A massively massive Christmas post

Merry (belated) Christmas!

We spent the 24th (day) at my parents’ house but came home to spend the night and next morning together with our little family.  After we did our stockings, my parents and sister arrived and we hosted them here in Davis.  New traditions. 🙂

I started cooking a couple days in advance so that on the day of Christmas everything was pretty much done except for easy last minute things.  And the turkey.  First time cooking a turkey guys!!!  I was nervous, for sure, because ummm…kinda a big deal to host Christmas for the first time and have it also be the first time you ever roast a turkey!  But it went easy breezy and I am happy to report it tasted great and was not nearly as difficult as I made it out to be in my head.

Most of the photos I have on my phone from the day are food pics, because the people ones are all on the good cameras.  I made a conscious effort to take photos of the food, too, because I thought there was a chance I’d post about the dishes I prepared.  And wouldn’t you know it, I did a pretty decent job!

To start with I made whipped sweet potatoes.  I made in the crock pot, cooking them in their skin overnight for 10-12 hours on low.  The next day I let them cool to a temp I could handle and them (easily) peeled them.  They were soooo soft they basically melted into puree in my hands.  I then added a few shakes of salt, some coconut milk (not much, maybe 1/2 cup) and mashed it with the immersion blender.  It took all of 4 seconds and was done.

I finished them on the 23rd and just warmed them in the oven the day of.  There’s something about cooking them for hours and hours that brings out the natural sweetness in them, so much that they tasted like candy and I didn’t add a touch of sugar to therm!

The other things I did in advance on the 23rd were make cornbread (GF/DF/NF) and miso butter (for sautéed collards).

I went to Whole Foods five times this week (sigh) but finally tracked this bread down.  I’m sitting in the car in their pic, in case you were wondering, because it was en route to my parents’ house when we got it.

Speaking of my parents’ house.  Here’s the Christmas Eve meal my dad made (beef roast with veggies).  My mom made salmon too,  And there were roasted potatoes, garlicky green beans, and I don’t know what else.  Everything was delicious, of course, but I think the highlight was P’s reaction when he opened his truck.  Actually, I take that back, the highlight was when he opened his stocking (from my parents) that had a harmonica in it and he played and played and played and played.  It was also the thing that kept him awake on our loooooong drive home.  I had a love/hate relationship with it by the time we got home.

Ok, so back to the food for Christmas day…

I’ll share the recipe for this baked french toast later because it was gooooood.  Everyone (including P) enjoyed it and that’s a big accomplishment for an allergy friendly bake ahead dish.

Here’s the whole spread.

We ate after my parents arrived, before any presents were opened.  Food trumps all.

We mostly played with pacman as he opened presents for the first part of the morning, but he was very overwhelmed so it was a slow process (we didn’t even finish that day because it was all too much for him).  He went down for his nap around 1130, at which point I got to work on the turkey.

If meat offends you (vegan/vegetarian readers that may or may not still follow me) then I’m sorry for this post.  But it’s an honest documentation of my first Christmas hosting and it would feel weird to not include such a monumental moment in my culinary book.  You see, I don’t know that I ever thought I’d be preparing let alone eating turkey, ever.  Ever ever.  But there have been a LOT of changes over the past year, as have been documented (and not documented) here on the blog.  So yeah, this was a big deal.

Leading up to the big day, I read a TON of recipes and website tutorials on roasting turkeys and chose the simplest method possible.  I ordered our turkey from Whole Foods and it was the easiest process ever.  They have a variety of options, but I went with a Diestel turkey.  Whole Foods lets you choose the date/time you want to pick it up and they have it thawed for you when you get it so you don’t have to worry about the timing of getting your bird ready.  So.  Day of.  After it was at room temp, I cleaned it and let it dry out (supposed to promote browning golden skin).  Then I rubbed olive oil all over the outside and under the skin of the top (breasts).  I added herbs from my garden (sage, thyme, rosemary) under the skin and in the body cavity.  I also put a quartered onion, a halved lemon, and a few whole garlic cloves in the body cavity.  I didn’t tie any of it up or anything.  The oven was preheated to 450 degrees but once the bird was in the oven, I turned it down to 350.  And then I waited…

In the meantime, we opened more presents (and P napped).

We busted out the appetizers a little later, which included goat cheeses, crackers, veggies and vegan ranch dressing.

Usually I love all things by Follow Your Heart, but this dressing was not very good.  Confirmed by my (also lactose intolerant) sister.  It had a bizarre bleu cheese like after taste (and I very much dislike that flavor).

These crackers, however, were maybe the best gluten free crackers I have ever had.  Big statement, I know, because I feel like I’ve tried them all.  They are a small local operation that my sister came across through a work colleague.  I don’t know where you can buy them aside from Diablo Foods, a small grocer in my hometown where she bought them, but if you come across Potter’s crackers anywhere in the Nor Cal area you should try them! Their site says they are based in Sac (but they are also in Wisconsin? with distribution in a few other states…).

P woke up right as the turkey was finishing (it was a smaller one, so it only took 2 hours) so while it rested we opened more presents.

And read.

He didn’t make it through many more – he was clearly totally overstimulated and in a bit of shock – so my family played with him in his toy room while Kyle and I got the food ready.  I don’t think he opened many more presents after that.  We will likely introduce the rest slowly over time because he doesn’t need that many things now that he has new books to read (not that he needs a new selection – more like I do!!).

Kyle and I carved the turkey together.  Then I made gravy with the drippings (thickened with white rice flour).

Meanwhile, the cornbread and sweet potatoes (already made) were heating in the still warm oven.

At the same time, I sautéed collards and added the miso butter I had previously made.

The carcass went straight into the crock pot for stew.

And that was it!  Not too hard right?  Time to eat!

Collards with miso butter via Bon Appetit.  I skipped the garlic part of this recipe, FYI.

The carved meat.

And everything all together!

Yummmmm.

P ate turkey and (lots of) cornbread, and then peas and more breakfast sausage.

My mom made her famous (aka our favorite) chocolate pecan pie for dessert.  I had two servings because why not?!?

And that was our Christmas!!

My family hung around a bit longer, but were on the road by 530ish.  P was exhausted, but we let him wind down before starting his bed time routine.

After he went to bed we watched the Godfather (continued from the night before…not exactly a holiday movie, ha) and my sweet tooth got even more satisfied by this brittle from TJs.  I got it in my stocking.  Thanks Santa husband!  🙂