Christmas Breakfast

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/120 sec, ISO1250
“Xmas Breakfast” Cedar Park, 2020

Following another of our family traditions, we had bagels, cream cheese, salmon, pastrami, roast beef, homemade pesto, swiss cheese, and sliced onion for breakfast. And lately, we’ve also had Scotch Bonnet on the table for those who like to add a little heat (that would be me). When we meet with our extended family, we also have corned beef, but I skipped that this year. But one thing that made it very special for 2020 is that the bagels were homemade. Super yummy, with good ingredients.

The timing of the breakfast varies… sometimes happening before opening gifts, sometimes after, and many times both. This year it was before the gifts which is fine with me because that gives me more time to wake up and have coffee! I guess the older the kids have gotten, breakfast seems to come first as they have more self-control with their gifts and can wait a bit longer. 😊

For those celebrating, I hope you had a nice Christmas!

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO640
“The Tree” Cedar Park, 2020

Christmas Eve Dinner

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO1250
“Hawaiian Dinner” Cedar Park, 2020

Each year on Christmas Eve, we have a Hawaiian feast. It’s usually at my parents’ house in California, but this year we decided not to travel due to the pandemic, so we just had a smaller 4-person version here in Texas. Instead of the usual lau-lau, I made a char-siu-style chicken, and also our staple kalua pig. Kalua pig is really easy and simple to make following this recipe from Foodland, and it turned out perfect! Mariko also made poké and mac salad for a delicious, traditional (to us) Christmas Eve dinner. 😊🎄🍴

Chili Time

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO1600
“Chili Gohan” Cedar Park, 2020

The request from Mariko came in for me to make chili, and I was happy to oblige. 😊 The photo above shows Mariko’s bowl of “chili-gohan”, which is essentially chili over rice (gohan means rice in Japanese). From there, you can top it with whatever you choose.

Mariko and I both went with jalapeños, cilantro, Mexican sour cream, cheese, avocado, and a fried egg. I’m not sure what Bay and Koa had, but below you can see Koa’s bowl. His preferred method is to mix everything up. Not the prettiest, but to each his own!

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/35 sec, ISO3200
“Koa Style” Cedar Park, 2020