Christmas Cooking

Our Christmas Day was spent at my parents house chopping, grating, cooking and preparing a wonderful meal to enjoy together. This post is a documentary of all our prepping and spending the time together- even if we had to stir the risotto constantly(we took turns)- we were all together and that’s what mattered. Not to mention the risotto was one of the best we have EVER had- thanks to Giada! You can find the recipe here.

Oh and the NY strip roast was melt in your mouth delicious! My sister and Mike prepped it with the rub the night before and it was amazing, everyone(even my mom!) had seconds.

Side note- I also made a breakfast casserole that I saw in Everyday Food but it was gone in a flash and I didn’t remember to take any photos of it- oh well there is always next year.

Chopping and blanching the string beans:

Pumpkin and goat cheese risotto ingredients:

Marissa and her new Japanese Mandoline- my mom thought she wanted a musical instrument when this showed up on her list. Don’t ask, we all had lots of laughs over that one! Haha.

Cooking while drinking champagne- is there any better way?

Chris took a lot of the photos below- he did a great job too! Here I am chopping leeks for the risotto.

There is bacon in the risotto so it was already a winner before we tasted it! Oh and did I mention it has goat cheese too!

Joyce is stirring, and stirring away.

Mike & my dad helping! There were too many cooks in the kitchen:)

This roasted steak was to die for. Oh and my sister, the chef, seared it before roasting. It made the meat taste all that much better. The recipe can be found here.

There I am stealing a piece of Parmesan cheese. I think that’s the best part of prepping- tasting the food! Yum.

Chris’ turn to stir and of course he is holding a Guinness.

He’s getting tired of stirring here. Either that or he’s making the do not take my photo again face:)

My sister doesn’t wear this outfit when cooking at Satis! If you are ever in Jersey City you should go and eat there, all the food is delicious.

My Dad slicing the steak:

The best looking dinner for sure!

Oh and I was in charge of dessert, becuase well I LOVE desserts. Especially chocolate and peanut butter ones. My friend Christina made this one for Thanksgiving and it looked too good not to try. It was so, so good, but so filling and rich. Small, tiny slivers were all that you needed. You can find the recipe here and she has little tips which are good to follow. I made the entire cake minus the chocolate frosting part at home 2 days before and kept it in the fridge, then melted the chocolate frosting ingredients at my parents house so we didn’t get it all over the car. I kinda wish I had a cake stand to put it on to make it look prettier, but this Tupperware carrying case is so convenient for transport.