Tis the Season to Eat and Drink!

First day back in LA, and I'm worn out from the 10 hours of traveling yesterday (and probably the wine I was fed from my chatty neighbor on the plane ;) ) So I'm just going to do a quick little post of the lovely drinks and food I enjoyed over break. 

Christmas

 In honor of my mom and grandpa's birthday on the 24th, I made some more jello shots from the Jelly Shot Test Kitchen.  For our brunch I made some Bellini's and for the evening I made Old Fashions and Pink Squirrels.  

For Christmas Dinner at my Dad's side we had our traditional meal; turkey, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, onions, parsnips, brussel sprouts, squash, stuffing, green bean casserole, and cranberries...seriously so good, my eyes are usually bigger than my stomach :)  A tradition has kind of developed for me to make the dessert, so this year I made Apple Cranberry Streusel Custard Pie (the recipe makes enough for two pies!)  I love cranberries, so I was a big fan.  

New Years

 Another tradition with my family is to fondue for New Year's Eve.  I've missed out the past several years, but I stayed in town this year and enjoyed the celebration!  We do an oil, swiss cheese, and chocolate fondue.  I had the idea of using ravioli this year, which my dad was skeptical about, but everyone seemed to enjoy it, yay me ;P  We consumed booze of all sorts, but compliments to my dad for suggesting and making us Cosmos!  I continued the jello shot trend and made a variation of the Double Rainbow Cake shot, using just yellow food coloring and sprinkles.  

Someone had too much party ;)   I think that wine glass was spilled twice! 

It was a delicious holiday season...Time to start bootcamp with my roommate I think!

Today's Cooking
Now that I'm back to the real world I had to restock my groceries...$120 later...

 Stuffed pastas are one of my favorite dishes, I would love to try making my own pasta at some point, but for now doctored up store bought works fine :P  I did a google search for "ravioli sauces" and found the Cheese Ravioli with Crab and Garlic Sauce recipe.  I halved the sauce recipe but still used about 4 oz of pasta (I can't really see how you can get six servings from that!)  I added some white wine to the sauce, and used canned crab (since I'm not a fan of imitation crab and wasn't looking to spend the money on fresh crab).  I also sauteed some shredded carrots in with the crab to give it a bit of color.  As a side dish, I baked some artichoke hearts with parmesan cheese.  At first I didn't think the sauce was going to add much to the dish, but when it's combined with the crab it really works nicely together.  I'm pleased with the way the meal turned out, it was definitely satisfying.

Still need to do some unpacking and organizing.  I start class again tomorrow.  Break ended too soon!