Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 was one of my favorite Christmases I can remember.   From our Christmas Eve dinner at our house, to Christmas morning with my in laws, to finishing the day and night at my parents' house in the snow, the day was filled with comfort, love, laughter, and food!

When John and I arrived at my parents' house around 2 pm, snow was already sticking and coming down hard.  We ran outside to take some family portraits - if you're from Georgia, you know - when it starts snowing you take tons of pictures, because it doesn't happen often!

After playing around in the snow, we ran inside and promptly attacked my mom's appetizer spread: guac with pita chips and Bugles (what a blast from the past! I forgot how buttery and good Bugles are!), Ina Garten's spiced nuts, and cheese and crackers.  

We munched and chatted for a while, and then we Skyped with my sister Becky who stayed in Raleigh for Christmas this year.  It was the first Christmas I can remember without her, which was sad, but Skype made it seem like she was sitting in the kitchen opening gifts with us!  

Isn't she cute?!

We opened presents and chilled by the fire with cocktails, then it was time for the FOOD!  

My mom totally switched up the menu from our usual prime rib or beef with mashed potatoes, and made an awesome, healthy Christmas dinner that we all agreed made for a much more pleasant evening - no stomach aches, but we still felt like we had had a special meal.  She used three different recipes from Ina Garten's newest cookbook, How Easy Is That?

Greek Salad with homemade pita chips

Dad carving his masterpiece

Turkey breast made on the grill, and couscous with toasted pine nuts.

Cranberry Apple "cake"

 Everything was delicious.  I was obsessed with the Greek salad and the "cake" (which we debated whether it was really a cake - the cookbook calls it that but it was really a cross between a cake and a pie, in our collective opinion).


As I mentioned yesterday, we ended up getting snowed in and spent the day after Christmas in Alpharetta as well, which was a much needed extended stay because it forced me to do nothing :-)  We made some bonfires, played with Sam, read books (I finished Prep and started Steve Martin's new book, An Object of Beauty, which was a gift from my brother), and watched football.

Tim and I cooked my chicken and black bean chili in the crockpot for everyone on the 26th, which was really good, and satisfied my need to cook after a day off!  Tim got a crockpot for Christmas so it was fun teaching him an easy recipe to make when he's back at Ft. Bragg.

So that's it for Christmas 2010.  We're back in Atlanta now, enjoying some much needed time off.  Hope you're enjoying the break - have a great night!