Happy 2011 everyone ...

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Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Happy 2011 y'all!! A brand new year and time for a new post ... well, our blog's been begging for a new post! That was one long hiatus but we are back - with updates, new posts, new pictures and plans and resolutions to bring this blog back to life :)

I am going to start with my most exciting cooking/hosting project of 2010 .. the Christmas dinner! Almost all our dinner get togethers end up featuring Indian cuisine and we have been planning a completely non-Indian feast for quite sometime now and Christmas seemed like the perfect time to do it. My brother and his family were visiting us for the holidays so without much delay, we decided the date and started our brainstorming sessions to come up with an elaborate and exciting menu. Oh! Anusha and Archana used one such brainstorming session as the perfect excuse for my surprise birthday dinner.

Thank you girls :)
 So, after about 3 weeks of discussions (online and offline), we had our "menu", we knew who was making what! I cheated a bit, thanks to Shilpa, she took care of my share of cooking while I did all the setting up and helping :)

'Tis the season to be jolly .....

Appetizers - Avocado Mousse, Red Pepper Hummus, Balsamic Bruschetta - served with a homemade baguette crostini

more appetizers ... pesto pizza, corn fritters with red chili paste
Corn bread Muffins

Potato-Cauliflower Au Gratin


Spicy Green Bean Casserole
One dish that missed the camera (unfortunately) is the wonderful Orzo-stuffed-Peppers made by Anusha.
Virgin Sangria (wish I had better picture!) - making the sangria (minus the soda) 6-8 hours ahead of serving time definitely makes a big, tasty difference!


marshmallows, strawberries, cream puffs

Thank you Archana, Anusha and Shilpa for all the cooking, thank you guys for cooking, helping, entertaining the kids while we were cooking and for the wonderful pictures/memories and finally, a special thanks to the li'l ones - the perfect fun element!! The holiday season is truly the best time of the year - 'tis the season for partying, shopping, gift exchange, lights and enjoying quality time with near and dear ones - here's to good times, to family and good friends!!!

Of course, one last thank you note goes out to all the chefs for sharing these great recipes online. Most of our dishes were inspired by recipes chosen from Food Network and some blogs. You will see the links to the recipes above, look for the hyperlinked caption below each picture.


Comments

  1. mahaJanuary 8, 2011 at 11:56 AM

    awesome only!!! keep it up girl....way to start the new year....keep the posts coming...luv ur presentation and style

    ReplyDelete

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