Christmas Eve recap here.
I was definitely the kid who woke up early on Christmas morning and woke up everyone else around me so we could get to opening presents faster. I think I’ve grown since then because I let people sleep in until 8 now 
Unwrapping Presents
We just did simple family presents between the 3 of us on Christmas morning. There was the obligatory scratch tickets.
Scratch Tickets
I won! But by now I forget how much… Oh well, the money is somewhere
Spreads And Spices
My parents know me so well. I’ve never tried Saratoga Peanut Butter before but my dad ordered some to try. The Catch Me If You Can flavor was invented by our very own Meagan! I’m glad I got it before it went off of the market.
Goji Cookies And Baking Pans
The Goji Gourmet cookies weren’t much of a surprise since I picked them out in NYC But the vitatop pan will be fun to play with! Maybe I will rekindle my obsession with muffin tops but not bottoms.
Cuisinart Mini Prep
And I got a food processor! Sort of. Any one have experience with this model? I know Cuisinart is a good brand because I have some of their other appliances. But I might return this one and take some of the money I got from Christmas to buy a more expensive model. I think opening presents is way more fun than working out 7:30-9:00 
But afterwards I was ready for breakfast.
Eggnog Greek Yogurt With TRUwhip
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Butter Toffee PB, Gingerbread PB, And A Ginger Molasses Cookie
TRUwhip at breakfast is totally OK at breakfast on Christmas if it’s over a seasonal yogurt. The Catch Me If You Can peanut butter was really good! Go Meagan! I loved the way the ginger and the molasses played together–yum! At 11 we packed up to go to my dad’s family, who live in Concord, New Hampshire. It’s only a 90 minute ride and honestly it felt like we were there sooner than ever. When we walked in we were greeted, and with food.
Snack Spread
The spread was so good; there was even Kettle Chips and Food Should Taste Good chips! Rather than not fill up on chips, though, I chose some of the “healthier” food items.
Blackberries And Cantaloupe
I can not resist fresh, precut fruit. We never have it at home because it’s such a waste of money to buy, but then we’re also to lazy to cut our own–double whammy! Naturally I had about 3 times as much is pictured.
Tio Juan's Margarita Salsa Mild
There was also a plethora of celery dipped in this salsa. It has amazing flavor, except I much prefer the hot to the mild(and the hot one you know is hot because it burns your tongue when you hit a seed). My little cousins were quick to tell me what to do and where to go while I was eating.
The New Mario On The Wii
The big gift this year was a wii! I have to say, this was entirely a present for me, too. No more little cousins going crazy for mine when they come to my house! Haha. They wanted to show me it and their new Mario game. I have to say it was pretty fun, and they were in awe about how good I was. I don’t think they realize this game is 20+ years old and I’d been playing it since I was their age Once I peeled myself away from that, I was able to hang out with my grandparents and aunt and uncle. They told me stories about my great-grandfather who ate 3 raw eggs with milk and maple syrup every morning, walked 5 miles a day, and was tiny framed his whole life; well now I sound like a chip of the ol’ block! After much cooking, dinner was ready.
Dinner Table
So much food! And unlike Christmas Eve dinner, I could eat 90% of it! It was pure heaven. Usually, at holidays, I try to treat meals like every other one: make a balanced plate of 3 or 4 things and eat until you’re comfortably full. However, I really just wanted to pig out on good and natural food and feel for once like the holiday season was actually here!
Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Brie, Sweet Potatoes, Turnips, Cornish Hen
Such a good plate of food(though nothing in comparison to how much my grandfather put away 8-|). I also tried boiled onions for the first time and had seconds(and thirds) on the brussels and cauliflower. It was all really good. The cornish hens were naturally raised so I had no problem digging in to it. I ate the breast meat and my mom picked at probably the rest of it. Everyone pigged out on veggies so we even got to take home 3 hens! Sweet deal. After all that amazingness, my cousins drove us to unwrap gifts.
Faux Christmas Tree
Scratch Tickets
Can you tell the type of family we are? This time I won 6 more dollars!
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
And I got the Mario game for myself I have to admit, it was really fun when I played with my cousins so I was definitely looking forward to getting this(especially after hearing Lynn talk about how much she loved renting it). There was also clothes–some of which I’ll keep and some return–and gift cards. My aunt got me not 1 but 3 Target gift cards; apparently she couldn’t decide which one looked cute enough. After everything digested I was sooo ready for dessert.
Dessert Spread
Along with the two things I brought, there was Carvel birthday cake for my mom’s birthday and a chocolate pudding pie and apple pie from my grandmother. I think the apple pie was all-natural, but really I was not that hungry at all after the feast. I just opted for coffee(decaf, of course) and some tiny tasty treats.
Peanut Butter And Chocolate Biscotti, Chocolate Mint Gluten Free Brownie With TRUwhip
This was such a sweet ending to the whole thing. The gluten free brownies came out amazing! No one could guess there was anything funny about them, let alone having black beans! I’m definitely going to be posting the recipe soon(and maybe even making another batch). And these biscotti got rave reviews again. I don’t think I could possibly get tired of them. The secret is in the peanut butter, peanuts, and peanut flour. After dessert we gathered our gifts, said goodbye, and drove home. It was snowing slightly and looked sooo beautiful all the way home; what a perfect way to end Christmas. When we got home it was past dinner but I wasn’t really hungry from the feast anyway. Instead I had (another) sweet ending.
NibMor Original With Raspberry Jam
Yum! The NibMor raw chocolate is definitely a bit lighter on texture but the flavor is just as decadent as rich, dark chocolate. And I love that combo of dark chocolate and raspberry I was actually thinking of making raspberry chocolate cups but this was way faster and more effecient at 8pm at night.
Oatmeal With Honey Cream Cheese Frosting, Adirondack Jack Butter, And French Toast Almonds
A little later I definitely reverted into my nutty habits and was hungry for dessert The “frosting”, which had yogurt in it, was more to get a 2nd(albeit, lame) source of probiotics in for the day. The adirondack jack butter was new and really interesting; it’s a mix of peanuts, almond, flax, cranberries, sunflower seeds and honey. Not my favorite, but it definitely has its own flavor. I loooved the added roasted nuts. I took them to New Hampshire, too, and everyone seemed to enjoy them, so I’m thinking next Christmas I’ll roast a batch for each person individually.
Well, that was my Christmas. In writing this post, I think I’ve remembered one of my favorite things about this blog: I know have all these great memories in a place I can go to whenever I want. Being able to share it with you all and my family is just the cherry on top. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night
i love how your grandfather ate more than you! haha. and you might have been the kid that woke everyone up but i was the sneaky kid that woke up at 4 to open my stocking and check out my presents well before anyone else got up. i’d then go back to bed and wake up with the fam to really open stuff up haha
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Evan Thomas Reply:
December 26th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Lol, my grandfather’s a 6’5 ex-lumberjack so I’m pretty sure he can eat anybody under the table. My 4’8 foot Italian grandmother–now she’s the surprise champion eater of the bunch haha
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Eggnog greek yogurt?? Sounds awesome! Your Christmas looks divine!
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i’ve had my eye on that cuisinart mini prep, i’m sure you can make great things with it but it makes sense to return it and upgrade to a different model if you’re going to use it for heavy duty things.
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Wow great post Evan!
Cuisinart Mini Prep-Ok I told this to Jenny b4 she took her post down. Those things are notorious!!!! for blowing up in the motor department after about 60 days. I would throw in another 50 bucks or whatever it takes to buy the full size model. With one of those Bed Bath and Beyond 20% off coupons, they become pretty reasonable. The mini is fine but it’s not a long term thing, or a heavy usage foodie loves to create recipes kinda thing. Get the full size IMO. Or be prepared to blow the motor and have to try to take back a used food proc every 2-3 mos with regular and/or heavy duty ish usage.
As for the GF Brownies. CANNOT wait! for the recipe!
And the PB in the biscotti and the pea flour. You’re awesome, cant wait for that either!
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Evan Thomas Reply:
December 26th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Lol! Return it for a bigger model is exactly what I spent today doing. I’ll be flaunting it in the morning
I even looked up your raw cookie dough balls for reference–too funny
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I swear, Evan – we are siblings! I got a mini food processor too.. be sure to share all of your genius recipes that you will inevitably come up with — ’cause that’s just how you roll!
p.s. I am in love with the fact that you got PB for Christmas — you are such a foodie! It’s awesome.
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Glad you had a great Christmas, thanks for sharing!
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glad to hear that you had a fabulous christmas dinner!!
your parents know you well getting you those nut butters!
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Great post! You seem happy. Blessed. Does your family read your blog Evan?? I like your last few sentences
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I was definitely the kid who woke up early…up until the age of 15 when my parents would practically force me out of bed because I relished sleeping in so much. Haha.
I love your Christmas food themed breakfast! The egg nog in yogurt is a genius idea. And all of the food spreads look amazing.
As for your Grandfather…well the dude had some guts to be eating raw eggs. Kudos to him!
Merry (belated) Christmas.
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Aww I’m so glad you had a great Christmas!!! I hope you like the peanut butter… It’s really good mixed with cream cheese (or faux cream cheese) as a frosting too!
You summed it up perfectly
Your Christmas spread looks wonderful…I had the same experience, on Christmas eve it was hard to find things I could eat but Christmas day was on my turf!!!
The last paragraph is the exact reason I blog. I never want to let go of things like memories of great food with great people.
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Mmmm I love all of those spreads and spices…what great gifts! Also, I LOVE mario on the wii…it’s a favorite at our house!
Merry Christmas!
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What a great Christmas with your family! That dinner and tall those desserts look amazing!
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what a great christmas!! do u make your own eggnog greek yog? i got a food processor too..just made naner soft serve for the first time!
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You got such great foodie presents from the family!! They know you well for sure!
Hmmm I’m sure the cuisineart food processor is great, so check out amazon reviews on the models you’re eyeing before trading in your fabulous one! 
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