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Monday, January 2, 2012

Christmas food

Like I said in my last post, it just isn't Christmas without delicious and special food. My sister Kellie said something a few days before Christmas that struck a chord. It was essentially this: How wonderful it is to be "poor" college students. When you have money you can afford to buy things like Gruyere and feta cheese, bacon, english muffins, and pecans, let alone red bell peppers on a regular basis. But because those are things we regularly do without they become special and meaningful.

She has a point. I remember growing up quite happy despite a smaller income due to my Dad's schooling and I was oblivious to such details. Christmas breakfast for a while consisted of bacon and/or sausage, hash browns, english muffins or popovers, special eggs (recipe follows), and OJ from a carton! Oh the joy! But gradually those items became more common for everyday breakfast. For the past couple years our family has had pecan rolls with hot chocolate because THAT is certainly not something we will have everyday.



Trust me, they're divine. And although David and I didn't make them for ourselves this year we had bacon, special eggs, english muffins, and carton OJ. Like Kellie said, it felt so special.


Pardon the picture. Currently that looks kinda nasty, but it tasted delicious. 

I also made various neighbor gifts. (I apologize if you didn't get something and you're our neighbor...I sort of ran out of steam and quit making unnecessary food... :) )

I made mini Challah's. One recipe which normally makes two large braids made five small ones. 

Mini braids

One recipe makes 2 large braids. 

I also made Pumpkin butter from this recipe. 


It was delicious. I used apple cider instead of apple juice and added the full amount of sugar, if not a tad more. :) 

I also splurged big time and made toffee (MUST use Ghirardelli chocolate and pecans AND almonds.) 


I needed at least one thing to truly remind me of home. It was the first time I made it without the supervision of my dad, the traditional candy maker in our home. Just thinking about toffee conjures up very powerful and happy memories. As well as mournful memories of only being allowed a few pieces... 

I also redeemed myself with a gorgeous, if I do say so myself, pecan pie. Remember this post? Yeah. 



And last but not least David and I needed something green to go along with our Christmas eve dinner so I bought brussels sprouts! They are one of my favorite vegetables, especially roasted.


Essentially you drizzle them with butter, add plenty of salt, and roast at 400 degrees until they are slightly crispy. Yum!

And here is the recipe for our special eggs. I think it originally came from a good family friend. It's not exact...it's a scrambled egg recipe for crying out loud!


Woodfield’s special eggs

There is no exact recipe, so just go with your gut/ preferences. For 6 people. Listed below is approx. amount.

10-12 eggs beaten with a splash of milk/cream
4 T butter
¼ cup red bell pepper, diced
1/3 cup green onions, sliced thin
3 oz or so of feta cheese

Sauté bell pepper and green onions in butter until soft. Add eggs and DON’T STIR for several minutes until the first layer of eggs are completely cooked. Cook on medium-low. While they cooking, crumble the feta cheese over the top. Gradually start stirring and scrambling the eggs. Salt and pepper liberally. 

4 comments:

Erica said...

Wow ! Your pie is FABULOUS !!!! N that bread?? Go you :)

Kellie said...

You just made me hungry. Are those pictures of our pecan rolls?

Betty said...

Everything looks yummy. The pecan rolls that I made this year burned. I would blame it on a new oven, but the only excuse I really have is that I cooked them to long.

Marianne said...

That pie crust is absolute perfection!! Good job!

And FYI--today I filled out a recommendation for Kate's application to BYU's School of Music. VERY weird. I have SUPER mixed feelings about it!!