Last week was pretty laid back - we got out to see some Christmas light displays, had a day date with my husband before the kids got out of school to go see Rogue One (recommend!) and are doing lots of BAKING!
Our first foray into making muddy buddies was a success, and sugar cookie decorating will commence this week.
If you happened to catch my Instagram stories, I made two staples recently: holiday bark and these Linzer muffins. SO GOOD.
I have a tentative menu plan for the week, but since I'm taking a little blog hiatus next week, I thought I'd just link to my favorite holiday meals and treats.
Christmas Eve is always appetizers (complete with Salami Stacks, of course) and a good Neuf du Pape while watching Love Actually after the kids go to bed. They either eat 'snowman pizzas' where I mold the dough into the shape of a snowman and they do the toppings, or I make them breakfast for dinner.
On Christmas Day, we start the day with either Monkey Bread or homemade cinnamon rolls. For dinner, we have done lasagna in the past. However, after eating a lot of cheese and crackers the night before, a cheesy dinner didn't sound all that appealing. I decided on a tasty recipe for Beer Braised Beef with Marsala Mushroom Sauce and Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes that we haven't made in years and is SUPER TASTY.
New Year's Eve we'll make a longtime favorite for special occasions: Giada's Braciole recipe, and I'm not sure about New Year's Day. We don't have any hard and fast traditions other than an indulgent breakfast - whichever of the two we didn't have for Christmas morning. Perhaps I should get a black eyed pea recipe? Or we should just start eating salads every day for January...
Happy holidays to you and yours!