Vegan Christmas Feast!

Christmas Eve
We snacked on homemade hummus, a veggie pate, fresh olives, pickled eggplant, and D's homemade best ever caponata. Our main course consisted of:
-al dente steamed asparagus with a dill vinaigrette
-sauteed garlic mushrooms with mint and oregano
-Imam Bayadi (I think that is how it's spelled) is a stuffed eggplant that D stuffed with pine nuts, peppers and fennel as the main ingredients.

D. selected a bourdeaux and a Chateauneuf de Pape from his collection. Later, we were too stuffed to think about dessert, but I did bring out the grand marnier and green tea truffles I had made.

Christmas Day

It's all about the food for us. P. had made some panettone style bread with nuts, fruit and chocolate that we enjoyed for breakfast. It tasted very Christmassy.

The dinner:
Chestnut croquettes (I couldn't find the recipe I had used last year so I kind of had to wing it and I'm not sure it was totally successful, but it gave me ideas for what to do next time. Much of my cooking involves ideas for next time.)
P's marinated veg (one of my all time favorites)
Freshly made canneloni crepes stuffed with squash and wild mushrooms. The tomato sauce included jarred tomatoes from P's garden. It was delicious.
I had planned on doing a fennel and orange salad, but there was so much other food I didn't even think of it until well after the meal.

Our wine was a Amarone di Valpolicella.

We did have dessert later. I made vegan cannoli (from the Artful Vegan) that I filled with an almond "ricotta" (from Nonna's Kitchen) and dusted with powdered sugar and chocolate.

After red jane and P left, D and I watched "It's a Wonderful Life." It surprised me every year. I find something new in it each year. I then watched "Going My Way" (the Leo McCarey film), but fell asleep before it ended. Red jane had given us candied pecans and almonds that were polished off during one or both of the films.

Now we can begin planning our new year's dinner. I can't wait!

Merry Christmas every one. I hope everyone had a peaceful holiday and a festive time.