Monday, December 29, 2014

Fifth Holiday Post

My family celebrated our "Christmas" together yesterday.  Had lots of fun.
Our granddaughter Hayden was a big attraction.
Here she is modeling the duck hat I knitted.  She's also wearing her Green Bay onesie, because, well, she must.  Her Daddy is a big Green Bay fan.



Here Hayden attempts to eat her aunts hand.


Daddy entertains her for a while.


Grandma and Grandpa get in on some baby loving action.



Everyone enjoyed the hand knit socks I made for them.  And Kim gave his home made beer, which was a big hit of course.


There was football to watch.


And lots to eat.


  I went for appetizers this year instead of a sit down dinner.




Using recipes from Pinterest:

The Schweddy Balls, (yes, remember them from SNL? - Schweddy Balls skit), well, they were a hit. Easy to make, too.





Garlic Herb Roasted Shrimp with Homemade Cocktail Sauce;  also popular, and again, easy to make.





And who doesn't like red pepper jelly with cream cheese?  This time with a cranberry twist for Christmas.  Delicious.










I took a chance and tried this Scarpaccia.  It's all veggie, but also I left off a portion of cheese at the end for those with a dairy intolerance.  Worked well.  Made a lot.



There were also Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Garlic Aioli (delicious), guacamole, hummus, fresh veggies, and, thanks to my daughter, a variety of olives.  My friend Carol brought over pork and seeds.

For dessert, three new recipes.

Lemon Shortbread Truffles were a big disappointment to me.  Maybe I'm just not good at making them.  They never achieved a nice "rolling" consistency.  Then I added too much yellow food coloring and they were orange instead of yellow.  Oh well, win some, lose some.  I made my own shortbread cookies for this recipe and my own lemon curd.  Still have plenty of those leftover so it's not a complete let down.




And some chocolate for dessert is a must.  These brownies really hit the spot.  I think they'll be my go-to brownie recipe from now on.  Supposed to be one of Oprah's favs.  I see why now.








Am I the only person who likes meringues? Well, in my family anyway.  I love that crunchy texture on the outside and the way they melt in your mouth.  I thought these Peppermint Meringues were a nice dairy free dessert option.  And pretty, too.  Also super easy.




Later we played monopoly...


and watched a movie.  Bad Words is good fun.  Rohan Chand is adorable.


To top off the day we even received more snow.


It was a great day.  The one sour part was when Scarface growled at Hayden, so he was banished from the house for a while.  That's part of the reason he's part of our household now, he's a grouchy old turd.



5 comments:

Kathleen said...

Yum!! Your appetizer Christmas looks amazing. I think it's a great idea too. Who wants to make a big dinner when there's other things to do!!! By Christmas Day, I'm starting to slow down so I may copy your idea next year. Your granddaughter is adorable. I would never get anything else done except playing with her!
Glad you had a good Christmas. Now on to the New Year! Happy 2015 Victoria. Thanks for all your wonderful comments and I hope it's a great year for you.

Effix said...

Sur une des photos, avec Vanessa et Chris, on voit Scareface au dehors, il regarde par la fenêtre, il n'a pas l'air d'accord et il semble jaloux !! Pauvre chien :)

Victoria Williams said...

Ha ha! Tu as raison, Francois! I didn't notice that. Pauvre chien, indeed!

Lona said...

Oh she is just precious! What fun the holidays are with young ones around. I wish you all a wonderful new year ahead.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Adorable! Especially with the duck hat. Makes me wonder if I don't need a duck hat!