Friday 29 December 2017

Christmas Day 2017

For the last few years, I have started my day with a 7.30am bikram yoga class. I find it a really lovely way to start the day (though yes it is hot and sweaty and sometimes makes me regret my life choices), and afterwards they always have a big fruit platter that makes up my breakfast. In previous years I have come home and made a smoothie afterwards, but this year I was so full of fruit that I didn't feel the need. I came home, showered, we opened presents and then I spent a few hours pottering around in the kitchen getting a late lunch ready. At some point I had a Rebel Kitchen Chai that had been kicking around my fridge for ages and some cherries when I got a little peckish, but I knew we had a substantial lunch coming up. But first, my presents! The pink mushroom is a kitchen timer.

Presents


My parents are not vegan, but for the last several years we have had a vegan Christmas lunch, which is lovely. For this year's 'centerpiece', we had the Field Roast Celebration Roast, stuffed with butternut, apples, and mushrooms. We just had the little half roast, but that was plenty for three people after we baked and sliced it, and we had some left over as well. We all really liked it.

Field Roast Celebration Roast


I have a dwindling supply of precious frozen cranberries (they are almost impossible to find here most of the time), so I made a half batch of the Orange-Scented Cranberry Sauce from The Superfun Times Cookbook. This was OK, I am glad I made it the day before to let it mellow, as it was super tart when I first tasted it after it came off the stove. I used bottled fresh OJ for it, so I didn't have any zest to add. A decent sauce, though not as good as the one from Keep It Vegan that I have made for the last couple of years.
Rating: :)

Orange Scented Cranberry Sauce


We normally make the Potato Squashers from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan, but this year the potatoes were too big. So I made the Crushed and Crispy Potatoes from Eat Like You Give A Damn, which are basically the same thing but with bigger potatoes. My potatoes were slightly different sizes as well, but they baked up perfectly, squashed easily, and then crisped up. I did flip them and give them a final 10 minutes at the end. The smaller ones are a bit better, as there is a higher crispy to creamy ratio, but these were still great.
Rating: :)

Crushed and Crispy Potatoes


Because Christmas is in summer here, the rest of our spread was made up of salads. Starting with the Wheat Berry and Green Bean Salad with Dried Cranberries and Celery from Food52 Vegan. But wait, you say, where are the green beans. Well, some doofus (me) forgot to write them on the shopping list, so I had to make it with frozen peas. It worked fine, and there was still some crunch from the celery and toasted pecans in it, but the green beans would have been nicer. The recipe calls for 1 cup of dried wheat berries, but I only had 2/3 cup and it made loads. I switched the ratio of walnut oil and lemon juice in the dressing to have more lemon juice, otherwise it was a bit dull. I also think I would have liked a few more cranberries. But I loved the wheat berries, they were so nice and chewy. A good festive salad!
Rating: :)

Wheat Berry and 'Green Bean' Salad with Dried Cranberries and Celery


I also made the Creamy Broccoli Salad from Blissful Bites, which is an old family favourite. As well as broccoli, it has grated carrots, sliced radishes and chickpeas in a creamy mustard and mayo dressing. I've posted about how great this is before. And it keeps well, so great to take along for a potluck!
Rating: :D

Creamy Broccoli Salad


The final salad I made was the Festive Roast Vegetable Salad with Tahini Lemon Drizzle from Dianne's Vegan Kitchen. We normally have hot roast vegetables, but with a prediction for 35dC on Christmas day (that ended up being even hotter), I was glad we decided to try this cooler version. It was delicious! I used carrots instead of the beets, and I sadly had to throw out a lot of my sprouts because they were gross inside, but everything roasted up great and the dressing is delicious! I made a half batch of the dressing, which was plenty to mix through the vegetables with some left to drizzle on top. Super yum.
Rating: :D

Festive Roast Vegetable Salad with Tahini Lemon Sauce from Dianne's Vegan Kitchen


And here is our full Christmas spread! Including some sliced cucumbers.

Christmas Day lunch


And my plate, with a bit of everything.

Christmas Day lunch


It was a late lunch, so we were pretty full for a while afterwards. We watched Christmas Inheritance on Netflix, which was terrible! And then we had our dessert for dinner. I had bought a Pud Vegan Christmas Pudding, which was delicious (though expensive for being so small!). I drowned my piece in some Alpro custard, and it was perfect.

Pud and Alpro Custard


I went back to yoga again on Boxing Day morning, and then spent the day pottering around, watching Buffy, and eating leftovers from the last two days. A nice break from the kitchen! But I am back in it again this weekend for New Years!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Dim Sim with presents


What to get the 17 year old cat who really doesn't want anything? She is indifferent to toys and beds, and she is rarely food motivated except for Greenies. She doesn't get to eat them much because she is on her special kidney diet (and she seems to swallow most of them rather than crunch them, defeating their purpose!), so I gave her some and she was happy to have them. Her favourite game of all time is to play with an old ribbon that I dangle for her, so I also gave her this cute bright pink string for us to play with together. She doesn't ask to play often, but she is not adverse to sometimes joining in if I start. Here is a bonus picture of her!

Dim Sim playing with Ribbon

10 comments:

  1. Everything looks TOP NOTCH! I see Jackie Kearney's 'other book' in that pile! I think I need that! I just blogged about a cheaters version of one of her recipes from her Vegan Street Foods Cookbook!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a lovely book! I find that she writes such beautiful stories about the food and her memories.

      Delete
  2. Everything looks yummy. I can't imagine keeping to "traditional" Christmas foods in the summer. I think I would make a new tradition of BBQ-grill Christmas XD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do have a BBQ (though it is sadly neglected), but that would involve going out on to the deck and leaving the nice air conditioned inside. ;) When the weather cools down a bit, I really do need to use it more.

      Delete
  3. Your Christmas lunch looks great (we had the Field Roast celebration roast, too!), and you can't beat having leftovers!
    Dim Sim is so sweet; that's great that she enjoyed her Greenies and playing with the pink string! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leftovers are almost more fun than the actual meal sometimes.

      Delete
  4. What a great summer-Christmas feast! Such a different situation to have Christmas in summer time - as far as the foods that are in season, but also just what you're in the mood for when it's hot out (vs. when it's cold out). It looks like you made so many great dishes, and a good balance of fresh salads and heartier dishes. I think you'll love the new Vegan Richa book. It's really great. I have an extremely belated review coming up soon on my blog. Also, Yummers and DimSum sound like they are on the same page. Yummers is also on kidney diet, but the Greenies are by far his favorite. I usually sprinkle on a couple just to get him interested in his food. Happy new year to you and your family!!! <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nothing like seasoning a dish with some contraband crunchies to get a kitty eating. ;) I am looking forward to seeing your review of the Vegan Richa book.

      Delete
  5. It all looks so lovely! I seriously need to get better at interesting salads for work lunches and this is great inspiration :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used to make a big salad to take for lunches every week, but these days I just tend to take other leftovers. But being that it is hot for a lot of the year here, serious salads are always welcome.

      Delete