Multiple Christmas Dinners

Christmas probably seems like a long time ago for you, but for Mr. J and I, it was a whirlwind and feels like it just happened. We really tried not to wish Christmas away while awaiting our closing date and moving day. Christmas is a multi-day, multi-state, multi-family celebration for Mr. J and me. We coordinate our travel plans to spend time with his family in Maine and with my family in Greater Boston. It’s so fun, quite tiring, and there’s many meals. Here’s my recap of how those days were enjoyed through the meals.

At my family’s holiday, we are all about the traditional foods year after year. Apparently we cannot (or will not) break a few of these food traditions. On Christmas eve the R family has soup (clam chowder)
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My dad madee an amazing antipasto salad. He’s not really the cook in our family so we were impressed!
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My mum made the cutest cheese ball I’ve ever seen.
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On Christmas morning, we have coffee and a cheesecake-like coffee cake while we start gifts. It had apricot jelly and almonds on it.
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During a gift break, we have brunch with this casserole assembled the night before. It has rice, ham, cheese, eggs, and asparagus. It’s creamy and delicious.
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Christmas dinner was a surprise this year. Turducken! I was sooo excited to try it. We weren’t overly impressed and I think their suggested cooking time was way too much.
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We weren’t sure it would feed the 7 adults attending so we had a few heftier sides like this awesome shrimp dish (just shrimp, butter, and ritz).
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We had a Yule Log since it’s Dad’s favorite.
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In Maine Mrs. S recreated my failed apple bacon stuffed French toast. Amazing. It was so thick, sticky, and had plenty of crunchy bacon. I loved it and I knew somebody else could do it right.
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For lunch/dinner we had a cool ramen and cabbage salad. I’ve never had one with grapes and I loved it.
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We had some crockpot dishes that were good for feasting throughout the afternoon. The turkey meatballs we delicious.
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I wish I got a shot of the cake balls. I mean I ate enough of them there really wasn’t an excuse not to get a photo.

Christmas was really fun and we are always so grateful to make it to both families.

Did Ya Miss Me

I’m back from my moving/house-buying hiatus. I’m happy to be back to a normal routine and I have LOTS of catching up to do!

Allow me to introduce my new house’s kitchen! I’m loving it. It’s my favorite part of the house. I wish I had some “before” aka the world’s tiniest & darkest kitchen photos for comparison. I meant to, but it just didn’t happen.

Here’s a wide shot. I could live on that island.
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The backspash is also one of my favorite things about the kitchen. The colors are really nice blues, copper, tan, and cream. It is awesome.
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And here are the sisters. Double sinks are pretty bomb, especially when they’re both this big & deep. I secretly like doing dishes so they’re perfect.
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Check. Out. This. Fridge. Wow. It is so big and shiny!
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We were pleasantly surprised to discover this nifty filtered water spout inside. I hadn’t been able to get used to the taste of the water but this solved the problem.
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The corner cabinets are used really well. Genius! The cabinets are cherry and i just polished them up.
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There are great “pantry” cabinets against the stairs. One has drawers that pull out. I use the term pantry loosely since a pantry is actually a room. My parents have the coolest pantry ever. Maybe sometime I’ll kitchen-snoop there.
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The other was a broom closet and handy Mr. J installed shelves for more storage! We have some organizing to do between the 2 cabinets.
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Here is the stove. I’m getting used to the gas and my new pots & pans. The power burner, as it is called, proved too powerful for yesterday morning’s bacon. It went from uncooked to burnt in a second. Tragedy. (Check out the time! palindromes are my favorite!)
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There’s an awesome wet bar/buffet by the dining table. I love that the quartz counters continued and that baby sink I’m sure will prove handy. Like my wine stock? I realized it is a bit much since Mr. J doesn’t really drink wine. Guess it calls for a party!
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The house is awesome and we’re loving it. Mr. J has found his calling in life as a homeowner and Mr. Fix-It. Our wedding fiestaware makes nightly appearances at dinner as we smile looking around. We actually get to live here! The pup cannot get enough of his yard, or all the windows that look out at it. We still have more unpacking to do but things are looking good so far!

This week I’ll get you caught up on Christmas and a pretty sweet mac & cheese tasting. Stay tuned!

Just Like The Terminator

…I’ll be back. I need a bit more time since I am settling into my new home. We JUST got internet and cable and have made our way through the boxes. Work is nutty and post-holiday craziness is subsiding, so we’re getting there!

I have some exciting tidbits for you, when I do come back. Here are some morsels you can salivate over until I return in full force:

  • a google-hosted mac & cheese tasting: 5 mac and cheeses…count ’em
  • 2 amazing Christmases
  • maybe some resolutions for the new year
  • a tour of my dare-I-say amazing kitchen (complete with new-to-us but from-the-wedding gifts!)
  • a cookie swap at one of Boston’s best bakeries
  • pumpkin pasta
  • tomato zucchini risotto
  • etc etc etc

See ya soon!

Movin’ On Up!

It sure is a Happy New Year! The time has come. Mr. J and I are moving to our dream home! We are beyond excited and it feels like a long time coming. The house hunt wasn’t that long, but the buying process was much more involved than House Hunters lead us to believe.
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Our house is fantastic. The kitchen is TO. DIE. FOR. I’m not even just comparing it to my horrendous apartment kitchen. I have more cabinets than I know what to do with but I’m sure willing to try! No more broken tiled floor in the kitchen! No more tiny cabinets! We have windows in the kitchen! We have stone counter tops! We have so much space!

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Mr. J is sooo excited to grill and the pup has never had a yard! Needless to say we’re in moving and homeownership bliss. We are sad to leave some really fun restaurants and we’ve loved living so close to friends, fun city happenings, hockey leagues etc. It is just time and we’ve been ready for awhile.

I’ll be back in full force soon after I break in this perfect Christmas present! Hang tight while I unpack, get internet, and swoon over my house…you know, the important things. Leave your suggestions about what I should cook now that I have all the room in the world!

Mashed Potato Pizza Pie

I had to! I’ve been remembering the Pizzaria Uno’s “Pizza Skins” aka deep dish pizza with mashed potatoes and all the fixings ever since I first made a sliced potato pizza last year.
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All my stars aligned when I was thinking what I could make for dinner without having to grocery shop. I live to avoid grocery shopping. I had a frozen ball of dough, a scant amount of cheddar cheese, a bag of potatoes, and of course I always have bacon!

Ingredients

1 ball of pizza dough (I used wheat here)
2 large potatoes
2 tbs butter
2 tbs cream cheese
1 cup cheddar, shredded
2 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions

Preheat oven to 400-degrees.
Prepare mashed potatoes (I mix mine with butter and cream cheese and I left some chunks).
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Spread pizza dough into a circular cake pan or deep dish pizza pan. (I spread some jarred pesto, but it’s not crucial.)
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Layer with half the cheddar cheese and half the bacon.
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Carefully spread mashed potatoes.
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Bake for 40 minutes until edges of dough are crisping.
Immediately after removing from oven, top with remaining cheese and bacon.
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I liked this one. I thought it was fun and different with comforting flavors. I would have used more cheese if I had it. Sour cream, ranch dressing, or scallions would have been fun additions as well.

Since Mr. J and I would easily consume more bacon than our bodies neeeeeed, I freeze it in 2 strip packets (2 strips = 1 serving) and usually label it as maple, thick cut, etc. If I don’t, a lot seems to disappear between the pan and our plates. Unfortunately I hadn’t labeled my bacon so it was a gamble coming out of the freezer and turns out it was maple. That made it a tiny bit weird. Whatev…we ate it anyway.

You could make itty bitty ones in muffin tins for single size portions! These would be so cute for a tailgating party etc. You could also stretch it a lot further if you made a regular flat pizza, rather than a deep dish.
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Cost (be prepared to be amazed)

Mashed Potato Pizza

pizza dough: $1.50
2 potatoes: $1.58
1 cup shredded cheddar: $0.93
2 slices of bacon: $0.49
total = $4.50 for the pizza (=$1.12 per serving)

Yes, folks, $1.12 per serving (I assumed you had butter and cream cheese is optional). Can’t beat that Uno’s can ya?! (Ha! Theirs half the size is $9.49 near me!)