Christmas with my family....

Every year on December 24th we gather at my parent's house. This group includes: my parents, my three sisters, one real son in law, and one son in law to be. We celebrate Christmas Eve, this works out great since Christmas Day, Jay and I usually spend with his family (I say usually because unfortunately this year I had to work... bummer).

However, when I think about all the holiday's we celebrate, I believe Christmas is Kinga's favorite, because our meal does not include any meat, only veggies and seafood.

The house is always decked out with Christmas decorations, every year my mom acquires new ones and so the collection grows. This year there was a whole village...Tobby.... he is sooo smart, loves to play mind games with Justyna's and my dogs... It's actually fun to watch, not so much Honey (she's only 7lbs) the cat is bigger then her it's not a fair fight, but Justyna's black lab Bear is a big dog, and yet to watch him cower before this sneaky ninja is really very funny...
Tobby's paw... sporting some very festive nail covers...Jay made the fish... pictured here whole salmon stuffed with veggies.. chilling in the snow... there was no room in the fridge...
wow.... I felt like I just missed Martha Stewart... I really liked this little set up... Karolina made a spiced cranberry drink with oranges it was good, but not pictured...
while waiting for dinner/supper we played Life... this game is hard, or maybe we were all suffering from low sugar levels... any who... somehow after finishing college I became a hairstylist....
this banister is holding up a lot of weight... stocking were stuffed to the limit...
one of the prettiest Christmas trees... surrounded by presents (unfortunately we forgot a couple, we're making up for that this Saturday)
salmon eventually makes it into the oven...
a very pretty table setting... I was so hungry by that time... uszka already placed in the bowls...
but first the wish wafer...
mmmmmm first course: barszcz i uszka (beetroot soup with mushroom pockets)
Justyna made bread from scratch.. it was dense and delicious... excellent as french toast the next day...
our turkey..... it was so goooood
and dill almond caper citrus sauce for the salmon...accompanied by a whole bunch of side dishes: beans and carrots...
crab cakes....
chipotle aioli for crab cakes...
pickled herring...
mashed potatoes....
potato and cheese pierogi...
peas and carrots...
mushroom sauce... made by Kinga... yum
and bigos....
oh boy.... my plate.... everything was so good... I acually wished I had room for seconds...
and some white wine...
after dinner we cleaned up... Karolina hung out with Aspen... he is so soft.... and even tough it looks like it in the picture he is not sleeping.. no matter how fast or how many pictures I took of him the little bugger always managed to close his eyes
oh yeah... Christmas wouldn't be Christmass without this set up...
dessert... yay....
you have to have at least two...
halfway through present opening... some of us just passed out....
more dessert...
and eventually the night came to an end... it always passes too fast... pictured below is Jay's and mine take away package... lol... it's horrible but this morning I thought "Darn I wish I took more cookies... and salmon..." I'll be a little bit sad when there are no more left overs in my fridge and freezer.
HAPPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS :)

just for you mom: Marjolaine...

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream...

Dinner at Magda's and Patrick's (Sun. Dec. 21st, 2008)

a very Holiday red martini :)we were sipping on while watching Patrick's skills with the rolling pin...
and to curb our appetite Magda served chips/crackers (I'm really not sure which category these fall in) with dip...
mmmmmmm looking goood....
one veggie... one meaty... both very delicious...
Jay enjoyed some eggnog.... I've never had the stuff and really don't have any plans on having any anytime soon...
dessert... Bouche de Noel of course... after all it is almost Christmas....
awesome meal with very good friends... we don't do this often enough...

Lucy's Stoup (thicker than soup, thinner than stew)

no recipe was followed other than the one in my head... it was tasty... potato somehow turned out to be my main ingredient... I love potatoes...

day after the storm

the city handled the white stuff pretty well... the side streets are clear...the sidewalks are clear as well...
and the world looks so pretty in white...
the sky was a perfect clear blue... an excellent day for a visit to CN Tower if one is not put off by the freezing temperature...

orange slices... not just for tropical cocktails

Description from the back of the bottle:
"Mill St. Belgian style Wit is a refreshing beer made with a unique blend of ingredients. The soft texture and pale colour comes from the use of wheat. Coriander, orange peel and our special yeast produce the complexity and depth of fruity flavours contained within the glass. This beer is unfiltered. The resulting cloudiness gave rise to the term Wit, or White beer."

.... mmmm I agree

Round Two: Friday, Dec. 19th, 2008

it was a winter wonderland... it snowed all day (from about 7am to 9pm)... this weather is so awesome... nature at it's best...
I just wish people were more careful when driving with such low visibility... there were a few accidents... however TTC did not disappoint me, I was late only 3min to work...the kid in me wanted to go sledding down some hills so bad...

R.I.D.E.... keeping drunk drivers off the streets

they set up in no time, right across the street from my place... plenty of snow on the ground from our first snow storm of the season...for some it was a source of entertainment... I guess they had nothing better to do on a Thursday night either...

Sunday is my cooking day...

Lately I've been looking forward to Sundays. Alone or with Jay I like to try a new recipe. We have so many cookbooks, it was about time one of us put them to good use. Jay tends to cook by looking at a picture. Seeing the final product somehow translates to a whole process of how it was made for him. I on the other hand need a step by step procedure. I stick to it as well, and once I've tasted my creation, I make the decision about any changes I might make next time.

This week I made Beef Stew with Newcastle Brown Ale and Dumplings from Jamie Oliver's book "Happy Days with the Naked Chef"...

I couldn't find any Newcastle Brown Ale at the LCBO... instead I used Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale... and since I cooked with it, we also drank it with our meal...served with baby arugula (it's nice and spicy) and a piece of crusty bread to mop up the sauce (not pictured)... this was sooooo good... winter fare at it's best... I'm an awesome cook :)