nimue-and-xmas-bow

This year we had a nice Christmas holiday with my family down in Ocala, FL. After hosting our own festivities to celebrate the Winter Solstice, we were pretty cooked out, so it was nice to go down to mom’ s and be her sous chef for the holidays.

pomegranate-pork-dinner_on-plate

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed dinner al fresco. Keeping with the season we made pork chops with a pomegranate-balsamic vinegar glaze, baked sweet potatoes with pecan-cinnamon butter and brussel sprouts with bacon, mustard and vinegar.

xmas-cookies-spaceships-ready-to-eat

For dessert was orange cookies and cuccidata (fig cookies) washed down with rummy egg nog.

santa-ate-the-cookies

A plate of cookies, clementines and eggnog were also left out for Santa ….:)

The next day Christmas day, we started the day with cranberry scones and mimosas. Later we had a Floridian Christmas at my cousin Melanie’s house. We had our feast outdoors, and it was so hot that her husband actually had to put up sheets to block the sun and rig up some fans. Unfortunately the dish I decided to contribute to our holiday pot-luck was Rømmegrøt, a Norwegian sour cream porridge that is a holiday favorite this time of year. it is traditionally served in one of these beautiful carved wooden bowls.

rommegrot
(I borrowed the photo from this website)

It is traditionally served sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, and butterfat as an evening meal with dried meat and flat bread. Rømmegrøt is certainly hearty fare and was a little too rich for the Florida heat. But since living in Norway I have come to look forward to this special treat every year. I have tried several different recipes in the past, but I used one from The Son’s of Norway this year and I think it was one of the best ones yet.

On the buffet there was ham, turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, roasted potatoes, Greek style green beans (my mom’s contribution), scalloped potatoes, pasta salad, soups as well as other things I am probably forgetting. Dessert was awesome as well – chocolate fondue, my cousin Mel’s homemade pumpkin cheesecake with a maple glaze and pecans. There was also cookies and cupcakes. I am sorry I didn’t take many pictures. I guess we were too busy eating and talking! It certainly was a feast and fun to spend a casual day with family.

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday with your family! We are still visiting with my mom. See you all in the New Year! 🙂