Christmas Day Menu!

Again, I'm a month late with this post... but so what!  The food within will be delicious any  month of the year!

My mom, sister and I all loooooooove to cook.  And we as a family (including our men) looooove to eat!  So we planned and planned, and came up with the perfect christmas menu!  Every effort was made to accomodate our added dietary restraints this year, no wheat for me, and no salt for dad.  In the spirit of Christmas Dad and I both made a few exceptions... and all in all it was a fantastic menu!

Breakfast

• Crockpot overnight oatmeal - ammaaaaaazing!!  We tweaked the recipe slightly, using cranberries and raisins instead of the other dried fruits, and added maple syrup, walnuts, bananas and milk as mix-ins upon serving. Also, I ate this for like a week, it makes a ton of oatmeal.
• Sausage and Egg Quiche - mom made her own no salt sausage!

Snacks

•  Variety of cheeses and crackers

Starters

• Ad-libbed white bean, sausage, and kale soup.  My sister is so good at this!
• Arugula, fennel, and nut salad - Mmmm... another great find by sissy

Dinner

• Filet Mignon
• Mahi-Mahi
• Braised Celery - tasted surprisingly like stuffing
• Mashed root vegetables (sweet potato, potato, and turnip)
• Peppercorn gravy

Dessert

• Chocolate Chip Bourbon Pecan Pie - Really easy!!  (but I wasn't very happy with my first attempt at pecan pie... it was totally ruined by the gluten free store-bought crust, making my own next time!
• Variety of cookies!  (went to a cookie exchange party!)

Yaaaay Christmas tree!!

Kale Fail

I've been hearing a lot lately about kale chips.  Everyone says they're awesome and that they're just like potato chips... so I couldn't wait to try them.  A crunchy, delicious way to eat kale?  I was doubtful, but figured it was certainly worth a shot.  Kale is one of those foods that I want to like, I just can't seem to get there.  Smitten Kitchen feels the same way!

Unfortunately, my kale chips are super gross.   They did nothing for me except make my house smell like broccoli while they baked.  And then they still tasted like kale... with a slightly "burning" undertone.  Did I do something wrong?  Do any of you out there like kale and recommend a way of eating it?