Christmas Dinner

For Christmas this year, we decided to host an intimate dinner party for our friends who were staying in town for the holidays.

 

 I am not sure how we managed to arrange two tables into our tiny living room/kitchen/bedroom#1 area.

 

For starters, arugula salad with steak and tomatoes.  NEVER buy steak on sale at Whole Foods - it will spoil in the blink of an eye!  We almost cried when we discovered the steak had gone bad and I had to rush to the grocery store downstairs for a last minute “steak” run.

 

 

Orecchiette with peppers, sausage, arugula, and a tomato/garlic/shallot sauce.

 

Seafood paella - includes shrimp, mussels, squid, and chorizo. 

Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking.

Paella is a great party dish; everyone loves it and it feeds a ton of people.  I think seafood paella is becoming a new tradition for us, since we made it last year as well.

Do you have any traditional Christmas dishes?  What was your Christmas meal like?

Candied Cinnamon Pecans

Caramelized nuts are a simple and sweet treat for the holiday season.  I made a batch of candied pecans this weekend as gifts.

 

The recipe uses minimal ingredients and can be prepared right on the stovetop. 

 

I used pecans, but the recipe will work with any nut of your choice.

 

Making these pecans will fill your kitchen with smells of sugar and cinnamon!

Also be warned that these are highly addictive.

Recipe from Le Creme de la Crumb

Midnight Snack

I always buy way too many eggs, but I love the versatility of them.  One of my favorite ways to prepare them is to make tea eggs.  By simmering hard-boiled eggs in a mixture of black tea and Chinese spices, you can create a rich and savory flavor.

 

I think these might be Jee’s favorite out of all the food I have made :)

Pumpkin Butter

The early winter season is a great time to find deals on pumpkins.  Jee brought home a medium sized pumpkin last week that has lasted multiple meals.  With the remaining pieces of pumpkin, we decided to create a spiced pumpkin butter in order to add some variety to our usual breakfast of plain butter and toast.

 

First, Jee had an awesome arm and wrist workout trying to cut up the pumpkin.

 

Then we made pumpkin puree.

 

After adding in the spice ingredients, we had to heat the mixture for quite a while. 

 

The pumpkin butter slowly thickens and turns from orange to a dark caramel brown.

 

The next morning, I toasted a poppy seed bagel and spread the pumpkin butter with regular butter (I love butter). 

 

I love the taste of fall in the morning. 

 

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Drunken Noodles

We both share a love of Thai food and its vibrant flavors, particularily the Drunken Noodle dish.  One of our favorite Thai restaurants in the city, Sura Thai, has a very well done version of these noodles.  However, our limited budget forces us to learn how to cook the foods we love most.  Upon my roommate’s request for drunken noodles this weekend, I found a recipe from the Food & Wine website and attempted to cook Thai food for the first time in my life.  The fragrant chilies and sauces used in the recipe evoke the essence of Thai cuisine.  Noodle dishes like this one are great as a one dish meal, combining both meats, vegetables, and carbohydrates.