Clean It Up

As my husband often says at the end of a 72 hour shift: I am beginning to fatigue. I have been on a tear in the past 3 hours to get all Christmas decorations packed up and put away. Normally we enjoy them for another week, but we have so much going on this week that this is my only chance to do it. I'm almost finished, but sat down for a moment to ponder how it's possible that my ornaments apparently tripled in volume this month.

We had a wonderful, wonderful Christmas. Absolutely amazing, and after much reflection, I've decided that it's because we started and ended the day just right.

With chocolate.

In the morning we had our chocolate croissants from Williams-Sonoma. Hello!! Put it on your calendar RIGHT NOW to order them for your family next year. They were amazing (and I swear, no affiliation here with W-S). They are officially our new family food tradition.

In the evening we had a wonderful Christmas dinner of baked brie with cranberries, roasted beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes with gravy, salad with warm goat cheese, and peppermint chocolate trifle (made by Attorney Mom, whose family's presence is now forever mandatory at our Christmas table). Amazing, amazing, amazing. I promise next year to blog all of those recipes at the beginning of December (Attorney Mom, are you paying attention? Write it down!) - I think it's a safe assumption that everyone is ready to move on from the Big Heavy Holiday Meals?

Which brings us to dinner tonight. In an effort to use up the massive amounts of leftovers we have, without actually repeating Christmas dinner, here is what's on our menu:

Roast beef sandwiches (serves 2). Slice two small wheat baguettes in half, broil for approximately 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and spread each piece of baguette with a thin layer of goat cheese. Slice cold roast beef as thinly as possible and place on baguette (4-6 thin slices per person). Add baby greens, and serve with a big handful of cherry tomatoes on the side.

Happy eating!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We have officially arrived at what is to me the best part of the Christmas season: the Happy Anticipation phase. We've moved past the Cheerful-Hustle-And-Bustle phase, right through the Panicked-It-Will-Never-All-Get-Done phase (which, given how terrible a head cold I had last week, teetered dangerously on turning into a Screw-It-There's-Always-Next-Year phase), and now I get to do what I look forward to every year.

Enjoy it.

Gifts are all bought (though not wrapped - there's still time for that). Cards have been mailed. Tree is trimmed, halls are decked, and "Santa is watching" has been completely worn out as a parenting tool. Nothing left to do but eat too much. Ah, how I love the holidays.

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A follow up on my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Jessica (she of the perfectly lumpy cookies) arrived with her family Friday night, and first thing Saturday morning we had a cookie tutorial. I think we've decided I might have been overmixing the dough by using my standmixer. I'm proud to say I made my own batch of perfect cookies today, and promptly gained 45 pounds. Thanks, Jessie.

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Peppermint bark follow up - on the suggestion of a posting on another website, this year I'm making it with a layer of dark chocolate underneath. Mmmmm.

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Merry merry, everyone.