I can't believe Christmas has come and gone and that we're only a few days away from the New Year. Wow! Christmas is always a whirlwind of activity around these parts. You see, when N and I got married, we decided that we would spend Thanksgiving with my folks and Christmas with his. Christmas day is literally an all day thing with the family and not for the faint of heart or those with a small appetite.
The day begins with Christmas breakfast where we eat an array of breakfasty things, yummy breakfast breads, and of course Mimosas. In years past I've eaten to the point of sending myself into a breakfast coma, but this year I showed some (only some) restraint and had a nice happy full, but not painful, belly. I've learned that after Christmas breakfast comes Christmas lunch/dinner.
Christmas lunch or dinner at his aunt's house usually begins with appetizers and the traditional cherry and cream cheese danish. From there we open gifts, which has now turned into a White Elephant gift exchange due to the increasing number of family members. (I have to say that the gifts are actually nice gifts while, at times, still being humorous.) After that the young kiddos (that would be us) typically put on a Christmas pageant of sorts. A Christmas pageant? Some years ago one of N's aunts started a tradition where all the cousins must carry out some specific task, that she has conjured up, before receiving their gift from her. Every year is different and every year is hilarious! This year was no exception with us performing "The Christmas Story" Texas Style. While the skits themselves are always funny, the especially funny part is that most of the cousins are in their mid to late 20's, with some of us hitting 30. We wonder how long we'll have to put on these skits before we're considered too old. I for one don't mind, and I don't think too many of us really do to be honest. It's just funny to think that the "kids" are turning into "adults", but we're still the "kids".
From there we eat, talk, maybe play games, talk, and sit in a new food induced coma. Dudes, there is always so much good food! It's hard not to eat so much, for fear of missing out.
This year we started calling our full bellies "food babies" because that's how much we eat. But it doesn't stop there! You can't forget about dessert.
This year I figured it was about time we contributed something, ya know more than our usual bags of ice to the mix. So, I made brownies. But, not just any brownies. I made Grasshopper Brownies.
They were amazing. Yummy dark chocolate goodness with a hint of mint. Not too sweet, but definitely rich. I found the recipe on my favorite food blog, Smitten Kitchen. The minute I read her post and saw the recipe, I knew I had to make them. I consulted my MIL and my SIL "B" and they both agreed that it would be a welcome addition to the dessert table.
People, this brownies are serious. Dark chocolate brownie, mint ganache, dark chocolate ganache....need I say more? They were a hit from what I heard and I was actually really happy with the results.So, once dessert was had we came home, kissed our pups goodnight, and called it a night. Well, N and I actually exchanged gifts first. Then we called it a night.
It was a busy, busy day, but it was filled with good food, laughs, new memories, and most importantly family. I'm grateful for such a wonderful celebration.
So, I'll leave you with that. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas or a wonderful Thursday. May you enjoy your holidays with loved ones....and maybe some knitting!
I'm off because there are a few brownies left and I think I hear one calling my name :-)
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