It's Looking a Lot Like Christmas!

I don't know if it's just me or the holidays season is going by too fast. Christmas is only a week away! I was so consumed in my work after the vacation, I thought there wouldn't be any holiday fun for me. So I packed all that I could in the last weekend. I hosted some San Diego food bloggers for a holiday potluck. Who doesn't want to eat with a bunch of great cooks? There were a few appetizers, a wonderful winter salad with lemon-tahini dressing (yum!), two kinds of chili and a pecan pie, and some bubbly mimosas to down it all. I made two of the appetizers - pesto pinwheels and fig compote bruschetta. I used store bought pesto and pastry sheets to make the pinwheels.  The fig compote was home-made using the figs in my garden! Lightly grilled baguette topped with fig compote, goat cheese and chopped walnuts made for a perfect appetizer. I like these kind of finger foods for parties. You can hold your drink, eat and have a conversation all at the same time.

For more holiday cheer, hubs and I went to see some amazing holiday decoration displays in a nearby neighborhood. It almost felt like we were in the north pole - except there was no snow. Oh, the decorations were lovely! Every single house in the Christmas Card Lane was decked out and you couldn't pick a favorite if you had to. It was all so magical. The pictures hardly do it any justice.



I also attended another holiday party at a friend's place. It was nice not to worry about hosting and cleaning the place and cooking for a change.

Although nothing holiday related, I tried two new things over the weekend. Some simple white bread - since husband was tired of being the Guinea pig for my whole-wheat or multi-grain bread making trials. I did sneak in 1/3 of whole wheat flour but this version was loved a lot more than my previous attempts. You know what I love on top of a slice of bread? Poached eggs! That's right - I poached not one, but two eggs without having any disasters! I'm so proud of myself and so very thankful to Anne Burrell for showing the perfect technique. I know what I'll be making for brunch the next several weekends.

A few more days of work and we'll be off on a mini getaway to celebrate Christmas. If I don't get to wish you before that, hope you have a fantastic holiday in the company of your near and dear ones. Do eat lots of food without worrying about the calories. There's always the new year to make resolutions!