We eat well on Christmas

This Christmas was a simple one for us. It was only Charles and me. But I loved it! We each got some pretty amazing presents (even though that doesn't matter at all) and we enjoyed watching the kitties play with their Christmas gifts.

I did not put a whole lot of thought into Christmas dinner, but I did find some amazing recipes of new dishes to try (Pinterest, of course).

Our Christmas breakfast tradition is Chocolate French Toast. I have shared this on the blog before. It is such a yummy breakfast that I should make it more often. We made homemade Oatmeal Bread in the bread machine to use. It was a great choice.

Our dinner included smoked chicken. Charles did a great job with that! As our sides we enjoyed Sweet Potato Casserole, Garlic Pecan Broccoli and homemade Hawaiian rolls. Everything turned out delicious! The sweet potato casserole has a fantastic crunchy topping. The recipes makes a lot, so we have been enjoying this everyday since Christmas. The Hawaiian rolls were good...because what homemade bread isn't good, right? But I don't know if it really tasted like Hawaiian rolls. I might try another recipe to compare.

Normally, we have birthday cake for Jesus as our dessert on Christmas. This year Jesus wanted bread pudding. I found an amazing recipe for New Orleans style bread pudding with a coconut praline sauce. SOOOOO good! We also used homemade Oatmeal bread for this recipe.

Special Broccoli

As promised, I am going to share the recipe for Broccoli with Pecan Brown Butter.

Ingredients:
Kosher salt
2 pounds broccoli, cut into florets
1 stick salted butter (I don't buy salted butter, so unsalted will have to do)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2/3 cup chopped toasted pecans
Salt and Pepper
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

(The original recipe also called for shallots and red pepper flakes...I'm not interested in those two things, so I have omitted them from the recipe).

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat and add broccoli. Blanch until tender-crisp and bright green, about three minutes. Drain well and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and pecans, and saute until the garlic is tender, about three to four minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep stirring until the butter begins to brown, another three minutes.

Add red pepper flakes, if desired, and broccoli. Using tongs, toss the broccoli with the butter and pecans. Cook, while tossing, until the broccoli is heated through, about five to six more minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.