The last winner is Carol – congratulations! And all the best to everyone for 2019!
Wow, we made it! Thank you for joining me for the last 24 days, everyone. It’s been great spending the last three plus weeks talking with you all every day 🙂
The last prize is all three ebooks in my Verdant String series. I hope everyone who has regularly commented has won something these last three plus weeks, and if not, you have one last chance!
I know we’ve talked recipes already, but that was about your general favourite. Tomorrow is Christmas Day, and I would love to know, if you celebrate the day, what dish you always make? And if you celebrate a different festival, which dish you make for that? Let’s hear about amazing food! 🙂 I always make marzipan fruit cake (the Nigella Lawson recipe from How to Be A Domestic Goddess). LOVE. THIS. CAKE!
(Just out of the oven.)
I’ve pretty much handed over the Christmas cooking reins to my daughter. She made an amazing Christmas cake this year. Had part 1 of Christmas celebrations today. I’m expecting a steak & prawn barbecue this weekend at her place.
That sounds very delicious, CeeCee. Have a wonderful day!
We grill steak every year for our Christmas dinner. Even if the snow is flying, my husband is bundled up and grilling those steaks! lol Thank you for doing these wonderful holiday giveaways!
My pleasure, Christine, and have a wonderful day tomorrow. I hope your husband doesn’t get too cold grilling the steaks 🙂
That cake looks awesome. I make ham dip every year for snacks on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas.🎄
Thank you, Kim. A merry Christmas to you, too!
Michelle, your cake looks yummy. I had to reply to this. Yesterday, my vegan sister told me that once again she went to a get-together, and the only food she could eat was bread. This happens often to her. I’m a vegetarian (though I sometimes cheat), but for years now, I’ve been bringing vegetarian side dishes to get-togethers. This Cranberry Relish is perfect for Christmas and Thanksgiving – and It’s also super easy to make. https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/last-minute-cranberry-relish/ *Note: I add more spices in mine.*
Hi Edie and Michelle,
I hope it’s OK to reply with something that is not specifically Christmas-themed, but which I have brought to our Christmas party at work, and which vegetarians (even vegans) can eat, although I think it works best with sour cream, if your guests will eat dairy products. It’s also really fast to make, if you don’t want to soak beans beforehand: substitute a 15 oz can of Black Beans with whatever liquid is naturally in the can in place of the soaked beans and broth, add a tsp of chili pepper, and turn this into a hearty dip — which you could also actually eat as a soup with brown rice and optionally sour cream garnish.
And yes, I’ve been to dinners where I could only eat the salad. For Christmas I’m actually cooking Chinese food (Snow Peas, Shitake Mushrooms, and Tofu Gan)
Latin Black Bean Soup
– name: Latin Black Bean Soup
servings: 5-6
prep_time: 20 min
cook_time: 40 min
on_favorites: yes
categories: [Soup]
ingredients: |
¼ cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 large green pepper, cored, seeded, finely chopped
1 teaspoon each, leaf oregano, ground cumin
2 cups precooked black beans and broth
6-ounce can tomato paste
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 to 2 teaspoons salt
2 cups cooked brown rice
Sour cream, sliced radishes, minced hot chilies, chopped cilantro
directions: |
Heat oil in a frying pan and sauté onion, garlic
and green pepper together with seasonings. When
vegetables are softened, add them to the black
beans that have cooked for at least 1 hour. Add
tomato paste, vinegar and salt and simmer, covered,
for at least ½ hour. Add rice and serve in bowls
garnished with sour cream, radishes, chilies
(to taste) and cilantro.
Yum, Esther! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
That sounds so delicious, Edie. And I’m sorry your sister keeps experiencing this. And please send her my love 🙂
Swedish meatballs! Every Christmas. I remember when my mom made them and I was too little to help, when I finally was trusted to help (messier than I imagined), when I made them myself for the first time (minor disaster), and now my teenagers help me make them every year.
I have a Swedish friend, and he often makes meatballs for get-togethers. I love them 🙂
Swedish meatballs! I remember when I was too young to help and just watched my mom and grandma, when I was finally permitted to help ( much messier than imagined), when I made them by myself for the first time (minor disaster). Now my teenagers make them (with my help).
With only my mother and brother left over here Stateside, and all of us getting up there, we don’t really do much specialty cooking. For me, it doesn’t really feel like a “holiday” without eggnog, pumpkin pie and stuffing (or dressing, for some folks). So, I usually try to have those items here at home, even if my mother sends my brother to pick me up for dinner at her house. 🙂 If (and I know that’s a big if) I get drawn for today’s giveaway, is there any possibility of getting these (since I know they are all e-books) in pdf form? And, thanks for sharing all these wonderful items with us. Hope you and yours are having a wonderful holiday so far, and blessings to you on this wonderful Christmas eve day.
Thank you, J.Lee. Have a wonderful Christmas, and thanks so much for participating!
I make shortbread. I have several different recipes. Plain, coconut, pecan, and my favorite, chocolate. I’m always looking for new recipes to try.
I love shortbread, Riley. I haven’t made it in a while, but bought the ingredients for ginger shortbread the other day.
I was able to sneak back once again. Thank you so much, Michelle, for this enjoyable series of posts. I hope that you and yours have a wonderful holiday.
I’ve gotten lazy in the past few years. Like Riley, I used to make shortbread. This year, we’ll have friends coming on the 26th and staying for a few years. I’ll be making a Dutch apple tart.
Apple tart or pie is one of my favourites! When I was a child, we always had apple cake with fudge topping at Christmas, and now my kids won’t let me not make it. Even though I have passionfruit pavlova on the menu this year, I’m also making apple cake with fudge topping 🙂
How delicious! We don’t have something that we make EVERY Christmas, but many Christmas mornings we do celebrate with waffles. Something like these: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/waffles-from-the-joy-of-cooking-50154323
Happy celebrating, no matter what you’re eating 😉 Thanks for such a fun way to enjoy the month!
Thank you, fichen1! We love waffles in our house, but my waffle machine died this year. I need to find a new one so we can make them again 🙂
I’m going to make my stepmother’s green bean/corn casserole with sour cream, onions, sharp cheddar, water chestnuts, cream of celery soup & a Ritz cracker crumb/butter topping.
You had me at green beans, but the rest sounds amazing, too!
Congratulations, Carol, you’re today’s winner!
Thank you so much! Thanks to you for hosting & all the authors for sharing their time & gifts!
I’m not really much of a from-scratch cook. My favorite holiday dishes tend to be cooked by other people! Thank heavens for bakeries, because a holiday dinner isn’t complete without some kind of pie served warm and a la mode, but I’m flexible: apple, cherry, pumpkin, blueberry…
It took me years to work out a la mode in America means served with ice cream :). Before then, I always wondered what made the pie fashionable, LOL! I love all kinds of pie, too!
LOL, I have occasionally wondered when it became “fashionable”, myself!
Not *as* odd w/o the background as “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, though: “Stuck a feather in his cap / and called it macaroni!” Having learned that one as a kid, I had a headstart upon encountering “macaronis” in Regency romances!
Happy reading, Carol! Michelle, thank you to you and your friends for making this month even brighter! Wishing you a joyful close to the year, and a 2019 full of blessing and wonder!