Christmas, Christmas, Christmas

Christmas in most cultures almost always involves a lot of cooking, baking and of course, eating. Here are some of the highlights of the Christmas season feasting in our household:

On Christmas Eve, we had a not-so-traditional Christmas dinner of basil, tomato and shrimp linguini, and a tomato mozzarella salad, accompanied by delicious french red

wine.

After dinner, we indulged in a double-layer chocolate cake, separated by raspberry jam and covered with a dark chocolate ganache.

And my very favourite, Christmas morning breakfast, in which I made oatmeal-blueberry pancakes and belgian waffles for the family.

The Perfect Remedy for a Cold, Wintery Day

I live in Vancouver, Canada, where it rarely ever snows. However, for the last few days, the temperature has been in the negatives and very, very snowy. To keep warm, I decided to cook a hearty meal of sweet potato gnocchi and a warm chocolate tart.

This was the first time I have ever made gnocchi and I will definitely try it again. I served it with a fresh mixed greens salad and some yummy Italian bread, it was so delicious! For the sweet potato gnocchi I used this recipe from wild yeast blog: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2008/10/20/sweet-potato-gnocchi/

To follow the gnocchi, I made a warm, chocolate tart. I recommend to serve it warm with a scoop of creamy, vanilla ice cream~ I found the recipe from a blog that I really like to follow called chocolate shavings:

http://ourchocolateshavings.blogspot.com/2008/06/warm-chocolate-tart-with-candied-orange_10.html

Burgoolicious

For my twenty-first birthday, my family and I chose to go to Burgoo for dinner. Burgoo is a restaurant located in North Vancouver that prides itself on serving "comfort" food. It serves a variety of different homestyle dishes ranging from soups to stews to sandwiches and more. What makes Burgoo unique is that it incorporates a very hearty feel to the restaurant experience while still offering a very sophisticated menu with dishes from all around the world.

For my birthday outing, I opted for the Macaroni and Cheese, which was oozing with delicious aged white cheddar cheese (as evident in the picture). It was very tasty and provided that warm, content feeling that only real comfort food can provide.

I recommend anyone who lives in the greater Vancouver area to try this place out! You can check out their menu here: http://www.burgoo.ca/