One great thing about the end of the year is the energy in the air. In our house it comes in the form of wanting to cook a metric ton of new food to celebrate the holiday’s together! This year was no exception. We decided to have a fancier meal on Christmas Eve and then enjoy a spread of foods throughout Christmas day. This worked out especially nice as we got about a foot of snow Christmas day and it was a perfect day to relax with a hot beverage and just chill out!

So what did we decide to make over the first half of our holiday break? Well let’s show you… with LOTS of pictures!

The menu included –

Lasagna Rolls

Tofu Ricotta

Macadamia Nut Mozzarella

Pesto

TVP Sausage

Pasta Sauce

Garlic Bread

Brushetta

Pumpkin Pie

Coconut Whipped Cream

“Clam” Dip

Herb Cashew Cheese Ball

Cinnamon Rolls

Chex Mix

Pickles

Olives

Jerky

Nuts

Lots and Lots of Coffee…

Our goal was also to make as much of this homemade as possible. Some recipes borrowed, some our own, but every part of it that we could make ourselves we wanted to do just that. We were prepared to feed a small (vegan) army but alas, it was just the two of us… aww shucks, now we have leftovers for the rest of the week!

On Christmas Eve, the night we had the more standard meal, we made lasagna rolls and garlic bread (traditional Christmas food for Jon) and we both agree that this was one of, if not THE, best meal we’ve made! Every flavor came through and each bite was just bliss. 10 out or 10, would make again!

We started by making each layer of the rolls, and the bread.

In the morning Jon started some pasta sauce. Not only did this make the house smell AMAZING but it also allowed the flavors to meld all day. He also made the the tofu ricotta.

Jenna made the macadamia mozzarella and sausage crumbles. Team work!

The last thing to make were the noddles, mixed super easily in our new food processor!

And on to assembly!

The final product!!!

And what would a formal meal be without some dessert? Jon made his first pie from scratch and even attempted the lattice top!

The last thing we did that night was prepare the cinnamon rolls so we could just pop them in the oven in the morning.

Breakfast is served!

Christmas day we left out a ton of party snacks and just munched through the day. It was a nice change in pace from the day before and really made the day about being together, relaxing, enjoying our new gifts and watching the snow fall.

We wish everyone the happiest of holiday seasons. Hopefully 2017 was more good than bad and 2018 brings great things! We are excited to continue this blog as our hobby in the future and look forward to sharing with whoever wishes to take the time to read (THANK YOU!).