Hi everyone!
Thank you for your kind words about my Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Rolls entry for Challenge #8! The post was in the works for about 3 weeks now and I was soooo happy to finally hit publish. Voting is now open if you care to show your support. They are cutting 50% of contestants, so only 12 will remain for round #9.
What’s with all this snow, you ask?
Eric and I are in Alberta visiting my family for an early Christmas celebration!
We leave on Wednesday and I am already very sad to say goodbye to my family. I’m pretty sure I am going to stuff my nephews in my suitcase and make a run for it. ;)
We were a bit scared during the days leading up to our trip out West because we heard that there was a deep freeze going down in the Prairies…
Burrrrrr.
Luckily, OSGMOM told us that it would be ‘warming up’ to –10C by the time we arrived.
Err… ;)
I need layers…lots and lots of layers.
I have also been drinking my body weight in hot chocolate and tea.
Luckily, fur ball Rudi has been keeping us warm…
He is never cold!
Well, sometimes…when he wants to snuggle up to The Cat Whisperer (Eric).
I hope Sketchie doesn’t see this!
They have a view of The Rockies from their backyard. I guess this makes up for the cold! :)
Gorgeous, eh?
My mom and sister Kristi surprised us with a mostly vegan Christmas dinner on Sunday night.
It was very exciting.
I came into the kitchen to find that they were working hard on a bunch of my recipes!
This time I got to have it made for me!
Mom said, ‘I hope you will still love me if I screw up these recipes!!’
I said, “I don’t care what you do as long as I don’t have to cook!’ ;)
I had total faith in my worker bees.
I kept them in line with a spoon!
I got to make the vegan gravy and then I forgot about it on the burner and nearly fried it! Just a day in the life…
The non-vegans had stuffed chicken and myself and my friend Ashley had In A Jiffy spelt veggie patties.
They were awesome in a roll with vegan gravy! It was a great idea to make for the vegan protein portion.
High Protein Garlic Mashed Potatoes:
I also brought along Soft Peanut Butter Cookies for my nephews and the rest of my family. They were a huge hit!
Mmmm, I filled my plate and was one happy vegan!
I had a whole wheat dinner roll with vegan butter, peas, butternut squash, This Ain’t Grandmas Sweet Potato Casserole, High Protein Garlic Mashed Potatoes, In A Jiffy Veggie Spelt patties, vegan gravy, and Cranberry, Pear, and Pecan Spinach Salad.
For dessert, my mom made my Pumpkin Gingerbread with Spiced Buttercream!! Gosh I love this dessert.
And some non-vegan layered cake!
The boys watched the Grey Cup football…
The ladies did not. :)
Then we exchanged gifts with Kristi and the family. I got some amazing pictures of my nephews, a new apron, a holiday table runner, and artwork from my oldest nephew. :)
I told my nephew that my fridge was covered in his artwork, but I was going to add all of the new drawings to it too, and his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and he said, ‘REALLY???’
Then Papa and mammoth Kinder Eggs stole the show and that was that!
Well, we are off for another day of adventures. See you later!
Holy snow! This makes me so excited for Christmas. You and your sis are so beautiful too.
Looks like you are having a beautiful time with your family! Enjoy every moment of down time ♥
ah yes that cold spell was horrible! glad you were able to miss it. Saskatchewan had it just as bad, and it is definitely much warmer this week -10C is warm believe it or not haha
you should tough it out more and visit the prairies more often, they are truly beautiful, Saskatoon in the winter is pretty amazing by the river.
Have you been? hit me up if you do stop by!
Your pumpkin gingerbread will be making an appearance at my Christmas as well :)
Wow– this is such a cozy holiday post!!! Beautiful pictures, as always…and I LOVE the cat! :-)
That cat picture with Eric is so adorable! I am sure Sketchie would *not* approve. Have fun playing in the snow!
This post really warmed my heart and even made me tear up a bit just from missing my own family. I can’t wait to get back home to them in a few weeks now! It’s clear where you get your hostess and presentation skills from… your mom’s house is beautiful! And I love the Beatrix Potter dishes… that would be something that my mom would set out for the children too!
Awww, what a gorgeous early Christmas celebration… Glad you got to be with your faraway relatives. I’ve NEVER had a white Christmas! Growing up in South Carolina and now living in Los Angeles- it rarely drop below 40 degrees F, in fact. I guess there are pluses and minuses to both situations ;)
so amazing! i wish u were staying longer with them your family is sooo beautiful. You must miss them sooo much and you all look so happy and warm there. I hope you have a wonderful time you deserve it and can I say that your cinnamon bun post has got my vote and has got to win you just blow the competion out of the water over and over again.
BTW those kinder eggs are just the next size up from the small ones in italy where I live they go up three sizes from that to a truely massive massive egg ;)
Peace,
Sabrina.
My first Vegan dinner was a success & delicious – yeah! Thanks to my Assistants in the kitchen, Kristi & Eric. I couldn’t have pulled it together without you! Thanks to my clean up crew, Peter and John :)
It was AWESOME :) You can cook for this Vegan-food-aholic anyday!!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the meal! We’ll have to get together again for another Vegan meal and try out a few more of Ange’s recipes.
I LOVE Kinder schokolade! It reminds me of my Oma, who used to give us bunte teller at Christmastime — colorful plates (the literal German translation) filled with nuts, chocolates and other German candies (including Kinder products once in a blue moon) and the requisite orange and apple. :)
Looks like you’re having a blast. Enjoy!
voted!! sometimes food tastes better when prepared for you…especially by your mom.
Ah it all looks beautiful–the inside and outside! What a great view!
I’m so glad you are enjoying time with family!
That all looks great!!!!!
And is that cat a Ragdoll??? It is absolutely beautiful…I have Ragdolls and it looks a lot like one :-)
Yes Rudi is a ragdoll :) Sweetest cat ever
Great post! I am originally from Alberta and this post has me excited to go home for my early Christmas as well!!
aww this post made me teary! I miss the frigid prairies! The mountains — my heart melts. Hope you guys make time for some skiing!
that first picture is beautiful… it belongs on a christmas card! i’m so glad you got to spend quality time with the family :) your nephews sound adorable.. way to be a “cool” aunt w/ the cookies haha
I love the snow photos!! What a gorgeous Winter Wonderland!
Looks like you are having fun and the food looks great!
Ah, what a fun early Christmas! I thought my family was jumping the gun doing our presents on Christmas Eve @ Midnight because we never could wait till morning ;) And hey, who knows, maybe fried gravy is the next big thing!?!?
I love the Beatrix Potter dishes — makes me wish I had a collection of my own!
I love that cat!!! And that view :-)
Ohhh what a lovely time for you and your family! And how sweet of them to cook a mostly vegan meal! Sounds like my dream!
You and your sister’s skin is gorgeous! I notice in every picture of you that your skin glows. Makes me jealous! :) Do you have a recipe for vegan gravy? I tried to make it for Thanksgiving and mine didn’t turn out so great. :(
thank you!
Yes there is a recipe I adapted from ED&BV cookbook. I included it on my thanksgiving recipes PDF from the original post. :)
Alberta in the winter is crazy! The weather is just all over the place.
That view is incredible though! Just wow!
Yay Alberta! That’s where I’m from! Good thing you missed that deep freeze that we had. I was wearing legwarmers and long johns everyday!
The vegan Christmas dinner looks delish. I definitely need to try out some of those recipes.
Looks like you guys are having fun! I am so excited to go home and see my family now!
I wanted to tell you that you practically planned my whole Thanksgiving meal! I made your pull apart rolls, the vegan gravy, the HP mashed potatoes, the spice cake, and the walnut loaf. It was all so wonderful! You’re right, the vegan gravy is AMAAAZZING!!! My non-vegan husband even loved it. Thanks for the recipes!! : )
Glad you’re enjoying our famous early christmas weather in Alberta! Your pictures have me lusting after christmas dinner already!!
p.s. The view of the rockies gets very old once it hits -40, nothing makes up for that!
haha I can imagine!
Oh my word – the view of the Rockies is incredible!
So glad you get to spend some quality time with the fam, cause that’s what it’s all about, right :)
OMG you’re reminding me of when I grew up in Edmonton SO much right now! Looks like you’re having a fabulous time. Your family are awesome for preparing so many vegan recipes for you, especially the gingerbread cake with buttercream frosting. That was one of my favourites at Thanksgiving! Stay warm! :D
Those are some cold cold temps! Reminds me of when I used to live in Minnesota!!!
Where in Alberta are you?
I live in Alberta (yay!) and although its cold & we have snow from October – May (& sometimes in June!) I absolutely love living here and think it’s such a beautiful province. It made me so happy to see Alberta pictures in your blog this morning!
that snow is beyond! i love looking at it but i hate being cold so much that the idea of a tropical christmas sounds appealing to me haha. what a thoughtful feast your family prepared! enjoy each and every moment x
I have to say, that icing is wonderful! I make it for my in-laws about a month ago, and they said it was better than nonvegan icing!! Yay!
Glad you guys had fun! That tablescape is beautiful. ;)
Such a sweet post – It’s so much fun to spend time with family this time of the year. I’m so glad you’re having a great time!
I’m glad you have a great visit with your family :) Beautiful fun pictures !
Love the pictures. Question… are there vegetarian marshmallows???
Yes there are, but my mom made two versions- one with non vegan marsh. and one vegan without. I use DANDIES brand of vegan marsh. and they are incredible!!!
You made me SO excited for Christmas! What fun! :D
How awesome that they cooked for you!!! And -10C is warming up? I so could never live in Canada.
What a happy gorgeous family you have! Amazing =)
Your photos are beautiful! :) Your posts always make me so happy.
Your family is beautiful! That’s SO nice of your mom and sister to make you a vegan feast :)
What a fun weekend :)
OMG I can’t get over Eric and Rudi! CUTEST THING EVER!!!!!
We always have to start celebrating Christmas early with our families too – because there’s four of them (yes my parents and my inlaws are divorced) We’re trying to finalize all the dates right now so everyone gets visits.
Ah! I’m so jealous! We don’t have snow in Florida! (I’m hoping that when I go to Maryland/ DC for Christmas I’ll see some)
I love the coffee mug by the way! Too cute! :)
Looks like you are having a great time! Enjoy the rest of your trip :)
We have the same Potter bowls!!
Also, love that kitty!!
Foods always better when you didn’t have to cook it. It looks like a lot of fun, I already voted :) have a nice rest of your trip.
Wow, I am really in the xmas spirit now! SO much nice looking food and a beautiful tree too. And all that snow – ok I’m not in the spirit for that just yet ;)
Aw, I wish my family would be down with having an awesome amazing feast like this!