Sunday, December 27, 2009

Christmas Weekend Dishes

Hello all!! I hope you had a VERY merry Christmas! Ours was just wonderful. We spent the day at my parents with my sister and her family. Santa was very good to Josh, myself and even Franky! I wanted to share a few of the eats from the weekend with you. I was a semi bad blogger and didn't take pictures of too much this weekend, so I apologize for the sparse images.

Outside the three varieties of hummus that I made as an appetizer (btw- no idea what the plural form of hummus is either haha), I also made a cauliflower gratin as a side dish. I used this food and wine recipe, but replaced the broccoli with a green variety of cauliflower, the cheddar with Gruyere, and eliminated the olives. It is MUCH lighter than other gratin recipes I've had in the past (no cream!!) and is totally delicious:

I also made up another batch of graham cracker pancakes on Christmas Day. This time, I used 1 cup of graham cracker crumbles and 1/2 cup of flour (vs. 3/4 of each). I will definitely continue to make the pancakes with this ratio- so delicious!:


Saturday was a day of working out (taught Body Step), running errands & cleaning. Josh and I got the whole house cleaned and caught up on lots of laundry. We also enjoyed dinner out at Mellow Mushroom.
Today, my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and my niece came over to our house for football. I set out a few easy appetizers, some mixed nuts:

And tortilla chips, pretzels and salsa:
I also made up a big batch of Aggie's pulled pork:

Which was served with cooked peppers & onions, bbq sauce, big pickles, cole slaw, and fruit salad (not pictured). This is my dad's plate:


I made up a monster salad with the cooked peppers & onions, fruit salad, black beans, salsa, romaine & broccoli slaw. We also enjoyed some delicious desserty treats my mom brought along.
Now we're relaxing! Did you have a nice Christmas (if you celebrate)? What was your favorite foodie part? Do you guys have New Years plans??

59 comments:

Janna (Just Flourishing) said...

Glad you had such a good Christmas!

Picture of pancakes always make me want some!

I'm spending New Years with my family!!! Which I haven't done in a very long time. :)

~M~ said...

I love pretzels dipped in salsa!! Those pancakes look great!

Lauren said...

Sounds like a perfect Christmas.

I need to try these pancakes of yours. They look so incredible! :)

Glad you had a wonderful holiday love. Always thinking of you and wishing you the best! :)

homecookedem said...

Oh goodness! All of your dishes look so delicious!! So many foodie parts to choose from for me! I think my sister's red velvet cake bites, take the ummm, cake? ;)

Glad you had such a nice Christmas and Santa was so good to you and your family!! :)

No solid NYE plans yet, though we have had some invites... being a homebody I just want to stay in and Andrew wants to go out, so we'll have to work on something that'll make us both happy. What about YOU?! :)

Anonymous said...

Everything thing looks really good, as usual.

I'm not sure what I'm doing for NYE. I kind of just want to go out to dinner and have a laid back evening. We shall see.

vanillasugarblog said...

yeah I'll have what your dad is having, totally

Jessica said...

Your food looks fab darling!! :)

kilax said...

Hummuses? Ha ha.

What yummy spreads!

We had a wonderful Christmas! My favorite foodie part was being the Sous Chef :) We have tentative NYE plans!

Julie said...

haha this is me cordially inviting you to take the drive up to NY and come to our psu new years day bash! haha i know you wanna ;) deej is throwing a kind of big (or we'll see) banger for the game! make the driiiive

glad you had such a good holiday :) everytime you talk about the mellow mushroom it totally makes me want to go. our xmas was good! i think my favorite part was for sure the sweet potato gallete from janethas blog. prob just gonna get sushi with some friends and do some saki bombing on new years pretty low key and nothing toooo espensive!

Unknown said...

you have been busy girl!! hope you had a wonderful christmas :) off to check out that cauliflower gratin recipe!

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

LOVE the looks of the cauli and brock recipe. And of course the pancakes with graham crackers!!!!!!! IVe recently just seen online a decent source for GF Graham crackers and god, those pancakes look awesome!

You asked in your last comment to me which tattoo was my fave. I would say the Om on my foot or my armband around my right arm. The later b/c it's edgy and Ive had it long before they were mainstream. And the Om b/c it's so symbolic and represents all that is good, pure, and right with yoga and the Universe.

NYE plans? Hell no. I have a kid. I would love to be in bed with diapers changed and teeth brushed long before midnite LOL
xoxo

The Purple Carrot said...

Sounds like a fabulous Christmas, Erica! : )

Your pancakes sounds just as wonderful as the first time you mentioned them!

Tricia said...

We had a great Christmas. My favorite food part was (and always has been) the homemade rolls. Yum. I was good though and only indulged in moderation.

Britt said...

Great to hear that you had a good Christmas! :-)

Those pancakes sound so yummy....

I think my favorite food part of the holiday was Apricot & Coconut Bread Pudding, as well as some baked camembert cheese we had last night at a friend's house. Ooey gooey goodness.

NYE we are having a few friends over to celebrate.

Abbys Vegan Eats said...

SO glad you had an awesome Christmas!! Your eats look delish.. esp those pancakes.. yumm.

Our Christmas was fabulous.. cannot believe its over!! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, hun ;)

Velva said...

Everything looks wonderful.
Happy Holidays to you and your family. Looking forward to your blog posts in 2010.

Stephanie said...

The cauliflower gratin with gruyere looks wonderful. I usually can't stand that vegetable but I'll have to try your recipe.
BODA weight loss

Katie said...

What great eats! Sounds like a fabulous weekend with the family.

My dad made a DELICIOUS dinner on Christmas Eve. We're going to be at a wedding on New Year's!

Stephanie @ cookinfanatic said...

Glad you had a great holiday! The crockpot bbq looks fantastic too - i think it is so wonderful that you create such delicious meat dishes for your loved ones even though you don't prefer it :) really sweet of you and they are def lucky!! have a great sunday night girl!

Lauren said...

yum on the gratin! I had a great Christmas. It wasn ice to just chill. I'm so ready to stop eating "holiday food" though.

Molly said...

Those graham pancakes look absolutely delicious! I think Bob's Red Mill has graham flour that would be really good in those!
I'm just spending New Year's with friends!
All those appetizers look delicious!

Anonymous said...

WOW those pancakes sound soo great girl!! i bet king street is beautiful this time of year! and FUN on new years! so many good restaurants..have you ever been to high cotton? thats my FAV

Allie (Live Laugh Eat) said...

That gratin sounds perfect for a healthy option at a family get together!

Hummus plural....hummes? hummuses? Hahaha

chrystad72 said...

Looks awesome. I love the pancakes. Those look amazing! My absolute favorite foodie part of the holidays is being able to cook up an amazing meal! I have so much fun doing it. I try to hit up everyone favorites foods since I think that the holidays is all about comfort. (And of course try out a few new ones) New years is up in the air still..Im thinking we are going to just be at a friends house to celebrate it. Have a great night!

Esi said...

Everything sounds great! Glad you had a good Christmas. I just got back from a weekend with my fam in Santa Barbara.

Bridget said...

Hope you had a great Christmas!! That cauliflower dish sounds awesome :)
Hope Santa was good to you!

Naomi(Onefitfoodie) said...

OMG those pancakes look awesome! I think before you said you got the recipe from MR Breakfast which is the best website! so easy to navigate and delicious!

sounds like you had a the perfect xmas :)

Pam said...

Hey sweetie...I'm glad you didn't take ALL those pic's...that means you enjoyed yourself more without the stress, plus I didn't have to drool all over my keyboard as much....lol!!

Enjoy!

K from ksgoodeats said...

No worries on the lack of picture taking - I'm in the same boat! I LOVE the sounds of those pancakes. I really need to try them. That gratin looks amazing!!

My favorite foodie part of Christmas was all of the bake ware and cookbooks I received. I banned my family from touching my new pans! Hope you have a good Monday :)

Krista said...

Sounds like you guys had a great time!
NYE plans are still up in the air for us. We may be heading to a friend's place.

Julie said...

I've never heard of graham cracker pancakes. Very interesting (and yummy sounding)!

Deva (Voracious Vorilee) said...

Mmmm pancakes are goood!

We have plans to host a big group of our friends for New Year's Eve - we're serving a few varieties of chicken and having everyone bring the sides. We are going to play games, goof off, and have a jolly good time!

Maria said...

Glad you had a nice Christmas. We did too! We have family here now, but I am sick in bed:( I got really sick last night. Not fun!

Nicole @ Geek Turned Athlete said...

That cauliflower augratin looks wonderful!! Glad you had a good x-mas! We are going over to a friends house for New Year's! It shall be fun!! We are also going on a bike ride with a bunch of friends and stopping for beer along the way! ;)

Diana @ frontyardfoodie said...

mmm sounds yummy and fun! So glad you had a good holiday!

Anna said...

Looks like you had a blasty Christmas!

Christmas with my fam was loverly. My fav foodie moment was definitely Christmas dinner; the one day of the year where I eat red meat haha

Kim @ Kim and Mikey said...

We had a wonderful Christmas. If I had to choose a favorite foodie moment, it would have to be making smores with my nieces and nephews on Christmas Eve. There is something wondeful about the combination of chocolate, graham cracker, and marshmellow.

Meredith (Pursuing Balance) said...

I do not have any New Year's plans yet! I need to get on that!

Anonymous said...

I've seen Aggie's pulled pork before, now I need to make some after seeing yours!

My menu is already planned for this week - so next week it is!

Merry Belated Christmas!

tam said...

Sounds like you've had a fun time over the holidays food looks delish x

Ada said...

I'm glad you had such a nice Christmas, your pancakes look absolutely amazing:)

Heather @ Get Healthy With Heather said...

Glad you had a great Christmas! Plus getting exercise in around the holidays is always a plus.

My Christmas weekend was wonderful! Some of my favorite eats we had: barley/farro/wheat berry salad, brussels sprouts with bacon n pecans, green beans, roasted butternut squash and pumpernickle bread!

Nutritious is Delicious said...

MMMM! Those pancakes look so great...again!

Let me know if you get your Omega 3 Bars! I emailed the company, so they should be on their way, if not already there!

Janetha @ meals + moves said...

hey erica! so glad you had a wonderful holiday. looks like you had some delicious food as well~those pancakes really look divine. maybe even better than the first time around! hope you have a great week and a happy new year!

Anonymous said...

graham cracker pancakes sounds so amazing!!

Lele said...

Those graham cracker pancakes are GENIUS!

Dawn Dishes It Out said...

Oh, those graham cracker pancakes!! I gotta make 'em! My mouth waters each time I see them.,

Alisa - Frugal Foodie said...

hummuses? hummeese? humoose?

Another great use for graham crackers!

Not the best foodie Christmas, but excited for New Year's with friends!

Kris | iheartwellness.com said...

Girrrlll your eats look fab!

I am so happy you had a wonderful Christmas and Frank was treated well too!!

Hudson got spoiled as usual....they are like children aren't they?

XXOO

Miz said...

Im so glad you had such a nice holiday!
my christmas was perfection really because we dont celebrate it :) we went to friends' houses and then return home to a clean :) domicile and had some hardcore family time.

**love**

Diana said...

I don't think I've ever seen hummus in a plural form...lol. That slow-pulled pork looks awesome! Is it easy to make? My fave foodie part of our Christmas dinner this year (the one on Xmas day - our 2nd one) was probably the beer gravy! We don't have new years plans yet. I think we'll stay in. So boring! I know!

:) Diana

PS I’m having an Eat in Month Challenge in January to try to eat in the whole month – http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/12/eat-in-month-challenge—january-2010.html Wanna play?

Diana said...

Oops, forgot to link it http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/12/eat-in-month-challenge—january-2010.html

Michelle @ Find Your Balance said...

I have a farm-fresh pork shoulder in the fridge and a brand new slow cooker from christmas - looks like it's gonna be pulled pork time here too!

Holly said...

Wow - I don't even like cauliflower and that looks amazing!! Glad you had great Christmas with your fam and the Frankster, girl!

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

Belated merry Christmas! Love the graham cracker pancakes. Have a happy new year!

Kerstin said...

I'm glad you had such a lovely Christmas celebration! The cauliflower looks so tasty!

Anonymous said...

i had a lovely christmas :)

you sure know how to make delicious eats - especially pancakes!! nom. nom.

Pining for Pinterest said...

My son loved the graham cracker pancake recipe! Thank you :-) We had a wonderful Christmas with our kids and hanging out!

Rose said...

Everything looks so delicious! I'm glad you had a wonderful Christmas, Erica!