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You are here: Home / Holidays / HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES

HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES

December 26, 2015 by Sarah Kline 3 Comments

Cookie Package for Seniors

I love the week leading up to Christmas — especially when we’re hosting.

When my Mom and stepdad Fritz came on Tuesday we knew we had a busy week ahead, so we knew we needed to hit the floor running.

First off, there was lots of baking.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip with Reeses Peanut pieces

Like these Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies made even more decadent with Reese’s Pieces and M & M’s.

They’re always a hit, and perfect for drop-offs because they stay soft and chewy for days.

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And bittersweet chocolate brownies — ultra rich with three kinds of chocolate and made even more delicious with a touch of sea salt.

Bittersweet Chocolate Brownies

We saved a couple of these fudgy bad boys to enjoy with gelato one night.

My mom is a great game player so she hung out doing that with the kids while I popped in and visited with a few of my senior friends.

I wanted to share with them some treats from my kitchen and about.

Meals on Wheels Gift Package

I’ve found that even the simplest cookie assortment  for someone home-bound can bring lots of cheer. I’ve had so many drop off delicious offerings that I snuck in a couple of those, too.

Aren’t Gwen and Jill’s sugar cookies adorable? We saved the last one for an older gentleman we knew would love it.

Cookie Package for Seniors

My whole crew helped out with our Christmas Eve Party — I’d invited about fifty people over for an open house so there was lots to do.

My mom is a great cook and it was wonderful that she was on hand to help with the food.

I made four kinds of homemade pizza on giant sheet pans and every thirty minutes or so I fired off another one.

Pizza Homemade Party

There was Sausage and Pesto, Four Cheese, Prosciutto and Arugula, and Yukon Gold, Brie and Ricotta.

Homemade Gold Potato Pizza with Ricotta and Herbs

I cut the pizza into tiny squares so everyone could have just a nibble.

Homemade Pizza Party

And I have to say, I loved the fresh popcorn with truffle oil and Parmesan.

I’d never made it before but I’d been given a full bottle of white truffle oil and I thought it would be terrific with it.

I made the popcorn in my air popper and then heated up fresh garlic in butter and the truffle oil and drizzled that all over that — and then dusted with lots of very finely grated Parmesan.

Truffle Parmesan Popcorn

The crowd went through bowls of this — the perfect accompaniment to a Pomegranate Mimosa.

I love holiday open houses — I’ve been to two other ones in the past ten days, and I love how they allow people to just pop in for just a short bit, or the whole shebang. In this neighborhood, I always find both a familiar face and a fascinating new one to get to know.

And having family in town means there is lots of cooking to do and  everyone eats well — and I mean everyone.

For example, if Charlotte and my mom make lasagna

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we will throw it in the oven

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and then everyone gets to try it.

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I’m not talking massive amounts for Bailey — just a couple bites of all the delicious foods that we too are enjoying.

After all, aren’t the holidays about sharing?

So if we make pasta with sausage, Meyer lemons, arugula and Parmesan

Pasta with Sausage and Prosecco

my Mom will tell him about it and if he asks nicely, he knows he’ll get some, too.

image

Don’t you love how he is listening to her every word?

And when it comes to Christmas dinner, we all love grilled flat iron, a little Meyer lemon juice and Fleur de Sel (a la Nostrana restaurant).

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Especially with grilled asparagus and roasted Yukon Gold potatoes.

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Since she’d bought the steak, we gave my mom the honors of serving our four-legged buddy.

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Merry Christmas, friends.

I hope you too are able to hold your loved ones dear.

Tootsie and Bailey

Filed Under: Holidays, Parties Tagged With: cookies, dessert, steak, vintage holiday

« HOLIDAY MOVIE — STAR WARS AT THE ROSEWAY THEATER
FAMILY DINNER OUT: TASTY N SONS »

Comments

  1. Marie says

    December 26, 2015 at 7:17 pm

    Mouth watering………and that oh, so lucky Bailey! Seeing the beautiful oranges in your
    cookie pans I want to ask if you have tried the Cara Cara oranges yet? I first became aware of them
    last winter and am willing to pay the .30 to .40 a pound extra they cost. Beautiful colored flesh, consistently
    sweet and juicy (have not had a pithy one yet!). Just delicious, and I find them at Fred Meyer and used to
    at Safeway (before we lost ours….sob!). Their season is a little shorter than other navels, but I have found they will go on sale once or twice during the winter and then I stock up. Anyway, just wanted to pass on that tip. Have a Happy New Year and keep writing your wonderful blog. Marie

    Reply
    • Sarah Kline says

      December 26, 2015 at 11:00 pm

      Hello Marie!
      I haven’t had one of those for ages — I think I tried some a couple years ago but your prompt will definitely encourage me to seek them out this year. They sound so delicious. Thanks for the kind words and best of New Year wishes to you, too 🙂

      Reply
  2. Polly says

    December 26, 2015 at 10:59 pm

    Spreading holiday cheer- as always, Sarah!
    With family, friends, housebound seniors and 4-legged family members.
    Merry Christmas & thank you for spreading the joy, love & good food to so many!

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Sarah Kline. Former cook at Greens. Restaurant reviewer and food columnist for San Francisco Examiner. Copywriter/recipe writer for Williams Sonoma. Private cooking teacher.  Flash forward.  -> Read More

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