If your holiday season was anything like mine it included goodies of all kinds, and often. Here’s a journey through the last few days of family, friends, and FOOD.
A holiday gathering with friends was made more special with delightful holiday beer. Of course they had the regulars as well but I’m a sucker for seasonal beers. I thought it was a really nice touch to have a few seasonal varieties on hand.
![holidaybeer_200_290 holidaybeer_200_290](http://thethreebiterule.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/holidaybeer_200_290.jpg)
Some other fun additions they served was a decadent bark. This would be a fantastic post-halloween treat as well. Bittersweet chocolate was topped with pretzels, melted red & green chocolate, and all the candy and cookies you can think of. Bittersweet chocolate was definitely necessary since milk chocolate would make it over-the-top sweet. The pretzels added a nice sweet/salty/crispy aspect.
![holidaybark_290_200 holidaybark_290_200](http://thethreebiterule.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/holidaybark_290_200.jpg)
Lastly they served roasted chestnuts! I hadn’t ever had them but fell in love. They have a real woodsy flavor. They are meaty and substantial. A little cut on the bottom made them easy to pop right out. Check out how nicely the bowl complimented the nuts too!
![chestnuts_290_200 chestnuts_290_200](http://thethreebiterule.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/chestnuts_290_200.jpg)
Ok, lets move on to some holiday meals. Breakfasts are my favorites. Christmas Eve was already my 2nd day of holiday celebrations with the C family and we had a crockpot scramble dish including ham, egg, cheese, and shredded potato. We also served Ebelskiver (translation: dutch filled-pancake). These are tasty and really fun. Mr. J is a master at turning them so he did the honors. We filled them with raspberries, banana, and chocolate chips. More than 3 options just gets confusing.
![pancake_290_200 pancake_290_200](http://thethreebiterule.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/pancake_290_200.jpg)
The pan only allows for a few per batch but we found out the first time making them that this is probably all that we could keep up with at a time anyway. Williams Sonoma makes fancy turners for $12.95 but bamboo skewers work just fine. We kept them warm in the oven while making the rest. I’ll post again about these…they’re that good.
![pancake2_290_200 pancake2_290_200](http://thethreebiterule.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/pancake2_290_200.jpg)
After discovering a Christmas journal from 1987 we realized the R fam has been eating a traditional Christmas breakfast since at least since then. It is a casserole (to be made the night before) with rice, eggs, velveeta, ham, and asparagus. It’s delectable and nobody is ever ready for a change.
![holidaybfast_290_200 holidaybfast_290_200](http://thethreebiterule.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/holidaybfast_290_200.jpg)
The other benefit is that it just gets popped into the oven while gifts are in progress and nobody misses anything! We also have a partridge and a pear tree, minus the partridge. Though I’m not sure why, the top of the tree gets a sugar cube with a drop of flavored extract lit on fire for a second.
![holiday_peartree_290_200 holiday_peartree_290_200](http://thethreebiterule.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/holiday_peartree_290_200.jpg)
Dinner time? There’s no set tradition with the R family so this year we had ham. Yum! Sides included the best sausage stuffing ever, creamed onions, green beans, and a baked fruit on the side.
![holiday_dinner_290_200 holiday_dinner_290_200](http://thethreebiterule.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/holiday_dinner_290_200.jpg)
Check out the BLT skewers I made with Mrs. C. She brought them to church on Christmas Eve and they were such a hit. How is it that I’ve never had super thick cut bacon? I’m now enlightened. Wow. We cut one end of the grape tomato off to make it stand better.
![blt_sticks_290_200 blt_sticks_290_200](http://thethreebiterule.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/blt_sticks_290_200.jpg)
One last delectable thing I ate (and ate) was sis’ sticky buns. The recipe will follow soon! Hope everyone else had great meals too!