Roasted New York Strip recipe, so it was pretty easy to follow.

First, I used their suggestion of subbing boneless porkchops (since I don't eat steak); they still cooked just fine and had plenty of flavor. Oh, this isn't mentioned in the link but it was in the issue; just use a pack of four boneless chops. Also included in the magazine was instructions for roasted potato wedges--you stick them in the oven first and they finish right alongside everything else. Let me see if I can find it...here it is. They were tender and not undercooked, which can happen with potatoes. Our only issue was making a few too many. We could have made do with two.

As for the peas and carrots...you know how people say everything's better with bacon? Well, in this case they're kind of right. I rarely eat bacon but this isn't a recipe where you can cheat and sub with something else.