Christmas Eve - Vegas Style

In the afternoon on Christmas eve, we flew off to Vegas.  We had a little lunch/snack in the airport.



We arrived in Las Vegas around 8:00 p.m., and checked into a suite at the Monte Carlo.  We wanted to stay in this hotel to end off 2015, since we got married this year, and this was the hotel we stayed in on our first vacation together back in 2012.  It definitely brought back memories.

We got a spacious suite with two bathrooms - convenient!  After settling in we had dinner at Yusho.  We shared some assorted kimchi to start:

Then we each ordered a bowl of ramen:

We were in bed early, and waited to see if Santa would visit Vegas.

What did you do on Christmas eve?

Merry Christmas Darlings

Oh happy day!

We finished up the last of our turkey dinner, and I made stock yesterday, letting it simmer for a good 12 hours.  We froze it to use at a later date.

Our bags are packed, and we're ready for our flight to Vegas!

Although we won't be spending Christmas in our home, we've really enjoyed the warmth of it this month.  There is nothing cozier than a home at Christmas time.  We'll make Vegas cozy though!

I have a few hours to kill this morning before my hubby comes home from work to grab me and our bags.  I think I'll spend them like this ...

Merry Christmas to you and yours - cheers!

How are you spending Christmas eve?  Christmas day?

Turkey & a Nephew Day!

On Sunday evening we cooked up a turkey, with some homemade cranberry sauce and truffle potatoes/ veggies.  We didn't want to buy much for groceries this week, since we'll be leaving on Thursday, so we figured the turkey would last us as our meals for the week.

I'm on holidays for a couple weeks, so yesterday I had an auntie/nephew day!  Whenever I have time off, and we're not gone away, I like to take the little guy and spend a whole day with him. 

He came over in the morning.  I had coffee, and he had hot chocolate and played a bit, while telling me about school, and showing me what he had been learning.  He chose grilled cheese and broccoli soup for lunch - mmmmm!  After lunch we made a gingerbread house!

We read a Christmas story, did some art work ...

Watched Home Alone 2 with chips and dip ...

And overall, had a great little Christmasy day.

When uncle Christopher got home from work we went out for all-you-can-eat sushi to Sake.  Giovanni always orders the roll with the most fish eggs - his favourite! 

He also liked the sashimi and tofu.  He's a pretty good eater!

How is your week going so far?

What is your favourite sushi roll?

Christmas Spirit

For two people who won't be home for Christmas, we've been feeling extra festive this year.  Perhaps it's because it will be our first Christmas as husband and wife (best thing ever).  Perhaps it's because the weather has been nice enough that we can more pleasantly run our errands ...

Whatever it is, it's been really nice.  We've been watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music, eating chocolates, and enjoying the warmth of the season.

I made some butter tarts recently, and have a couple other treats planned for the next few weeks.

We spent this weekend seeing my mom for our Christmas visit.  We brought some presents to her home, and a bunch of goodies for her to enjoy, and had a nice visit on Saturday and Sunday.  We were pretty wiped when we got to Saskatoon on Friday night - especially Christopher, who works a lot of overtime this time of year.  We checked into the Bessborough hotel, and crashed really early. 

On Saturday morning we were up early, we grabbed a couple of bagels, and then spent the day with my mom in her care home, and attended a care meeting for her.

My mom is very young to be in a care home, and most of the people in the home are quite old, and so cute.  I just love old people!  They are so precious!  So many little old ladies compliment Christopher on his tattoos - it's pretty adorable.  He's so good with them too, and always takes the time to help them out - I love it.

We went for a late lunch to The Mardi Gras Grill.

This place is a great place in Saskatoon to get soul food.  We went back to visit more with my mom after our late lunch.

For dinner we dressed up and went out to Ayden.  We wanted a romantic, Christmasy evening out.  This restaurant is owned and operated by the first winner of Top Chef Canada.  We had gone once before, and it was really good, but unfortunately last night we were dissapointed.

Our appetizers were quite good - we had scallops, and tuna (unpictured).

We shared an entree, and this is where we were really dissapointed.

We ordered the fried chicken and grits, but I wouldn't have called the side dish "grits".  There were barely any grits to be found.  It was a bowl of way too salty, melty cheese, with a grit or two floating around in it.  It was inedible.  The fried chicken left a lot to be desired too.  Oh well - we're glad we only ordered one entree.

We went straight back to the hotel after dinner, and then today got my mom a bunch of groceries, and went for another visit before heading home.  It was a whirlwind road trip, but nice to spend some quality time with my mom.

Tonight, we're cooking a turkey dinner!  We figure the leftovers will last us until we leave for Vegas on Christmas eve.  Hollllllaaaa!!

How was your weekend?  What did you do?  

Are you ready for Christmas?

Best December Ever

This has been the best year for weather I can ever remember.  On Wednesday, December 9th, there was no snow on the ground, and in fact, it was raining quite hard.  I was pretty worried that it would make for a treacherous drive to work on Thursday, but to my surprise, it wasn't too icy at all - more slushy.  We've got a little bit of snow now, but we haven't even had to shovel yet!

That being said, we still had some warm, comforting dinners this week.  On Tuesday evening Christopher roasted a chicken with some potatoes and other veggies.

We enjoyed that for dinner, and then made stock which we used for chicken noodle soup that we ate for a couple of days.

On Friday night we had my work Christmas party, which was fun. 

On Saturday evening we went to Christopher's parents' place for a lovely, "Christmasy" evening.  We had some snacks and visited.  I especially liked the bacon wrapped scallops.

Dinner was chicken and dumplings!

This was my first time having this dish, and it was soooooo good.  Comfort food indeed.

We loved the dumplings so much, that we decided to have some for dinner again this evening - beef stew with dumplings.

This will be so good warmed up for our lunches the next couple of days.

How was your weekend? 

Feeling Festive

We had the best weekend!  On Friday evening we went out to grab a few groceries for the weekend - snacky, fun things.  When we got home we ordered Vietnamese food from Little Saigon.  Their spicy beef soup (#41 for local peeps) is my new favourite take-out soup.  We crashed really early, as we usually do on Friday evenings. 

On Saturday morning we were up early.  We had leftover Vietnamese food for breakfast.  Yep.  Haha!  Then we put on Christmas music, straightened the house a bit, and then set up all of our Christmas decorations.  We weren't going to put up the tree, since we won't be home for Christmas, but ended up changing our minds. 

Christopher made peppermint mochas, which we sipped while decorating.  We wrapped gifts, and snacked, and were silly and festive all day long.  It was so much fun!

We watched Christmas movies, and crashed early again.

On Sunday we had another lazy, snugly, Christmasy day.  We watched many Christmas movies, ate snacks, drank more peppermint mochas, and had another day where we didn't leave the house.

We really like this parmesan salami we grabbed at Costco on Friday.  It was great with cheese and crackers.

Other fun new products ...

I got a surprise package in the mail a while back from the people at Cliff Bar.  They had some new flavours they wanted me to try.  They even "blinged" the bars out - haha!

Like any other Cliff Bar I've tried, these did not disappoint.  They taste just like the name suggests.  Also, I love their ingredient list - things I recognize, and feel good about consuming.  These are perfect to pop in my purse for fuel while powering through Christmas shopping.

Another snack with an ingredient list I feel good about, are the new Coconut Chips from Prana. 

I got a package of these in the mail a while back to test out (thank you Prana!).  If you've got a coconut lover in your household, give these a try.  They come in different flavours, like Spicy Chili, Sea Salt and Vineger, BBQ, and Original.

There is one ingredient in the original Prana Coconut Chips:  Organic Coconut.  It doesn't get any simpler than that.

Now we're stocked with snacks for the holiday season! 

Speaking of snacks ...

Last night we had cheese fondue for dinner.

If anything, Mondays should be tasty.

How was your weekend?

What did you do?

(The Cliff Bars and Prana Coconut Chips were provided to me free of charge for consideration.  All opinions are my own).

My #PCDishOut Creations with #PCInsidersCollection

When the people at Loblaws contacted me to create a recipe/ hack with one of the PC Insiders Collection products, I knew right away I wanted to create an appetizer; that was the easy part.  The difficult part was choosing from all the wonderful products in the collection, as I wanted them all.  I finally decided to create two simple appetizers, featuring three different products from the collection.

For my creations I chose the PC Oval Appetizer Flatbread (2 Pk), PC Soft Unripened Goats Milk Cheese, and PC Black Label Gorgonzola Dolce Soft Blue Veined Cheese.  I also snagged a few other PC products to use in the recipes, and just to snack on for the holiday season.

My first #PCDishOut creation is: 

Rosemary Goat Cheese Flatbread

1 package PC Oval Appetizer Flatbread
PC Soft Unripened Goats Milk Cheese 300g
President's Choice Fresh Rosemary, chopped
PC Organics Balsamic Vinegar of Modena

Preheat the oven to 425 F.  Mix 1/2 block of the goat cheese (per flatbread) with chopped fresh rosemary.  I used about 3 T rosemary.  Spread the goat cheese mixture on to the flatbread.  Bake on the bottom rack for 8 minutes.  Remove, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.  Season with salt & pepper as desired.  Slice and serve warm.

Before going into the oven:

Once it comes out, drizzle that balsamic!  The smell - amazing.

What a beautiful appetizer, with a touch of both sweetness and saltiness. 

My second #PCDishOut creation is:

Blue Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

2 T butter
white mushrooms
PC Black Label Gorgonzola Dolce Soft Blue Veined Cheese
garlic, minced
green onions, chopped

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Wash the mushrooms and remove the stems.  Heat the butter in a pan on medium, and brown the mushrooms.  Remove from the pan (set pan aside to use for garlic/onions), and transfer mushrooms to a lined cookie sheet.  Cut the cheese into little chunks and shove 'em in the mushrooms.  Bake until the cheese is melted.  Meanwhile, add the garlic and green onion to the pan that the mushrooms were in, and cook those for a couple minutes in the butter until softened.  Remove the mushrooms from the oven, top with the garlic/onions, and serve hot.

The finished product is gorgeous.  These are simple, yet impressive, and they taste incredible.  I don't normally like blue cheese, but I ate these up!

These are perfect, easy appetizers for your next holiday party.  We love to entertain, and it's nice to have some easy ideas of savoury snacks we can throw together in no time.

Do you have a lot of holiday parties to attend this year?

Are you hosting a holiday party?

(Head over to the PC Insiders Collection if you need more ideas)

Don't forget, PC wants to give one of my readers a $100 gift card! 
Enter here.  You don't need an account to enter - just comment as "anonymous", but leave a way for me to contact you if you win.

*This is a sponsored post.  All opinions are my own.