Adulthood: The True Test

I hosted my first Christmas! For the first time, I made the Christmas Eve spread, I stuffed the stockings, and I cooked Christmas dinner!

Our cozy living room and Christmas tree


Sheely loves the fireplace

Usually Luke and I spend Christmas in Ohio with our families, but this year Luke was on-call Christmas day, so my parents and brother (and the 2 dogs) offered to come up to Michigan to celebrate with us, so that I didn't have to abandon Luke. We spent the holidays watching movies, playing board games, playing Xbox kinect games, lounging around, eating, drinking, and being merry.

Little brother and Jeni (one of the parents' dog)

This year's Christmas dinner included:

-An oven roasted Prime Rib with au jus...a little crispy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside. Perfection. It took a few hours to roast, and required a lot of babysitting and basting with beef stock, but it was worth every minute.

-Four cheese macaroni...Asiago, Goat cheese, aged White Cheddar, and Parmesan. Made with lots of love, bacon, onion, and whipping cream. Success.

-French onion mashed potatoes...what's not to love about potatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, and Lipton's French onion packets?

-Green bean casserole...a holiday classic.

-Corn pudding...Mom made it. Her recipe is deliciously creamy with a crispy layer of cinnamon sugar on top. Yum.

-Fresh baked crescent rolls

-And, of course, cranberry sauce. I never really understood this part of holiday meals. Never been a fan.

For dessert:

- Cheesecake, Rum cake, and Pecan pie...all baked by Mom. Now, I know Rum cake sounds gross (and probably reminds you of the atrocity that is fruitcake), but it's not even close. It's delicious.

Unfortunately, after spending hours in the kitchen (now I know why Mom was always so tired by the time we sat down to eat) and being really hungry by the time it was all done, we sat down and ate it all before I remembered to capture my successful meal on camera. Sad. I did, however, remember to capture our Christmas Eve spread before we devoured that.


Crackers, aged cheeses, sausage, cheese ball, shrimp cocktail, bruschetta dip, candied almonds, fruit, deviled eggs, cookies, and wine (calories don't exist during the holidays).