Christmas 2009

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas!!

Look – Santa came and stuffed our stockings full! Ross couldn’t even wait past 9:30 AM before digging into his loot.

Santa had some help from Ross on stocking stuffers. Ross knows how obsessed I am with anything mini, so he found these mini tangines in a cute green color meant for sauces and dipping, and he got them and made little gingerbread cookies that spelled out, “I Love You” to put inside. 

I know, right? He’s so amazing – and you haven’t even seen the best of it yet, just wait!

After stockings and while everyone was getting cleaned up before opening presents, I had a breakfast of Quaker Crack (oatmeal squares for any new readers!) with soymilk and a strawberry GoodBelly plus probiotic drink.

Then came presents! Megan (sister) modeling the scarf I got her as part of her gift: 

Ross and I with a basket of goodies from the “Food Network Elves” (including garlic, sundried tomatoes, pasta, and an empty bottle with these candles you put in it so it drips down in colored wax – I’ll post pictures when we start it!)

Mom opening part of her gift from us (a Jim Shores angel ornament):

And Dad with a Colombia shirt we got him (he is obsessed with Colombia!):

Ross with the “big gift” I got him – an ipod docking station with dual alarms, blah blah blah…

And me with my BIG GIFT from Ross, who TOTALLY OUT-GIFTED ME!!! A VITA-MIX 4500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Speechless. Absolutely speechless. I think y’all know how much I wanted one but how much I thought I knew I wouldn’t be getting one!!! I can’t wait to use it!

Check out part of the gift from my sister – it’s a line from the Victoria Secret PINK Collection of organic bath and body products with oat extract.

The kicker? The labels actually say that they’re made of 100% vegan ingredients! Megan obviously had to get it for me when she saw that.

Overall Ross and I generally made out like bandits!

I’m sure you’ll see more gifts as they appear (like a juicing cookbook, eat drink & be vegan, shirts, jacket, etc.). After presents it was time to put the final touches on our Christmas dinner! Mom put so much effort on the turkey – she was so proud of it!

Dad modeling a couple of the wines, including Honey Moon, the Viognier from Trader Joe’s that Whit mailed me! (haha Dad, you’re on the blog!)

I had about a full glass of the Honey Moon throughout the night.

The spread:

I had some butternut squash (roasted plain and mashed), a roll, green beans almondine, vegan apple stuffing, cranberry sauce (ended up giving it to Ross)…

And some vegan garlic mashed potatoes and a bean dish I made of the cranberry beans, parsley, roasted garlic, olive oil and kosher salt. Simple and delicious!

My dad wanted to show what a “real” plate looked like, especially that of a New Englander with everything covered in gravy!

For my dessert I made a really delicious raspberry laced chocolate cream pie (vegan of course) based off my Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie recipe.

• 2 cans lite coconut milk
• heaping 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup sugar
• Tablespoon of raspberry liquor
• 1 pre-baked pie crust
• chocolate chips
• raspberry sauce (frozen raspberries, thawed and macerated with sugar)

Whisk together the coconut milk, cocoa powder, cornstarch, sugar and raspberry liquor. Place over medium heat and continue whisking until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Place a layer of chocolate chips on the bottom of a baked pie crust and place the “pudding” on top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Serve with the macerated raspberry sauce.

Consider that my little Christmas gift to all of you.

Time go keep watching Elf! I hope and pray the holiday has been a joyous one for each and every one of you, and that everyone has a restful weekend! Merry Christmas!