It seems as if all we did on Christmas Day was EAT!
In fact, we ate so much that yesterday all I ate was a clementine and a bowl of soup . . . and I still felt full!
It started with snacks while we were opening our stockings in the family room. I set out some fruit, cranberry focaccia bread, and baked a banana cinnamon pull-apart loaf.
After opening our presents we sat down to breakfast. I had made a stuffed french toast casserole on the 24th. All that I had to do was pop it in the oven and 30 minutes later we were sitting down to a yummy treat! With this we had some baked peameal bacon (this is the real Canadian Bacon, my American friends not that stuff that stores south of the 49th sell as Canadian Bacon!), honey cinnamon sausages, fruit, and mimosa's made with prosecco and blood orange juice.
These make ahead casseroles are really the way to go!
Once we tidied up from breakfast we got the turkey in the oven and relaxed until mom arrived (90 minutes late) to open some more stockings.
Sadly there was no stocking for me since Santa Mom hadn't wrapped the treats yet. The upside to this is I have treats to look forward to on New years - woo hoo!
Paul selected an ice wine martini to sip while we opened our gifts from mom. We set out snacks to nibble. I also served a wee bowl of tortellini en brodo - the traditional northern Italian Christmas day treat.
Our friend Judy showed us how to make it during our cooking class last year:
This is the version we served on Christmas Day last year in Rome:
Mom didn't want any at first. Then she saw Paul's and decided to try some . . . I think that we have a new Christmas tradition! :-)
After we had opened the gifts mom walked around the corner to visit with our cousin while Paul and I tidied up and did the last minute things necessary for dinner.
We visited in the family room and our guests nibbled on sausage rolls (this year I tried a Jamie Oliver recipe and made them with caramelized onions . . .best.sausage.rolls.EVER!), cheese ball, kielbasa, cheddar and sausage balls, and an assortment of mini quiches (they were still in the oven when I took the photo below).
Later we moved into the dining room for dinner but I haveno photos of that- I never seem to get any of dinner for some reason. It was our traditional dinner though - roast turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, corn, and a cauliflower and broccoli casserole. The great thing was that with the exception of the turkey, stuffing, and corn everything had been made ahead of time. All I had to do was heat the rest up. . . far less stress than normal!
For dessert we had the cranberry pudding that we have had every year for the past 15. I but it from a vendor from BC at the One of a Kind Show. It steams for 20 minutes while you're enjoying dinner. I made a simple vanilla sauce in the microwave - yum! We also passed around some of our home-made cookies and tarts.
WOW - just writing all this out has made me full again!
I'm full just reading what you had over the course of the day. It sounds like a delicious day was enjoyed by everyone. Happy Holidays!
Posted by: Karen (Back Road Journal) | December 27, 2013 at 07:11 PM
You're so wicked!! Posting all these food make me drool lots on my computer!! :D
Posted by: eastcoastlife | December 27, 2013 at 09:36 PM
Thanks Karen - I hope that you had a wonderful holiday as well.
Oh oh-better wipe that off quickly ECL. *smile*
Posted by: JDeQ | January 19, 2014 at 07:15 AM