Happy Monday friends! We are officially in my most favorite week of the year. This is my birthday week! It may sound funny to say that it’s a weeklong celebration, but when your birthday is a week before Christmas and you work in retail, it sometimes get lost in the shuffle, so I like to celebrate all week!
We got lots of snow at the end of last week, so we enjoyed a couple of snow days at home, nice and cozy! This sweatshirt is adorable, and these socks are so cozy!
Paul and I went to a holiday party with some friends on Saturday night.
And then last night, we got to watch our favorite football team win an exciting game and had our parents over to celebrate my birthday a few days early!
Here I am with a few of my favorite things- my parents and a coconut cream pie!
Trying to get the whole gang in one picture!
As I’ve shared here before, cooking is one of my most favorite things to do. So I was happy to make dinner for everyone. Sharing some of the details here, because it was a pretty simple meal that you can make ahead of time. It can easily feed a crowd, and there was some red and green in the presentation that looks kind of festive. If you are looking for a meal idea for the Christmas season, this would be a good one.
I made two proteins. I did pesto salmon and a chicken pesto Caprese. I loosely followed this recipe. I placed six chicken cutlets on a baking sheet, seasoned with salt and pepper, and added about 2 teaspoons of basil pesto to the chicken.
Then I topped the chicken with some thinly sliced tomato, and fresh mozzarella cheese. I assembled these all before everyone came over and kept in the refrigerator until I was ready to bake them. I baked them in a 400° oven for about 15 to 20 minutes. When they were done, I drizzled them with a little balsamic glaze and some fresh basil.
Next was the pesto salmon. To go with the salmon, I did this pesto tomato mixture. 2 pints of cherry tomatoes, tossed with 2 tablespoons of pesto, and half of a red onion, very thinly sliced. Again, this could be done ahead of time and just goes in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, also at 400 degrees, giving it a mix halfway through.
For a vegetable, I did roasted zucchini. I quartered the zucchini and tossed with some olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Roasted for 20 minutes in a 400° oven. When I took it out, I squeezed the juice of half a lemon over the top and grated a little bit of Parmesan cheese over the dish to finish it off.
I forgot to take a picture of the salmon before it went in the oven. Pretty simple to make- pat the salmon dry, sprinkle with salt pepper and then add about a tablespoon or so to each piece. The salmon bake in a 400° oven for about 15 minutes, depending the thickness of the salmon. Once it was done, I transferred it to a platter and added the tomato mixture & chopped basil to the top.
I think it’s a pretty presentation for the holidays!
Here is the chicken finished off with the balsamic glaze and basil.
I also made roasted garlic mashed potatoes.
Such a good Sunday dinner!
For dessert was my favorite coconut cream pie, and a birthday cake from one of my favorite old bakeries. My favorite cake combination is chocolate cake with white buttercream frosting.
Excited to celebrate another trip around the sun with this crew!
Wishing you a great week ahead! I’ll see you back here later in the week. There’s always room for one more in our family.
xoxo
Genevieve
Be First to Post Comment !
Post a Comment