Holiday Fun Archives - Page 2 of 4

It’s Turkey Time!

By Christina Lee| November 22nd, 2018|Holiday Fun, In the Kitchen, Oh My Crafts!|

Happy Thanksgiving!! It’s turkey time over at the Lee household and we’re not holding back. This year, we’ve got multiple chefs in the kitchen and we were able to whip up three turkeys. That’s correct, I said three turkeys! And since everyone’s been on a diet all year round, it’s now time to unbuckle those belt buckles and dig in.

For starters, we began with a vegetable turkey platter. You can’t just fill up on cheese and crackers. Well, yes you technically can, but you’ve got to get your veggies in and what better way than to dive right into this vegetable turkey platter. It’s festive, fun and has every color of the rainbow. Left untouched, it will only remain a centerpiece… which for the most part, it did throughout the evening.

If the vegetable turkey itself wasn’t enough to take center stage on the dining table, then we also built this gingerbread turkey. I know, I know, cookie decorating fun doesn’t begin until Christmas, but we just can’t wait! You can pick up a gingerbread turkey-in-a-box at your local Trader Joe’s. It comes with all the gingerbread turkey parts and icing, sprinkles and candy — everything you need to make this little guy stand on his own two feet. Now, it’s not easy, so you might want to consider enlisting the help of your nieces and nephews. Learn from the pros. That’s typically how it’s done.

For the grand finale, feast your eyes on this guy. He steals the show not just because he’s the main course, but my dad made him. Years ago, my dad retired from making the Thanksgiving turkey and since then, things just weren’t the same…. or to be brutally honest, didn’t taste as good. It just may not have been made with the right amount of love. But of course, there is much to be thankful for and I’m just lucky to be surrounded by my friends and family.

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

Gobble, gobble.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

By Christina Lee| December 25th, 2017|Holiday Fun, In the Kitchen|

Some people need a little motivation getting into the Christmas spirit while others just fall naturally into the holiday spirit. For those who need that extra little push after the Christmas shopping and gift wrapping buzz, consider these fun, easy-to-make recipes to impress your guests and dress up your table escape. The first idea came from those hard-to-resist Tasty videos you see on your Facebook feed. Because I just keep watching them and saving them, they show me more and more. And this video of the making the Christmas Tree Pull Apart Bread was one that I couldn’t resist bookmarking. It’s a short one minute clip that guides you through making this beautiful display in just about 30 minutes. Plus, after watching this video, you’ll find most ingredients are easy to grab at the grocery store: Pillsbury ready-made dough, pesto sauce, tomato sauce, Mozzarella, pecans and a pinch of seasoning.

On top of making a number of side dishes, this was one I could easily do right before all the guests came. It’s as easy as pulling out all the store bought ingredients and just begin working down the line. Grab a slice of ready made dough, slather the inside with red or green sauce, put a slice of Mozzarella in the center and wrap it up. Shape the balls of dough into a tree and decorate the outside as you’d like. I chose to sprinkle both pesto and marinara sauce across and dress it up with pecans. No, I did not use the sprinkles and icing, but I did top it off with a snowflake cookie.

While your guests are arriving and your prime rib is waiting for its debut on the Christmas table, it’s always good to have an activity — especially one that brings out your ‘inner kid’. Decorating Christmas cookies is a fun activity for all ages. It just takes your favorite sugar cookie recipe, holiday cookie cutters and a bit of prep work in advance, meaning you’ll need to bake and cool a few tray of these before the sprinkles and icing hit the table. When they do, the cookies will go fast!

Enjoy your holiday. From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Scrumptious Thanksgiving Sides

By Christina Lee| November 25th, 2017|Holiday Fun, In the Kitchen|

We all know that setting the table for a Thanksgiving feast wouldn’t be complete without the side dishes that accompany the turkey. And every year, I take pride in knowing that I get to prepare a few of the sides. My specialty happen to be the healthy, yet not so healthy duo of yams and brussels sprouts. Since they’ve become such a hit at family gatherings, they’ve become the undisputed side dish duo that I prepare annually. Knowing that everyone likes a helping or two during dinner and another bite post Thanksgiving dinner, I’ve made double the servings for each.

We all know that yams alone are not always as fun to eat and since it’s Thanksgiving, I’m going to dress them up and slather them in butter. I mean, come on, Thanksgiving only comes around once a year.

At the store, I start by picking out a handful of these orange-skinned sweet potatoes. Then I give them a good scrub and bake them in the oven for 45 minutes or until it’s soft in the center and the sweetness comes oozing out of the skin. Separately, I bake the pecans for 10-15 minutes until they become brown and crispy. It’s fine to sample a few until you are happy with the crunch. As the pecans bake, I remove the skin from the yams and transfer them to another bowl. I mash them until they are silky smooth and I am pleased with the texture. In the microwave, I melt a cup of butter and set a portion aside for the pecans and a portion for the yams in order to give it that creamy, buttery taste. In a separate bowl, I stir in a scoop of brown sugar with the remaining cup of butter and blend in the baked pecans. I drizzle the pecan and brown sugar butter mix on top of the yams and bake them together for another 15 minutes. And then, they are done! Be prepared for your kitchen to smell nice and sweet. And, don’t pick off the pecans!

One side dish done and one more to go! This time, I’m making my classic brussels sprouts with pancetta and caramelized onions. This is a dish that I love and it never fails, except if your are vegan or vegetarian, but still even they ended up trying a bite during Thanksgiving dinner. This is a very simple recipe with powerful flavors and textures. I start by slicing the brussels sprouts into halves and throw it into the frying pan with extra virgin olive oil and fresh garlic. I do the same with the onions. Both take a fair amount of time to cook over the stove.

Once the brussels sprouts are cooked halfway through I slide in the pancetta and let the fat seep in. Then I throw in a splash of white wine and bring the flavors together. When the onions are caramelized, they join the mix. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper, then top it off with slivered almonds. And just like that, you have your second side dish.

Together, the yams and brussels sprouts join the other sides as the turkey sits front and center. I was lucky to sneak in a photo just before the forks and knives came flying in.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Father’s Day BLT Sandwich for Dad

By Christina Lee| June 18th, 2017|Amigurumi, Crocheting, Handmade, Holiday Fun, Oh My Crafts!, Yarn Addict|

For years, I’ve been racking my mind coming up ways to say thank you to dad, and show my love and appreciation. Well after gifting him razors, ties, shoes and other miscellaneous gadgets, my most successful gifts on top of a heartfelt thanks has always been food, the key to my dad’s heart. Whether it’s going out to lunch in Sausalito, picking up a gourmet burger, whipping up something from Food Network or just having a backyard barbecue, sharing a meal and bonding over food has always brought us closer together (Cooper included!).

While I have found a way to make my Dad happy, these meals do not come without consequence. Enter Mom with the warning label that we shouldn’t be eating this or that, and we should all be on a diet even on holidays (!)

Well this time around, Mom and Dad both have nothing to complain about with this BLT sandwich. The bacon, lettuce and tomato all come prepared with zero calories.

Post Father’s Day Update:
By the way, Susanna and I did take our dad out for no guilt burgers and sandwiches.

Happy Father’s Day to you, Dad and all the fathers out there!

Rainbow Rose Vegetable Tart for Mom

By Christina Lee| May 14th, 2017|Handmade, Holiday Fun, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, In the Kitchen|

Happy Mother’s Day to my beautiful Mom and all the loving moms out there!! On this special day, we’re celebrating in style with my Mom’s favorite meal, brunch. Aside from the classic omelette, turkey sausage and peanut butter toast, I wanted to come up with something unique, something special. Lucky for me, my mornings spent watching and bookmarking videos from Facebook finally came in handy as I was scouring the Internet for ideas on how to make brunch a little warmer and more spring-like. Thanks Food Network for the creative inspiration behind this Rainbow Rose Veggie Tart. It took me exactly one minute (maybe two!) and a trip to the grocery store to create this masterpiece.

The recipe calls for two eggs; Ricotta, Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper for the creamy filling. Then for the rose buds, you can choose from an assortment of spring vegetables from the grocery store. I went ahead with yellow squash, zucchini, rainbow carrots and a tomato for the centerpiece. And last but not least, a pie crust in the frozen aisle, unless you want to make it yourself. I’m a fan of Sara Lee’s ‘semi-homemade,’ so I was completely fine with the frozen pie crust. You’ll need a sharp peeler to remove the outer skin and peel through the layers of vegetables, and then you’re set for the fun part of rolling this thinly sliced vegetables into rose buds.

Before you pop this tart into the oven, you’ll want to sweep olive oil along the edges of each rose bud, so it will turn crispy brown. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and bake it for 50 minutes and then you’ve got yourself this lovely Rainbow Rose Veggie Tart. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I can’t wait to try this with eggplant the next time around.

Christmas in February

By Christina Lee| February 26th, 2017|Crocheting, DIY Home, Handmade, Holiday Fun, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Yarn Addict|

Well, we finally did it, Cooper. We put the finishing touches on this blanket and now, Susanna can take home her Christmas present even though it’s now February. Way to sit on it for so long, Cooper!

The idea was to plan ahead for once and start this blanket in October, so I can pair this blanket with the one I’m giving Mom and Dad for Christmas and surprise Susanna with her very own. However, I think I was a bit too ambitious finishing up the other blanket, working on two scarves and then starting on this one. The other projects were also a bit more taxing since I had to constantly read the pattern and tally up each row. So, I decided to give myself a little break and work on this Granny Row crochet pattern – a simple combination of double crochets and skipping spaces – one that I can actually do while watching television and sipping on some red wine.

For the next couple of weeks — and months, this blanket and Netflix became my best friend in the evenings. I started the blanket completing rows of two with each color only to realize that A) I still had a lot more rows to complete and B) two rows of a single color wasn’t going to get me very far, so I began differentiating the count and varying the width to three rows, then five rows and back three rows of one color. The most exciting part was switching to the next color, especially the light purple in the middle. And since we’re in nearing winter, the faster I completed a row, the warmer I got to keep my legs — one advantage of working on this blanket during the winter season.

While I didn’t end up finishing it for Christmas, I was about 90 percent of the way there – close enough to wrap it in a box and gift it to Susanna for Christmas. The look on her face was the most gratifying for me especially since she did not expect a blanket for herself after spending nearly a decade on Mom and Dad’s. But here it is, a blanket just for her in the nick of time to keep her warm this wet and rainy, winter season. Merry Christmas, Susanna. Here’s to keeping the spirit of Christmas alive in February.

Merry Christmas!

By Christina Lee| December 25th, 2016|DIY Home, Holiday Fun, In the Kitchen|

This is our third Christmas celebration for the weekend and it just wouldn’t complete without having to play some silly game that my sister conjured up — and this is on top of singing two rounds of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” My ear is still ringing from yesterday’s rendition. Of course, this was all caught on camera so we can use this as a baseline for next year’s singing. Don’t be surprised if this magically disappears from your phone, Susanna.

This year’s family game involves pantyhose and balloons. Oh goody. And the fact that this ‘reindeer game’ sits after a round of drinks and hors d’oeuvres, but just before dinner and presents is a skillful maneuver and the perfect way to get the family’s concentrated attention. Each of the ‘kids’ are asked to pair up with an ‘adult’, blow up as many balloons as you can and stuff them in your nylon pantyhose — all within a five minute time constraint. Who comes up with such games?!

My sister ended up being the cameraman and moderator, while each of us tried to be strategic with blowing up balloons, tying them together, replacing the popped balloons and balancing them on each side of the stocking. My Aunt Julie and I rocked this game and we were the first to finish and demo our ‘antlers.’ Demoing them was fine so long as you stayed as far as you could from the mirror. But I’d certainly say they were most fitting on my Dad.

Well, we made it through Game Night holding our ‘antlers’ up high. Now it’s time for some much deserved hot cocoa from our first ever Hot Chocolate Bar.

Here is one holiday where hot chocolate doesn’t fall too far off the menu. I mean, it’s Christmas. Anything goes, right? I’m a sucker when it comes to sweets. Walking up and down the aisles while picking up last minute gifts at Target didn’t exactly curb the craving, but it did inspire this idea of a hot chocolate bar. Peppermint candy canes, Christmas tree-shaped lollipops and chocolate peppermint sticks were plentiful and just calling my name. And red and green marshmallows sitting on top of plain old marshmallows almost made my knees buckle, so I might as well grab a bag of those. Finally, this year’s pick for hot chocolate goes to my friend at Starbucks.

While all those lollipops and marshmallows are pleasing to the eye, I must admit I like my hot chocolate dressed up with mini marshmallows, a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Merry Christmas to you all from the Lee Family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Christina Lee| November 25th, 2016|Holiday Fun, In the Kitchen|

This year, we started Thanksgiving off on the right foot, with dessert front and center. Well, not really. I was late to dinner, so I missed out on seeing the turkey intact, all 25lbs of it, along with the famous carving of the turkey and a picture with it. But I was tardied for a very good reason since I had to make sure my candied pecan yams and sauteed brussels sprouts with pancetta, caramelized onions, roasted garlic slivered almonds and white wine sauce came out piping hot from the oven — and they did! Trust me, it’s worth the wait.

Isn’t the color of the brussels sprouts fantastic? Every year, this becomes one of my favorite dishes to make, not only because it is healthy and fresh, but the aromas from the caramelized onions, roasted garlic, white wine and brussels sprouts really come together and it is a beautiful presentation.

Everyone made it to the dinner table with a healthy appetite and a reason to give thanks. A lot happened during this past year and I doubt that anyone was able to make it out completely unscathed. However I do have to admit, I am one of the luckier ones to have all my family members with me at the dinner table accompanied by a warm meal. Thank you, 2016, for helping me remember the things that really matter in life.

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