Christmas 2009: Part Uno

For Christmas this year my parents asked for a family picture of the four of us. And because my camera isn't acting right, my father-in-law let me borrow their super sweet Canon Rebel to take the family pic with. I was SO excited to try out the fancy camera, but even after tinkering with the settings for quite some time, I went back to the automatic setting because I had no idea what I was doing. If I'm ever fortunate enough to own such a fun and fancy camera I'll have to take a class for sure.

Anyways, Katy came over to take the picture for us... and after several takes, this is what we came up with:

Yes, we're gripping the dogs tightly to keep them in place. But look at Ari's cute tummy spot! It's the reason I picked him... I just love that little spot. :)

Mya, thinking about a delicious Christmas dinner:

My parents and brother came up the weekend before Christmas to celebrate. It was my first time to host Christmas dinner and I was so excited!!! Mostly excited because I could finally bust out my Tiffany's candlesticks. Thanks Grandma!

While I slaved away in the kitchen, everyone else hung out and watched some sporting event on TV while munching on a tasty veggie tray:

Yeah right! You know I put people to work! Our main course was beef tenderloin with a homemade rub. While I love me some meat as much as the next ex-veggie, I'm still a little freaked out by raw meat. So I made the rub (delish!) and Mom did the actual rubbing:

That is a big ol' honking piece of meat!

So how do you know when its done? You have your dad check it with a meat thermometer. These things are all foreign to me, I'm so glad I had my expert chefs around to assist me:

Hey, I did some serious work too:

Someone's got to wear the apron, right?

The meat turned out amazing. I'm not kidding, I would choose this over steak any day.

The recipe (which was really just a rub) was one from Giada that she did for Shape Magazine. So while it was totally delish, it was also a healthy (er) way to prepare the meat.

On the side: roasted Brussels sprouts with hazelnut brown butter:

Brussels Sprouts are so now. I felt like everyone included them in their Thanksgiving menu, so I had to try them. Meh, they taste like cabbage. (Side story: I searched like 10 different stores for raw hazelnuts and finally ended up just using almonds. I was at Target the next day and found hazelnuts when I wasn't even looking for them.)

Mashed Potatoes with roasted garlic:

You can do no wrong with mashed potatoes, but I didn't really roast the garlic long enough so the taste was a bit off. You betcha I still ate them up!

Anti-Pasta Salad courtesy of my mama:

I was in a bit of a tizzy after several of my side dish suggestions were shot down (seriously, pickiest guests ever!) so as I was running around cleaning the house the morning of dinner, Home Made Simple was on TV (I love you TLC!) and they were making Gingered Carrots. I scribbled down the recipe as they prepared it and voila:

Good, but I kind of forgot I'm not a big fan of fresh ginger. It has a wang that I'm not crazy about. I would have totally rather had creamed spinach but was told it would not be popular among the Wichita Boys.

Next up: dog fighting opening gifts!

My parents gave us a painting to hang over the bar... so exciting! Three years into home ownership and we finally have something to put on the wall besides a wedding photo.

The fam showing off some of their loot:

The puppies played tug of war with the ribbon:

I think the first Christmas at the Gibsons was a definite success. Thanks mom, dad, and Josh for coming to Kansas City to celebrate Christmas!