Christmas 2010: The Food

Hope everyone’s Christmas was merry! Even if you’re not into the Christmas thing, hope your Saturday was at least stellar ;)

We’re missing a sister this year so it didn’t feel quite the same. But she’ll be here for New Years to party. Which in my opinion is way more important ;) Muhaha.

My mom and I were up early Christmas morning worrying about things we still had to prep for dinner. We got started right away while the others slept.

Mom assembled her layered salad. Something my sisters and I request every year and is one of our favourites!

A layer of iceberg, sweet peppers, celery, red onions, carrots, peas, mayo dressing, cheese and bacon. Peas may sound strange in a salad but it is SO DANG GOOD.

Meanwhile, I was assembling The Wife Saver. Aka “savory bread pudding.” Called the wife saver because it can be made the night before and just thrown in the oven on Christmas morning.

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Much like this savoury bread pudding I made last month, but with the addition of spinach and green onion.

Recipes for some of these dishes to come in a future post!

Mom also assembled a meat pie to add to our brunch line-up.

Mom’s meat pies are a mix of chicken, pork and beef slow cooked in spices and put into a pie crust.

My whole family makes meat pies every year for Christmas. As a kid, I always loaded them up with ketchup. But this year, I’m obsessed with the fancy relishes I keep finding in my mom’s fridge and pantry.

We patiently waited for the step siblings to arrive to finish unwrapping presents. It was tough! ;)

I asked for mostly camera stuff this year – including a Canon 50mm/f1.8 lens. I am in love with it already. I can’t stop snapping photos. I’ll do a post on the lens soon too!

Other gifts included a Snuggie for my Nana, and a cute specialty apron for myself.

Mom and I did quite a bit of food prep in advance so we wouldn’t have to spend all Christmas day in the kitchen. But we still had a couple hours where all four burners were going.

And in this household, the booze is always flowing.

I was DD so I stuck to a club soda with frozen raspberries. Deeelish!

We added a new dish to our rotation this year and it was a total hit! Scalloped tomatoes. A mix of tomatoes, croutons, basil and cheese. Super simple and waaaay delicious. The flavours fit in well with the rest of the dishes.

I insisted we have some roasted veggies on top of all the mashed ones. Sometimes I feel like I’m eating baby food on Christmas :P

My plate!

A bit of the tomatoes…

Roast veggies…

Mix of white & dark meat (later loaded with cranberry sauce) & stuffing…

Lots and lots of layered salad.

The annual Christmas table shot!

Last, but certainly not least, dessert!!

I am so proud of this – a pumpkin roll! I thought for sure my family was going to end up with scrambled cake. Rolling up a sheet cake was a stressful affair. But it held up!

And boyohboy, it was goooood. Very spicy with lots of cream cheese. Paired with a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt.

And a cup of decaf with a splash of eggnog (new addiction alert).

In all, a fabulous day filled with fabulous food and even better company. Best of all, is knowing I’m still here for another week!

Fret not, recipes for some of these dishes to come! For now I’m hunkering down for the 30-40cm (12-15 inches) of snow we’re supposed to get tomorrow. Finally – the snow I’ve been wishing for!!

 

Question of the Day: What’s are the best things you ate over the holidays? Mine include pumpkin roll, scalloped tomatoes, meat pie and chocolate trifle. Ohmy!