Keepin' Tradition Alive

Growing up, my family always had the tradition of opening up one gift on Christmas eve.  It was kind of like a "holding us over" until the next morning kind of thing.  Of course we got to pick which present we opened (my parents never left out any of the "big" presents until the morning, of course).  For some reason, I always ended up opening up a pair of socks or clothes or something.  Luck of the draw, I guess.

So when Andy and I had our first Christmas together, almost 4 years ago, I wanted to keep that tradition alive.  Andy and I have always been excited this time of year.  We love getting things for eachother.  If we could buy the world for eachother, I think we would.  But we have to show some sort of restraint, right?  Well, we were pretty close that year (to buying a million presents for eachother... it was somewhat excessive, probably).  And we were definitely excited to see eachother's faces opening gifts up.  So I asked him on Christmas eve if he'd like to do what my family does, and open up one present.  Of course he agreed, and you could see the joy in his face. 

So we each opened up our one present (I can't remember what it was, but I know it wasn't socks or clothes!), and I remember being like a little kid again!  We both looked at eachother, like hey, we don't really have anything else to do for the rest of the night, so why don't we open up the rest.  You know, that kind of look.  So we ended up starting our own tradition of opening up gifts with eachother on Christmas eve!

I can't believe we've made it through 4 Christmases with eachother!  Ever since December started this year, Andy has been doing a countdown of "how many days until Christmas" every day I woke up.  He's just like a little kid when it comes to this time of the year!  But I get the same way.  I think most of all, we get to show eachother how much we do listen to eachother, and know what we like. 

And this year was no exception.  Andy pulled through with some great stuff! 

Andy and I have this tradition of giving eachother a new pair of shoes every Christmas, too!

 And my family did too!

My dad made these cutting boards!

And Andy's parents too!

Love this serving set!

A kitchen torch... WAY excited!

We are both really lucky.  I know that I'm thankful for even being able to have a Christmas, because I know there are people out there that can't celebrate because of various reasons.  So I think the best gift of all this year was being able to spend Christmas with so many people that I love, and that love me in return!

Hummus Sandwiches

Andy is the best.  I can't say it enough.  I don't know what I would do without him.

We've made it tradition that we open presents with eachother on Christmas eve.  Our first year together, I explained to him my family's tradition of opening up one present on Christmas eve and we agreed to do so.  After we both opened one present, we looked at eachother and both thought the same thing - "you wanna open another?"  And so we ended up opening all of our presents!  So we've just agreed to open up all of our presents to eachother on Christmas eve and save our family stuff for Christmas Day.

So "Andy Claus" was very generous to me this year!  He got me a 35mm lens for my camera, which I've been ogling FOREVER.  I can't wait to take some bad ass pictures with it!  I also got a camera bag to lug my little baby around!  Way awesome.

On top of that, he got me various dishes from Sur La Table, which definitely will be making appearances on the blog soon enough!  He's just the greatest!

And of course "Peggy Claus" did some good work too!  He's practically got a finished gym in the basement - I added some to it by getting him some more free weights, a curl bar, and a dumb bell rack.  And I think I did a real good job on getting him a digital camera (A Nikon Coolpix S8000).  He really wanted a camera that shot HD video and this does, and it does it very well, so I'm glad he's happy with it!

Anyway, I thought I'd give you guys a quick recipe today and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday!  It's not a Christmas-related recipe, but it's a quick lunch/dinner fix for the upcoming week!  Enjoy your holiday weekend guys!

Ingredients:

Hummus:

15 oz. can chickpeas, drained
1/3 cup tahini paste
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
juice from 2 lemons
juice from 1 lime
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
2 teaspoon salt
1 roasted red pepper from a jar


Sandwich:

Cucumber slices
Bean sprouts
Cheddar cheese
Turkey slices (optional)
Wheat bread 
Butter (optional)

In the bowl of a food processor, combine all ingredients for hummus and mix until smooth.  It should be somewhat thick, but still moist.

To assemble sandwiches, butter one side of each bread slice. 

Heat a nonstick pan under medium heat and add one slice of bread, butter side down.  Top with slice of cheddar cheese and cook until cheese is melted and bottom side of bread is browned.  Remove bread and place on plate.  Add remaining slice of bread, butter side down and cook until it is browned, as well.  You can skip this step if you want to, but I want a nice "grilled cheese" effect on my bread.

Top bread slice that has cheese on it with a good amount of the hummus and top with desired sandwich toppings.  I used bean sprouts and cucumber slices.  I added a few slices of turkey onto Andy's (as he wasn't too thrilled about just eating a hummus sandwich).  Place other bread slice on top, cut sandwich in half, and dig on in!

At first, Andy was a little hesitant, stating that he's never really liked hummus.  But I think this went over well, I mean... he ate the whole thing, so it couldn't have been that bad!  Personally, I loved the sandwich and could probably eat it for lunch several days in a row! 

 Again, guys, I hope you have a great holiday and spend it being with the ones you love!  Enjoy!

I don't think I've ever believed...

He's just a little too "jolly"

... in Santa.  Weird, huh?

Such a cute tin, if I do say so myself.

I mean, I could be wrong.  But I thought about it today.  Did I ever really get excited about that fat man in red?  I remember leaving cookies and milk out.  I remember that.  But did I ever leave them out for him.  Or did I just know that my dad would eat them anyway?

I thought I'd insert a random 'dog on the back deck depressed because the snow is melting' photo

It's driving me nuts that I can't remember this.  Family?  Fill me in, please.

Some goodies lie amidst that tissue paper!

Maybe I am just a scrooge. 

Can anyone guess what these are?

Let's not think about that.  I don't need ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas future showing up at my doorstep.  I've got way to much goodie-making to do.

Tis the Season for Lights!

Andy is funny.  He's normally a laid back, care-free kind of fellow that just goes with the flow.  Almost always.  Except when it comes to the subject of outdoor Christmas lights.  He's downright anal. 

Now, I like looking at Christmas lights.  Spending endless hours driving around town looking for the house that has that Clark Griswald effect.  You know, the houses with electric bills that sum up to a whole year's worth in just a few weeks?  Yeah, those are cool.

This is a little too much for me, but would be perfect for Andy. (Source)

But Andy.  Andy acts like he's a Christmas light critic for the New York Times when we're out on these journeys.  He's downright snobby about it.  He says you can't mix colored lights with white lights.  You can't mix light bulb sizes.  Seriously?  Light bulb sizes?  Come on babe.

Don't dare combine these big babies with little ones or the "light police" will come after you! (Source)

And people with only lights around the doorway?  Or just on a couple of bushes?  That irks him.  Irks him A LOT.  Me... I just like looking at the pretty lights.

Ha... I just saw this and HAD to laugh. (Source)

And as far as our house?  Do we decorate the outside with lights?  No.  And I find that funny, considering I'm living with the "chief" of Christmas light decor, himself.

What about you guys?  Are you particular about your outdoor Christmas lights?  Or are you like me, and just like looking at the pretty colors glowing in the dark nights of winter?

And despite our different opinions of Christmas lighting... I still can't help but love the guy! =)

It's Tree :30

It's that time of year again.  Time for the good ol' Christmas tree to go up. 

We always wait for the day after Thanksgiving because well, we think Thanksgiving deserves it's dues too!  We ended up putting our tree up on Sunday night and we both agree, it looks pretty awesome.

We don't have a fancy tree, just a tree I actually got on sale 2 years ago (Hey, $10 for a pre-lit 6 foot tree is a pretty darn good deal!).  It's not as "fluffy" as we would like, but we definitely make it our own.  We have to prevent ourselves from randomly going out to buy decorations for it, when we sure as heck know that it's got a sufficient amount of decorations on there and we could spend that money elsewhere!

He's excited to decorate!

Can't forget the star!

Or the garland!

I really like my scottish nutcracker =)

We've agreed to keep our Christmas presents budget-friendly and able to all fit in these boxes... I have a feeling we're both going to be finding ways to get around this "agreement"

Also, Cate from Cate Can Cook, So Can You! (her blog is awesome, check it out!) tagged me in a little blogger game and had a few questions to go along with the "tag".  And because I've grown to liking sharing random facts about myself, here you go!

What would be your most defining culinary achievement?





  
The day that Andy actually said he loved what I cooked for dinner, and that he could see himself ordering it at a restaurant... and he was serious.  It seems ridiculous, but I don't even remember what the dish was, but I remember his comment and just being floored.  It was the first time I actually seriously considered Culinary School.

If you could change your profession to something using your culinary skills what would you do?


I would be a professional caterer, and I actually hope to be that one day, possibly with my own business (what can I say, I like being the one in charge).

What is the worst thing you have cooked - and why?


Ha, this actually came up in conversation the other day.  Andy and I were talking about how I've come a long way from the mexican casserole I first cooked for him.  It was the first meal I had ever cooked for him, and it was by far the WORST.  I was new to cooking, so I wasn't familiar with "gourmet" recipes or "flavor profiles," and this just definitely missed the mark.  It was quite awful, and being a Paula Deen recipe, I vowed to never cook anything from her again... so embarking my hatred for all things Paula Deen (sorry all you Paula Deen lovers out there!).  And the fact that Andy has still stuck with me, even after my awful first impression of cooking... really shows that he loves me (or that's what I tell myself), hehe!

Finish this sentence "In my next life I want to come back as......."


Myself.  It took me a long time to learn how to love myself and say that I'm awesome (can we say somewhat bad self-esteem as a child???), and there is no one else I would rather be.

If you could visit anywhere in the world where would you go and why?


The Philippines.  I haven't been there since I was born there.  I would love to go back, especially with my mother (who hasn't been back since I was born either), to learn more about my culture and to learn about how and where my mother grew up.

What is your favourite dessert?


Mocha creme brulee.  There is absolutely nothing like it, and John Varanese does it best!

Are you a summer or a winter person?  And is it because of food?

Definitely NOT a winter person.  I hate all things cold-weather related (although for some odd reason, I love running in cold weather... weird, I know).  I like summer better, but it's not my favorite.  I'm more of a spring girl because it's a happy medium.  And I actually like foods of both seasons, nothing like comfort foods in the winter and grilling out in the summer!

Hope you guys enjoyed that little tidbit of Q&A and hope you guys think my tree is just as purrrrtttty as I think it looks!  Have you guys finished decorating for Christmas?  Or if you don't celebrate Christmas, any other holiday you celebrate?  See you guys tomorrow!