The day before, I had prepared "the best lentil salad ever," which I've made before. No surprises this year.
Also those Union Square Cafe roasted bar nuts with rosemary:
This afternoon I prepared raw kale salad (with red onion, goji berries, and hemp seeds in holiday colors). I guess there's not a great solo shot of that, but here's the above along with a plate of roasted red peppers and steamed leeks that my mom made.
My dad was in charge of sauteed mushrooms (shiitakes, creminis, and bellas) that he made with shallots and either port or Madeira and lotsa olive oil:
There were also roasted sweet potatoes - both Korean and yams:
It was a lot of food. I only took this one plate and was pretty stuffed, and my mom had bought even more vegetables that she didn't prepare. (I should mention there were only six of us at the table - my aunt and uncle came as well.) Here is my plate:
(Oh yeah, also some raw snap peas.) Unpictured wine and champagne.
Dessert was a little less of an ordeal. There was non-vegan apple-cranberry pie and I brought Newman Alphabet cookies to make rum balls.... When I realized I had forgotten the rum, I just ate the cookies.
Speaking of pet(lt)s, some quality cat time was had. Haxan supervising the kale:
Sleepy Christmas Eve cats:
And perky Christmas-morning-investigative-wake-me-up-at-seven Cicero:
That's all, folks. Hope you had a good holiday and a very punk rock Christmas (or whatever.)
Merry Christmas!! Your meal looks so absolutely delicious!! That lentil salad looks delicious and the rosemary nuts, yum! I wish I would have made those to snack on during the day. You live and learn I guess ;) I love your simple dessert ;) Love the kitty pics! So adorable!
ReplyDeleteSeems like a really nice day!! Hope you and your family enjoyed it :)
Oh there was definitely plenty of snacking on the nuts prior to putting them out on the table. Dessert was a little sad, though. Ha!
DeleteWhat an incredible spread! You'd think your entire family were vegan ;-) I"m also admiring your potato punctures; why do I make boring X's?
ReplyDeleteYeah, and they all really enjoyed it! I think the only non-vegan thing was the chicken my mom made. I must say, the potato fork-punctures were pretty difficult... I thought I was going to jab my hand.
DeleteLooks like a really positive time. Cicero rules.
ReplyDelete(Aren't those Newman's Alphabet Cookies supposed to be for teething babies?)
Cicero does rule! Except he has very sharp claws. I wouldn't punish a baby with those cookies.
DeleteI need to take a note from you, and prepare better menus! What a beautiful spread, and cute felines! Haxan always looks a little sassy, and I like it. ;)
ReplyDeleteIt looked like you did pretty well for yrself! And yes, Haxan is a sassy cat if ever there was one.
DeleteMerry Christmas :) What a beautiful looking dinner, I'm in the mood for roast sweet potatoes now. Have a good one!
ReplyDeleteSweet potatoes rule. Go for it! Happy Holidays to you too :)
DeleteEverything looks great, especially that lentil salad!
ReplyDelete<3 Melissa
wildflwrchild.blogspot.com
Thank you! It was all very tasty.
DeleteYour Christmas eats look much healthier than mine, in a really good way. Mmm kale.
ReplyDeleteI eagerly await yr round up :)
Deletehappy Christmas. I think the best looking thing on your Chrimbo table has to be the cat (although those sweet, sweet lentil and kale salads come pretty close seconds!)
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes, though we didn't eat the cat, thank goodness.
DeleteColorful as always! Merry Christmas and happy eating.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Happy Holidays to you too Andrea!
DeleteMidnight mass! Oh, I tried, so so so hard. To not be Ms. Grumpypants at church with Michael and his family. But I can't help it, my 14 year old self fights strong - I was always forced to go as a child and I passionately hated it, and apparently I'm still kinda scarred from that!
ReplyDeleteAlso! That is a happy plate, for realz! Lots of color. Sounds like a good time was had! Too many exclamation marks!
Haha, yr a trooper. I wasn't so grumpy as sleeeeepy. I kind of enjoy holiday masses.
DeleteAnd yes, it was an awesome plate - yrs was too!
Merry Christmas! Your meal looks delicious and healthy. I made a shepherd's pie and took naps all day. Also, that Ramones video is one of my holidays favorites. Can't count how many times I watched it this year. "You pig. This is RED! RED! RED!" hahahahaaa
ReplyDeleteHahah isn't it great? I Love the part where she's like "They're YOUR Friends! I don't HAVE any friends!!" "You're right! You don't!" Haha, anyway! I like yr nap day idea. maybe I'll do that next year.
DeleteLooks delicious! I too got to spend quality cat time while visiting the fam. I have my own kitty, but it's fun to see my mom's cats, and I also get to spend time with her very old, wonderful dog.
ReplyDeleteAs a bit of a cookie monster/homemade cookie snob, I am making a sad-face looking at your "christmas" cookies. I wish I could have sent you some of our gazillion batches of homemade vegan holiday treats!
Family pets are nice to visit with, aren't they? And I agree with yr Newman alphabet cookie disdain. Next year I'll have to make up for it big time.
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