Trying to get caught up on all my pictures… here is the Christmas spread from Miami (Bobby and I spent it with his family and family friends in Miami). On Christmas afternoon (around 1?) we headed over to their family friends’ house – it’s a gorgeous house in Coconut Grove. I think that if I could have any house in the world it would be that one!
This guy decided to watch us out the door (I still think lizards are cool – I did not grow up with them everywhere):
Bobby’s mom (she’s an amazing cook) made a “chirashi”. Chirashi literally means “scattering” or “leaflets”. It’s a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of sushi rice with various toppings scattered on top. I think Mom uses a slightly sweet rice (I could be wrong!) with some vinegar and sugar (maybe? sorry for the ambiguity!).
In the US we usually think of chirashi as rice with raw fish on top, but there are actually many more types. The raw fish type is scattered with Edomae chirashizushi (the raw topping). Toppings are always left up to the chef. This time Mom put shrimp and some veggies on top (lotus root, scallions, carrots, seaweed, and sliced fried egg).
She also made handmade mochi filled with red bean paste. These are made with sweet rice flour… I didn’t get a chance to help out but I definitely want to learn how to make these. These were wrapped individually with saran wrap.
Once we got to the beautiful house, we helped set the table with all the goodies…
There were mashed potatoes, green beans, turkey, Caesar salad (I think Mom brought this too), stuffing with chestnuts, cranberry sauce, wrapped up olives (always forget what these are called), gravy, and probably a bunch of other things that I’m forgetting!
This was my first plate. I honestly don’t remember how many more I had… I definitely ate too much 🙂 It had Caesar salad, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts (these were AWESOME – I will definitely try to recreate), beans, turkey, and gravy.
There was also a table of snacks (crackers, cookies, grapes, cheese, etc…) that I forgot to snap a picture of. And then there was dessert…
Handmade marshmallows (!). Topped with powdered sugar.
Cupcakes!
Panettone straight from Italy. A family member lives in Italy for work, and they were here for Christmas.
It reminded me of our trip to Italy (back in 2008 – exactly 2 years ago now).
- Cibo in Italia (food in Italy)
- Ratatouille in Italia
- Italia – giorno quattro
- Italia – giorno tre
- Italia – giorno due
- Tea alla pesca (peach tea)
- Italia – giorno uno
Back to now… it was a really wonderful day, and I’m so glad that Bobby and I were able to spend it with his family and the very accommodating and kind family friends.
One of my resolutions this year was to travel more – and I definitely want to fulfill it.
Where do you want to travel this year?
P.S. Coming up – IntenSati (Sati Life) review, eating out in New York yums, and more!
Oh all of the pics are beautiful! The chirashi looks delicious, I love all of the colors and the thinly sliced egg. I’ve never had anything like that!
haha don’t worry, I think it’s some sort of Thanksgiving/Christmas law that you need to have 3+ plates of food! I’m guilty of this myself – but it’s only 2/365 days, right!? If we ate EVERY day like that, then there’d be a problem! 😉
This year I’d love to travel more to see my friends/family. I definitely missed a lot of them this past year b/c money’s been tighter (both for us and for them). Also, it’s the middle of a Chicago winter so my mind always fantasizes about a wonderful tropical vacation, cruise, or beach resort! I can’t help it! 😛
I want to travel somewhere WARM! Everything looks so good, especially the mochi, yum.
Mmmm I love mochi! It must be nice to have homemade Japanese cooking! Japanese is my favorrrrrite food style.
it all looks delicious. home made marshmallows…danger danger. I would be not behaving myself aournd those!
xo
I would like to travel to NYC. 🙂
Please share Brussels sprouts recipe after you re-create it. 🙂
haha I get excited for the panetone that they sell at Whole Foods… so I can only imagine how yummy the real stuff from Italy is! fooodgasm. giada style. 🙂
Wow that chirashi and mochi look gorgeous! I’m headed to Miami in a couple weeks and look forward to trying that sushi buffet you mentioned in your previous post:)
Love all the gorgeous food – that shrimp – amazing!!
I never even heard of Panettone until I married my Italian husband – love it!
All the food looks fantastic!
I’d love to travel to Italy, Spain, but anywhere will do! I’m trying to fit more quick trips in my schedule this year. Try to catch up with friends out of state and try some new things in the process.
Your sense of taste is very good! The rice in chirashi sushi is usually mixed with sugar and vinegar, like in other kinds of sushi. 😀