Xmas Wrap-Up

Hope y'all had a happy holiday. I certainly did! On Friday night, my boyfriend Paul and I went to Jonesboro, Arkansas to spend Xmas Eve with my family. We went out for Chinese buffet at a place called Hibachi. They actually had a ton of veg options, like spring rolls, fried rice without egg, kimchee, seaweed salad, and miso soup! Then we headed home to open presents. My first gift was this super-duper, crazy-awesome Electra Ladies Cruiser bike in mint green. I named it Falcor because, like the flying luckdragon in The Neverending Story, this bike will take me magical places:

Datsun also enjoyed opening gifts from his grandma and grandpa. This package contained his favorite brand of bouncy ball:

After my family present time was over, my BFF Sheridan (who was also in town for the holidays) came over to exchange gifts with me. We sipped spiked Silk Nog and ripped open our matching gifts. We made a pact to buy each other Isa's new low-fat vegan cookbook — Appetite for Reduction!

I also scored some bad-ass cookbooks from my parents — Color Me Vegan, Party Vegan, Viva Vegan, Skinny Bitch: The Ultimate Everyday Cookbook, the Vegan Rustic Cookbook, and Dr. Neal Bernard's Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook.

On Xmas morning, we drove to my Granny's house for a big ole Xmas Breakfast. Although Granny makes traditional breakfast foods (eggs, ham, non-vegan biscuits, etc.), my mom always prepares a special vegan breakfast for me — Tofu Scramble, Vegan Biscuits, Gimme Lean Sausage, and White Gravy:

After breakfast, Paul and I hopped in the car for the 4-hour drive to Nashville, where his family was having Xmas dinner. I prepared this Vegan Holiday Ham from Caribbean Vegan the day before and took it on my journey. My seitan-based ham wasn't nearly as pretty as Taymer's, but still tasty:

Paul's mom made mostly meat-based food. There was even bacon in the green beans! But she did save me some plain white taters before mashing the rest with milk and butter (I seasoned mine with soy sauce). And she left the butter out of the green peas just for me. Also, the crescent rolls were accidentally vegan! Here's my plate with veggies, bread, and the sliced holiday ham:

After dinner, Paul's sister's cat Kira helped clean the plates when no one else was looking (okay, except for me):