Holiday Food

After a wonderful vacation weekend in California and a busy few days back at home, I'm finally sitting still long enough to post here. I (sort of) apologize for being away, but I expect more of it throughout the holiday season. It's a crazy, fun time and I plan to enjoy it as much as possible.

Recently, I have been in an incredibly domestic mindset...lots of redecorating, cleaning, etc. Along with that has come the desire to experiment with cooking. I don't consider myself to be bad in the kitchen; if I am given a recipe, I can follow it properly. I am just not the type who can whip something up out of whatever is in the kitchen, nor do I branch out much from those recipes with which I am familiar. That's changed lately as I find new ideas I want to try, and it helps that Jersey will eat almost anything I put in front of her.

For Thanksgiving, I made a butternut squash soup (and some desserts, but those weren't new to me). I had never made any kind of soup before, so it was definitely a different experience. So, how did it turn out? Well, I'd say it was not horrible, but nothing great. It was too watered-down and the pureed squash was slightly grainy. I did like the flavor, though, and I learned what to change for next time, so I consider it a general success. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

So, all of this leads me to Christmas...and what I plan to try next. I have lots of ideas bouncing around in my head (I love to eat and I'm a big planner, so I'm almost giddy right now), so I thought I'd toss them out to all of you and see if any of you have gut reactions to them:

Turkey - Kind of traditional, but shortly after Thanksgiving, I read a wonderful slow-roast turkey recipe that guarantees that the meat will fall off the bones in lots of messy glory. I'm not sure I can wait a year to try it out, so Christmas may be perfect. There are only going to be four of us, I think, but Jersey and I are willing to eat turkey leftovers for days!

Christmas Eve - First of all, I called all rights to host Christmas Eve at my house YEARS ago. Seriously, I always wanted to host Christmas Eve once we were grown up with families of our own. We may not be totally there yet, but I think it would be nice to start a new, slightly different tradition this year. I'm still open to fun meal ideas (I read about one family that does pancakes and bacon on Christmas Eve), but so far I came up with...homemade chili! Seriously, I think it's just a tiny bit quirky, and it would be fun to curl up on the sofas with a bowl of chili and a classic Christmas movie.

Day-Old Turkey on Christmas Day?!? - Ok, I want to do the turkey and I want to do the chili. What would be super yummy? Chili with chunks of fresh turkey in it! If I time it right, I can have the turkey done early on the 24th, and then I can make the chili and let it cook for a while. We'll enjoy a wonderful new tradition and then we'll have lots of leftover turkey for Christmas Day. It's a little odd, but it's not like day-old turkey is anything bad and it takes some pressure off of the rest of the meal prep. Basically we can just cook all of the side dishes (and a small roast if my mom wants it) and we'll be good to go!

Dessert - I'm thinking chocolate lave cakes and macaroons.

Adult Beverages - One year, I made hot s'mores shots, with crushed graham cracker rims and mini marshmallows. Last year I drank Captain & Coke most of the day and had Captain & eggnog for dessert. We'll see what happens this year, but I think it might be fun to try a new cocktail.

Any feedback?