Oranges are so overrated. And grapefruits. What’s with the lack of love for all the other citrus out there?! Buddha hands, clementines (my favorite because I can actually peel them), tangerines. As much as I try to stay local, when Florida citrus starts beckoning me this time of year, I can never resist. Hey, at least I’m sticking to the same coast! A trip to Fairway the other day resulted in a bag of tangerines, among other non necessary food splurges (nutella anyone?).
My husband and I are fortunate to live close to both of our parents which means double Thanksgiving. No, we don’t do it like normal couples, alternating years, or even doing one Thursday and another celebration on Friday or Saturday. We go back to back. An early dinner with my family at 2pm and a later meal with his family around 6 or 7pm. So for any of you out there that claim food comas on Thanksgiving, YOU CAN’T EVEN IMAGINE. I literally want to sleep the rest of the weekend. After close to a decade of the same routine, we’ve learned to pace ourselves better, but you still want to try a little of everything. Two weeks from now I’ll never want to see turkey again. Or at least not for another year. But right now it’s all I’m craving.
I am done cooking for the year! Sad and nice at the same time. We’ll be traveling to visit more family for the rest of the year and heading out for New Year’s Eve. So after making pizza this evening, I am not expected to cook ANYTHING until New Year’s Day. And yes, that even includes preparing a bowl of oatmeal.
While I love cooking, it is fun to get a break. This year I’ve cooked a lot and tried to blog about most experiments and even some failures. I had a lot of extra time during the summer, and as a result my pantry is overflowing. Who knows what I’ll achieve next year. I have started thinking about a sort of “bucket list” as to what food goals I’d like to achieve in 2013, but until then, let’s have one last 2012 recipe hurrah with you, the readers’ favorite recipes of the year and a few additions of my own.
Ever notice how sweet focused Christmas is? Really all holidays I guess. Christmas cookies and cupcakes and cakes and pies and hot chocolate and eggnog…the list goes on! Sure there’s some savory dishes that become favorites like turkey and ham but for the most part when you go to a party or an event, the dessert is the highlight. Just think how much time and effort (and money) brides put into coming up with the perfect wedding cake. It’s a centerpiece of the whole day. For Christmas desserts, I think of cookies first, but pies…mmmm, pies are a very close second.
Regardless of whether it’s an elaborate three course brunch or a quick breakfast after tearing open what Santa brought, almost everyone enjoys having Christmas morning breakfast as a family. When I was really young, my brother and I used to get up at the crack of dawn, pull everything out of our stockings, then place it exactly back how it was so no one would ever know. Then we tackled the wrapped presents, inspecting and shaking to try and figure out what was inside. When my parents FINALLY woke up (it felt like hours later…) presents always came before breakfast. After we exhausted the present opening and got bored with out new toys, my mom would usually make us all Eggs Benedict or Pancakes.
Brooklyn Locavore 