Christmas Leftovers...Day 1

What do you do when 5/6 of your guests don't show up? You eat leftovers...lots of them. It can get quite frustrating and boring though, as I quite honestly am not a big fan of eating the same meal 2 days in a row. I actually purposely schedule a leftover day for 2 days later so that I don't have to do that. My taste buds easily bore.

My dilemma as I cooked for 10 extra adults and only had myself and my husband to eat what was made is how to deal with the leftovers and still have them fresh. Yes, there is always the freezer, but really...who wants to relive the same leftovers for over a month...because, yes, I do have that many leftovers (and I still have Thanksgiving Turkey in my freezer)!

Tonight I tackled the beef and cheese that were actually eaten on Christmas. I added to it a baguette and sugar peas that were to be eaten on Christmas, but I ended up not cooking them (that way they would be fresh later on when we would eat them). So steamed peas, my favorite, and really better fresh anyhow and open faced sammies :)

I toasted up the baguette that I sliced on the bias with a little EVOO (I'm a huge Rachael Ray fan if you can't tell). I then rubbed the toast with a clove of garlic, which gives you an amazing garlic bread if you've never tried it, and topped it with some freshly grated Gruyere cheese (I made these as an appetizer/side roll, and they were amazing!!!). Melted that for about 10 minutes and put some shaved beef on top of the cheese. Then we could top as we liked, though I am a big fan of plain.

Let me just say that these were so yummy that I'm tempted to freeze the rest of the beef and bring it out again for my son's birthday party in this form...seriously...that good!

This method would work with any of your Christmas leftovers (though if you eat ham I would probably leave off the garlic...just trust me on this one, garlic + ham is not a happy mouth combo).

The rest of my roasted veggies were frozen and will probably be making a re-appearance in the very near future...

A Feast and Celebration

Our morning started with mimosas, as any truly good morning should (it was followed by gallons of coffee as Christmas Eve was filled with teething and not a lot of sleep). It was followed by presents, and a little boy who didn't know if he wanted to see the new things he had gotten or play with his old standbys.

Then came time to prepare the dinner. I was suppose to have about 10 extra guests to share the meal with (Marines who were stuck on base), but they were all a no-show :(

It was their loss, however.

As the beast (beef) and veggies were wonderful. And we have enough leftovers to last us the rest of 2010.

And dessert was wonderful...Apple Pie...mmm...

I do think Hubs and I ate half the pie and a good portion of the meat...now...what to do with the leftovers?

Merry Christmas

I just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas! May your day be filled with love and joy!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,lying in a manger...Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.

Luke 2: 11-12,14

As we spend time with family and friends this weekend, opening presents and gorging ourselves on cookies (remember the New Year is only a week away....which only means RESOLUTIONS) it is important to remember the reason behind the season. Because the best gift of all this year, it can't be found in stores, it isn't on clearance, it will last a lifetime if you put it in your heart and share it with a friend- JESUS!

Treasure your family today and make many memories...That's what I'm doing!

Our Christmas-y Weekend

Our weekend home was filled with family and presents. I'll be honest, though I had access to a computer, I felt that spending time with the family was much more important. When we finally got home, a day later than expected, I was buried in laundry and Bubba developed a fever (102.6), so my motherly duties took over...which happens. I'm finally getting caught up, but you'll have to excuse me if I spend the better part of this weekend with my boys.

Bubba and his cousin, checking each other out

We love our Little People...

Not sure what to make of all these gifts!

The Christmas Chronicles

This year Hubs and I started reading Christmas Chronicles. The first book in the series is The Autobiography of Santa Claus. We found it on the reduced book table at BAM and were super excited. Mainly because we found a copy with all 3 stories. The book is written so there are 24 Chapters. One for each night of December.

We are loving the first book. We so glad we bought the volume! What I am loving is how openly Christian the book is. It takes you back to how Christmas could have started, as a holiday celebrating the birth of Christ to what it is today. Not only that, but it has history mingled in the stories. Ever wonder what really happened to Attilla the Hun? Or King Arthur? This is a tradition that I will be continuing from now on (I may not even wait until next year to read the 2nd and 3rd books).

We are half way through the story now and every night I look forward to hearing Hubs read to Bubba and I just before Bubba's bedtime. There are so many instances where I just begin to chuckle (distracting Bubba from his mission...the Boob). Filled with humor and history and a whole lot of Christmas magic this is a book that will be staying with our family's Christmas traditions.






I was not compensated in any way for this review. These are my opinions.

Traditions

In the past 5 years I've been married, hubs and I have developed our own family traditions. Every year we contimplate adding a new tradition to our holidays. Here are some of our traditions:

The day after Thanksgiving we always have Turkey Corn Chili (recipe here). Hubs saw the recipe on Rachael Ray and just had to make it after our first Thanksgiving. Well, it was so good that we just couldn't not make it tradition. Plus it goes really well in a crockpot so we can still go out shopping :)

Each year, Hubs and I pick one cookie and one candy each to be made. This way we aren't making a ton for us to sit around and gorge ourselves on. Usually he picks a buttery cookie with frosting in the middle. I change mine every year. The first year I chose Gingerbread and didn't realize how much my recipe made. We ate gingerbread men until Easter (okay...we would have if I hadn't given them to everyone as a gift). In the way of candy I always make my mom's fudge...mmm...usually I make it about 3-4 times because it is so popular. And I like to make Date Balls (Dates, sugar, and Rice cereal). Now I'm hungry.

We've always had a real tree. There's just something special about a real tree and the smell, assuming you aren't allergic. Ever since I was born my mother has always gotten me a new ornament. Then when I got married I had a small stash for my future tree. Hubs liked the idea so much that we continued the tradition (and I made my mom continue it as well). It was fun picking out Bubba's ornament this year!

Christmas Eve, after church, we always exchange our 2nd present (assuming the first is the ornament). The present is always the same. New PJs. We then wear those for pictures the next morning. We also take pictures on our way to church in front of our lit up tree. Just a special way to remember the year (this picture is from last year, and I'm very pregnant).

For Christmas meal we have Roast Beast...um...I mean Beef. And a special bread in the morning while we open presents. Writing all this really puts me in the Holiday Spirit. We're always looking for new traditions. This year we started a new tradition. We are reading The Autobiography of Santa Claus and so far we are very much enjoying it!

What traditions does your family have to celebrate the season?