Christmas Dinner Has Been Brought To You By Pinterest

Pinterest, for those of you not in the know, is essentially where social networking and virtual inspiration boards meet. Pinterest allows you to organize images in different "boards" for your own reference but it also allows you to share these images with other "pinners". Like so many internet-y things it is addicting and as a result time consuming. In my short time on Pinterest I have already "pinned" over 500 images and have no plans of slowing down. I choose images to pin on my boards for a variety of reasons but I mostly select pictures of outfits to copy, DIY projects to attempt, and recipes to cook. The problem that I run into, however, is that instead of spending my time trying out the ideas that I've already pinned I scour the internet for more things to pin and subsequently never actually try doing.

A side note: I am also this way with books. I will buy 4 books at a time. Read one of them. And then instead of reading any of the three remaining books I will head back to the bookstore to buy four new ones and start the process of not reading them all over again.

But back to the topic at hand... Pinterest and the problems it presents. Before heading down to California for the holiday I told my mom that I would cook Christmas dinner. I prepared last years Thanksgiving feast and this year, because there were so many other people who wanted to get their hands dirty, I missed having total and absolute control over the menu and preparation (you'll see this is a theme when you combine me and any sort of entertaining/cooking/decorating endeavor). I was having a hard time deciding what I would concoct for the family. I am mainly vegetarian (I eat the fishies on occasion) whereas they are carnivorous beasts and so finding something that everyone will be happy with can be difficult. I decided this could be a perfect time to actually try out some of my pinned recipes. And so I did! I like to call the endeavor "Christmas Dinner Has Been Brought To You By Pinterest". Here's what I decided to make...

{no need to knead bread dough. recipe available at joie de vivre}

{pear, blue cheese and walnut salad! yum!

maple syrup vinaigrette recipe available at drizzle and dip }

{butternut squash with ginger & cilantro recipe available at rachelraymag}

{simple salmon baking technique from the pioneer woman. I added a little dill and lemon to mine!}

With some patience (the bread takes 14+ hours to make from start to finish) and a little help from my sous chefs...

I have to say I was pretty pleased with the final product...
The bread was definitely my favorite part of the meal. For one it was SUPER tasty and for two I had never been successful at baking bread from scratch... UNTIL NOW! Taking that first bite of fluffy, carb-y goodness and realizing that I had in fact baked a real loaf of bread stirred up feeling of accomplishment paramount to those I had when completing my first marathon. Strange? Maybe. Factual? Oh yes.


Just looking at the picture illustrating the fruit of my labor is making me tired. I am off to finish my day at work and then take a much needed post holiday nap!



Merry 2 days after Christmas to all and to all a good night!