Mom's Christmas Party

Thus ends the week of excessive eating, also known as the week after Christmas. It's been a very long week but all the parties are over and the next big meal won't be that big - just New Year's Eve dinner for SP and me. It's been a lot of fun, but I'm exhausted!

My mom's family always comes to town a few days after Christmas for a gift exchange and huge holiday feast. You might think these photos look familiar and they should; it's almost the exact same meal we had for Thanksgiving.

Even though we had a huge meal, you always need some noshy things, including:


... cheese straws and artichoke dip


The turkey was succulent and juicy, even the white meat:




... and don't tell anyone, but I added a full stick of butter to the potatoes, along with some sour cream. As you can imagine, they were very rich and creamy:


Mom always roasts the sweet potatoes:


... with lots of butter so they caramelize on the outside. They're always sweet and perfect with a pat of butter. And the stuffing was even better than Thanksgiving, with lots of celery and onion.


Green beans and corn made up the vegetable portion of the meal:




My plate with all the yummy food:


I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the candy cane breadsticks that are in the upper right-hand corner of the photo. They were starting to get too brown and we had to get them off the baking sheet before they burned. They're very simple to make and are a staple of the after-Christmas party.