Hope you all had a wonderful holiday with great food and good company!
This Christmas my husband and I headed to my brother and sis-in-law’s home where they hosted about 25 of us. My entire family and a few of my cousins showed up… it was fun.
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We started off with awesome appetizers… my favorites were the Guacamole and Spinach Cheese Fondue – YUM! My brother made both appetizers… he’s an awesome cook, but don’t tell him I said that… shhhhh!
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And then we opened PRESENTS! Although my husband and I both agreed that we wouldn’t exchange gifts this year because 2012 was a very rough year for my family, he still bought me a couple thoughtful presents. Unfortunately, I got him nothing, but it’s a good thing his birthday is next week, hence I will make up for it. Thanks VS! 
My family seems to think I’m a lush since I received 3 bottles of alcohol as gifts… assuming my husband is really happy about that. Whiskey? That’s a first… I wonder if I can cook with it? Suggestions welcome.
My cousins Ajay and Nan bought me Parisian chocolates from La Maison du Chocolat as a “congratulations” on a blog milestone that I will be sharing with you in the coming weeks. A very sweet gift, such a pretty box, and the Rochers were really yummy. Thanks A & N!
Even though I don’t partake in the tradition of giving funny gifts, my family is notorious for their silly little gifts from Trader Joe’s. This year I got TJ’s Shortbread Cookies and Gyoza Dipping Sauce. These gifts are just silly, cute, and comical more than anything else.
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In addition to the gifts I gave all my nieces and little nephew, I decided to give away my “fake” handbags to my teenage nieces, you know, since I don’t carry fakes anymore. 
They were ecstatic to say the least, not to mention I have a little extra closet space. Don’t they all look like DIVAS?
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And then we proceeded to have dinner… I know, I took the pictures a bit late, blame the wine. In any case, my sister, D, made amazing Baked Eggplant Parmesan, and my cousin, Nan, made kickass Baked Spinach Ricotta Lasagna. 
My 14 year old niece, Rhea, made Sun-Dried Pesto Pasta… so good, watch out Food Network, she’s a chef in making. 
And of course, no party is complete without dessert made by yours truly. A Cranberry Orange Cake (coming soon) I especially made for my mom since she’s not a fan of frostings and all. 
And since my family are a bunch of “chocolate” lovers, I made this very moist Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Buttercream Coconut Frosting. I seriously suck at decorating… my cake fell apart so I hope you believe me when I tell you this cake was really moist, and quite delicious too! 
A special thanks to my brother and sis-in-law for opening up their home to a crazy and loud bunch of us.
And last but certainly not least, we missed my late brother-in-law, A, who was mentioned through out the night, and who I’m sure was drinking with us in spirit. This was one of our very few Christmas’ where he wasn’t physically with us, and now that is an unfortunate reality of our lifetime. I missed having tea & dessert with him this Christmas, he would have totally digged into the desserts. We miss you A, and we all love you so much!!! You will always be with us in spirit and in our hearts, forever!
TELL ME: How did you celebrate Christmas? What did you do/make?
Ah sounds like you had a lovely Christmas, Nisha…and congrats on the blog milestone! Looking forward to reading about it soon! Between your dessert-making skills & Rhea's entrees, your family sure are one lucky bunch ;)! Have a great weekend…got your new years plans sorted yet?
I hope you and yours spent it making happy memories and eating delicious foods!!! =)
Looks like you had a great time with the family and I could see the excitement in your nieces face. Loved that dessert you have made for the family 🙂 From your previous posts, I have seen how much your brother-in law meant to everyone and I am pretty sure he was there among all of you guys having an equally good time 🙂
What a lovely Christmas celebration. That spinach and cheese fondue is calling my name. And so are those chocolates 🙂 Happy New Year!
What a sweet picture of a beautiful family. You have the most gorgeous nieces and nephew!
So sorry it was a rough year for you…I am hoping that 2013 is much better. Looking forward to kicking off the year by meeting up next week! And an early Happy Birthday to your husband.
That is so nice of you to have given them the bags 🙂 They looked really happy. We just stayed put @ the house and had the first time Christmas just by ourselves!! Happy new year.
What gorgeous nieces! That spinach cheese fondue looks incredible.
We had a nice, laid back Christmas with my mother and brother. And we all ate way too much!
Happy New Year!
@Khushboo – thanks girl… between my dessert skills and Rhea's cooking skills, the family is all set. 🙂 New Years will be low key this year, but I can't wait to read about your escapades. 🙂
@Dixya – thanks so much for your kind words.. I think my brother-in-law was with us too. 🙂 Yeah, the kids were super excited about their fakes.
@Bianca – the spinach cheese fondue was AWESOME! The chocolates were so amazing too.
@Ameena – thank you.. on behalf of my nieces, thank you. Looking forward to meeting this week. 🙂
@eatgood4life – yeah the kids were really happy with their bags… sounds like you had a nice Christmas too.
@Christina – thank you.. spinach cheese fondue was so good.. probably the best thing of the night. On behalf of the girls, thank you for the sweet compliment.
Dear Nisha,
The food looks absolutely mouthwatering…. can you post recipes for the wonderful looking fondue and the other dishes loaded with veggies… The pics show you had a great Christmas…
@vandana – the spinach fondue recipe is my brothers, and he won't give it to me. 🙂 I have a guacamole recipe in my blog that you can search for. In addition, I have an eggplant parm recipe on my blog as well… Baked.