Monday, December 28, 2009

The Culinary Adventures of Christmas

Action Rabbit's Warning:
THIS POST NOT ABOUT RABBITS! BEWARE!

For many people, Holidays are a time for baking.

I don't normally do too much baking, simply because we're not normally home at Christmastime. But this year was different. We stayed home. We were relaxed and didn't go anywhere.

And so I baked.

It started last week with a Sweet Potato Gallette. A gallette is a rustic French dish, which is essentially a really, really easy (and extremely buttery!!!) tart crust filled with whatever you want to fill it with. We usually use acorn or butternut squash, but when I decided to make it last week, we had sweet potatoes, so that's what I used. The perfect compliment to the sweet potato was some Monchego cheese that we received as a gift. YUM YUM YUM!!!

MMMMMMmmmmm... Sweet Potato Gallette

On Christmas Eve day, I made two fun things I'd never made before. Number 1: Eggnog! It was totally easy and completely delish!!! As the Blisschick said, "It was like a custard party in your mouth!"

Yes, well, whatever.

For anyone who is nervy about the idea of eating/ drinking "raw eggs" as my mother said to me when I told her that I had made eggnog ("You mean you made it with real eggs??? Raw eggs???" she said and then proceeded to tell me about a recipe she saw that somehow involved vanilla pudding and not eggs at all , and I was left wondering how it was called "eggnog" without actually containing eggs....?), the eggs are actually cooked. They are not raw. It really is like making custard. So, no worries.

Besides, there was probably enough rum in it to kill any stray whatevers.

Number 2 new thing I made on Christmas Eve day: Stickybuns!! It was a lot of pressure for me to make stickybuns, because I was secretly competing with the Chick's Nana's stickybuns! PRESSURE!!!

My stickybuns, however, were declared Nana equivalent! I was SO PLEASED!!! :)

Mmmmmmmmmm... Stickybuns...

The last new thing I made involved one of my new Christmas gifts: RAMEKINS!! Whoo-hoo! I got two that are about a two cup size, and four that are about a half cup size. Perfect! So, I decided to make the Chick Macaroni and Cheese, the perfect Winter comfort food. I used three cheeses that we had in the house: a simple Farmer's cheese, a Sharp White Cheddar, and a Smoked Pepper Jack. It was a great combo!

Tomorrow, I have to go back to work, but there's still time to make some bread!

I'd better go get busy on that actually.

What did you make that was delish? Did you try any new recipes?

6 comments:

Emma said...

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwww, all that looks and sounds so good!

We are going to bake cookies for New Year's Day later this week. Nothing terribly innovative, though.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Yay! Carbs rock! Here's an interesting bit of trivia -- in French, egg nog is called "lait de poule" which, translated literally, means "chicken's milk." Yum!

Lisa said...

Why oh why must you torture me like this??! Now I am hungry and so jealous to boot - I burn water.

If it was Blisschick who gave you those ramekins, that was a very crafty move on her part .... ;)

hmmbrd said...

I think recipes are in order... your dishes sound tasty!
I made a new breakfast casserole this year... mix of hashbrowns, turnips (sounds weird but was delicious), cheese, yogurt, spices. then when nearly done, you crack eggs on top and bake till they are done. crazy and delicious. bloody mary's to go with. yes... a perfect brunch for Christmas morning.

Jeanne Frances Klaver said...

I want to come eat at your house! It sounds gourmet to me.

Kitten said...

I'm always trying new recipes - usually cupcake ones though.

My hubby would be totally jealous of those sticky buns! I make homemade cinnamon rolls every year, but I think he might like those more!