Hi friends! I hope those of you who celebrate it had a very merry Christmas yesterday. 🙂
As you know, we’re in Pittsburgh for the holidays this year celebrating with Matt’s family! We snuck in an early Christmas with my fam before we left DC, and they are currently enjoying our furry child while we’re away. 😉 Apparently she has settled in quite nicely!
My brother would like you all to know that he took that cute photo of Zara. Mad skills. 😉
As for us, we had a fun day yesterday!
The morning was spent attacking the presents. We also discovered that our adorable nephew, Nate, LOVES when Matt plays guitar. He started dancing along – too cute. (He’s 14 months.)
He also really enjoyed the trash can filled with wrapping paper. Lol!
Mid afternoon, Matt and I headed out for some fresh air and got in a nice and speedy 5 mile run with our friends Thomas and Pete. My watch was dead so I’m not sure of our pace, but we were movin’!
A little while later, and it was time to eat! As usual, Matt’s parents went all out for an epic Christmas dinner feast. Check out the menu:
We had 16 people at the house, not including 3 little ones – a fun mix of Matt’s family and family friends (whose “kids” are our friends).
We all had some Prosecco and snacks to start before heading to the table for our “amuse bouche” (a delicious smoked fish with mango, ricotta, and caviar) and palate cleanser (limoncello) – Matt’s dad is so fancy!
Matt’s brother Drew gets credit for that photo and these next few – he got a new camera lens for Christmas and had fun playing around with it at dinner!
Next up was a tasty salad – arugula and pear with goat cheese, toasted walnuts and a homemade pomegranate vinaigrette.
Then it was to the buffet for the main event! My favorite was the fennel and rosemary crusted tenderloin – SO good! I want to try this at home ASAP. Apparently it was fresh rosemary + dried fennel seeds ground together by hand with a little olive oil, then spread on the outside of the meat before cooking. Delicious! I went back for seconds. 🙂 The beans, carrots, and artichoke mashed potatoes were all really good, too!
Plus red wine!
Awhile later and we were ready for dessert: cherries jubilee (flamed tableside by Matt’s dad!) with ice cream and Matt’s mom’s famous coconut cake. Yum!
We ended the meal with The Peppermint Pig – have you guys heard of this? You put it in the bag and take turns whacking it (to break it into peppermint pieces). Once you’ve whacked it, you say what you were thankful for that year! Such a nice way to end the meal and remind ourselves how much we have to be grateful for. The peppermint was quite tasty, too. 🙂
Have a great day and I’ll see you guys back here on Monday! Matt and I will be cruising the Caribbean next week, but I have pre-published some fun posts for you guys to enjoy while we’re away – here’s what’s on the docket to look forward to:
- Monday – Guest Post: The Health Benefits of Fermented Foods (plus some easy recipes you can try yourself at home)
- Tuesday – Guest Post: Why You Should Eat Omega-3 Fats (plus a great salmon taco recipe)
- Wednesday (New Years Eve) – Hangover Busting Smoothie recipe (for New Years Day!)
- Thursday (New Years Day) – no new post
- Friday – Tips for a Healthy New Year
