And so, Christmas 2014 is in full swing.

The husband and I are back home in Cologne, after a few days away with family out of town, and now we’re watching what we eat – given we had so many rich things over the holidays.

Yoshi is happy to have us back, and we’re all doing our thing, just relaxing. I’m trying to make the most of what is left of the year, a long to-do-list is weighing on me heavily, among other things I have three books to read for Italian class and I owe several people pictures from throughout this year, which I have yet to edit. But all I really want to do is cuddle up with a book (I’m currently reading Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which was a gift from my friend Anne, who said that I absolutely had to, had to, had to read this novel, like immediately, so she made sure I would), sip hot herbal tea and maybe take a bath and yawn occasionally. I also should be doing all sorts of housework, but no part of me wants to get down and dirty, so I’m just letting everything be whatever it wants to be and pretending it doesn’t concern me. Ha!

Anyway, we had a really lovely Christmas feast on the evening of the twenty-fourth, and just like last year, I plan on sharing all the holiday recipes here. I tried using mostly seasonal vegetables. I love how it worked out!
Time to get cracking on those posts, they won’t write themselves!

Here’s a tiny peak to get you into the mood.

We had:
Polenta Crostini with herbed Ricotta Hats
Assorted Salad Leaves with Pear Slices, Roasted Honey-Walnuts, Barberries and Parmigiano in Roasted-Garlic-Vinaigrette
Pumpkin Steaks with three types of vegetable mash (apple-celery, roasted parsnip and minted pea) aside oven-baked shiitake mushrooms
Chestnut-Chocolate-Semifreddo and – they were so amazing! – Churros

Oh my! What a feast!

Happy holidays, everyone! Hope you and yours are having a fabulous time! See you soon!