The winter holidays came and went faster then I would have liked this year. We were late putting up the tree and started a new home project just after the holiday so my fun and enjoyment of the Christmas decorations were short lived. Nevertheless, MH and I had a great holiday season with family and friends and I was glad to be able to spend some time in the kitchen to do some baking.
MH and my Christmas breakfast cinnamon roll tradition was altered slightly by a lovely invitation to a Christmas morning brunch and a new recipe. Since MH's parent's decided to not visit for the holiday, MH's sister had us over for brunch and we enjoyed our cinnamon roll tradition together.
I typically bake a modified version of my Mom's cinnamon roll recipe, but after coming across Lauren's Latest blog and her Cinnabon cinnamon rolls I couldn't resist giving them a try. I think this is going to be my new go to cinnamon roll recipe. They taste pretty darn close to the real deal!
On Christmas Eve we enjoyed a traditional prime rib dinner, and MH and I made roasted garlic butter roasted mushrooms, roasted cauliflower and carrots, and a sour cream apple pie.
The pie was featured in Martha Stewart Living and I don't think I would recommend the recipe. Although the crumble and crust were delicious, the pie in whole missed the mark. There was something about the sour cream apple filling that just didn't seem right.
Since we enjoyed all of the traditional dishes on Christmas Eve, we decided to have a non-traditional Christmas dinner and cooked up a delicious homemade mexican spread.
We made beef tamales, chili colorado, garlic grilled chicken, carnitas, al pastor, spanish rice, black beans, roasted corn salad, vegetable lime salad, guacamole, salsa, and a pitcher of horchata. To compliment the meal, we also bought some corn and flour tortillas, chips, and Jarritos sodas from the neighborhood Mexican market.
To finish the meal I made the an Impossible Cake otherwise known as chocoflan. Making this cake is a serious science experiment. When you prepare the cake and slide it into the oven, the cake sits at the bottom of the pan with the layer of flan floating on top, and when you pull it out the layers are reversed!
The cake turned out well and I was pleasantly surprised how nicely flan and chocolate cake paired together. I hope you had a wonderful holiday filled with delicious treats too!
