Recipes

Friday, December 26, 2008

Amazing Christmas…and a Happy Day After

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(note my HUGE stocking on the left side leaning up against the couch)

I am EXHAUSTED!! Mom, me, my aunt and 2 of my cousins were at the mall at 6AM this morning!! No worries though, this is like our favorite shopping day EVER!!! I seriously look forward to it almost as much as Christmas itself.

But let's rewind to Christmas Eve...

Traffic was HORRIBLE getting down to my aunts house, and I was really late and at that point just so mentally frustrated from being in the car so long...and I dropped a really nice bottle of champagne vinegar I got for my aunt so that just was the icing on the cake. Luckily I re-grouped and had some great food. Christmas eve is less dinner, more lots of random bites here and there. I had salad, meatballs, crab cakes, chicken wings, cippino (? - Italian seafood stew/soup), and random cheese and veggies...all delicious!!! Sorry no pics. Then there were presents and lots of family fun time...about 45 people (just my moms side). Then home to bed so Santa could come!! But first Santa had to wrap stocking stuffers for mom hehe.

“A Banana Christmas”

I'll explain the “Banana” in a sec, but first Christmas breakfast...aka Pie Making by products haha :)

Rolly=pollies! These are little treats made from leftover pie crust. My mom made two pies this morning then took the extra pie crust scraps, rolled them out, spread some butter, sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon, then roll up, slice, and bake!! YUMMMMM!

I probably had 3 or 4 over the course of the morning.

One of the pies was Chocolate Cream…you know what that means

A little bowl of extra hot pudding with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream.  There you have it, breakfast of champions…chocolate pudding and little pastries :)

Good thing I couldn’t wait to try out my new HRM!!  But first, PRESENTS!!

Starting with my HUGE stocking…the next three pictures are all my stocking stuffers

I heart my big stocking:)

This is what my mom meant when she said it was a very Banana Christmas for me…

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Can you tell I love that store??  I have no problem with lots of clothes hehe…

A nice pair of grey work pants    IMG_2045
Cute green sweater

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Black sweater dress, with grey bands on the bottom and the button details at the waist.

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And two gorgeous scarves!  The one on the left is wool and so so soft and warm, the one on the right is like a thin linen material and is so colorful!

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I also got a really warm long black winter coat..kind of like a down one with a fur rimmed hood.  I told her I wanted a REALLY warm coat. 

I also gave her the Anthopologie hints

Now I have BOTH “B” mugs they make!  Perfect, Brian can use this one :)  And she ALSO got my the same measuring cups Brian got me so I returned them today and got two more of those cute little bowls to go with the two from Brian.

All in all another great Christmas!! 

Good thing I had some “real” breakfast after my run…Chobani, banana, and Kashi U!

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Because later there was the dinner celebration at my aunts…I definitely didn’t hold back here…SO MUCH AMAZING FOOD!

Shrimp cocktail, homemade guac, and delicious proscuitto and salamis from the North End in Boston… IMG_2051
Smoked salmon with the trimmings….yum! 
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CHEESE!!!
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My aunt’s sister-in-law’s Vinegar peppers…I don’t know how she makes these things but they are out of this world!

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Needless to say I made many trips to this area for various appetizers.

Oh but then there was the main courses…

IMG_2057  Turkey, of course

 

 

 

 

IMG_2058Turnips…kind of like scalloped style!

   

 

 

 

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Mushrooms and sweet potatoes!

 

 

 

 

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The most incredible caramelized baby onions you will EVER have.

 

 

 

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Squash :)

 

 

 

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Ham!  I was so excited!  I haven't had this kind of ham in what feels like ages.

 

 

 

 

 

And then there was my plate…OVERLOAD ALERT!! 

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Why of why do I end up with such a full plate…I was STUFFED!!!!  Like painfully stuffed…I hate when I do that.  Then just when I was starting to feel better…dessert came out.

Pumpkin pie

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Pecan pie, chocolate cream pie, mince meat pie (no one but my grandfather actually likes that), and various cookies…
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I ended up with tiny slivers of pumpkin, pecan, and chocolate cream.

My pastry chef aunt didn’t show up til later, and I did not have any of this but this is the cake she made for my cousin who’s birthday is Christmas!! 

The ribbon is real ribbon but the rest is cake!!

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She also brought a Buche noel (Yule log), of which I stole a meringue mushroom…mmm!

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Well that was my Christmas day!  I hope yours was filled with as much great family and food as mine!

I think I need a nap haha…I’ll have to post today’s shopping purchases later :)

Was Santa good to you too???

18 comments:

  1. Love the B mug! I have both, too :) And Banana is the best place to receive christmas gifts from. You lucked out for sure! And Mmmm to those pies. Delicious!

    Ah, your aunt is very talented! Beautiful cake.

    So glad you had a great holiday Bridget!

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  2. Wowza, so many goodies!! And I love your giant stocking, haha :-D

    Santa was VERY good to me this year - glad that he was good to you too ;-)

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  3. Wow! What a spread! Looks like you had a great Christmas.

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  4. What a fun Christmas! The tree and food set-ups are beautiful. AND that salami from the North End- yumm!! What a fun time with family, enjoy your weekend!

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  5. HOLY COW! So many great things - that cake, your stocking stuffers (which look very similar to mine, must be a food blog thing ;) ), all the banana loot, warm pudding and ice cream - I could go on for DAYS!

    Glad to see you have a wonderful Christmas!!

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  6. i'm making a trip to anthropologie tomorrow, and hope that i can find that mug with my initial on it! also, is your dog a shih-tzu? i have one too - oscar! :)

    merry xmas and happy new year!

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  7. overwhelmed with goodness :) i can't believe they got a cereal box in your stocking! lol. oh, santa, i'll never complain :)

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  8. holy moly you got some niceee stuff in your stocking!

    all your eats look so great and looks like you had fun!

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  9. wow Bridget! I loved hearing about your Christmas! Your tree is gorgeous, your gifts are awesome, and it looks like you had a beautiful feast!!
    Thanks for sharing!!
    Take care!!!

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  10. Looks like you had a GREAT Christmas! Love the big stocking!! Such a cute fun idea to have the oversized one stuffed with great practical goodies.

    That cake is AMAZING! Almost to beautiful to eat!

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  11. I gave that same scarf from Banana to my mom for Christmas...I am a huge Banana fan myself--I got lots of great stuff on sale today actually.

    All your eats look fab!

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  12. I love all of your Christmas presents!!!! Look at all those bars and great new clothes.

    I got lots of great things - more stuff than I could imagine!

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  13. Can I just admit that I am so jealous of all your great gifts? And I can't get over the size of your stocking!! I'm glad you had a nice Christmas.

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  14. i LOVE your stocking stuffers AND those clothes - fab!

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  15. o0o0o0 sooo many great treats!!!

    love your stocking stuffers :) sometimes they make me happier than my big gifts; so fun!

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  16. Merry Christmas :) Love your stocking stuffers!

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  17. Yummy eats and I love Banana!!! I don't think I've ever been to their store without buying a few things. Love it!
    How do you like your new HRM?

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  18. so many things I love in this post. The cinnamon breakfast thingees - yum yum.

    I have an L mug from Anthropologie! and I adore that green sweater from banana!

    great christmas eats! glad you had a great holiday!

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