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Sunday, January 4, 2015

Holiday Recap

I have to warn you that this is a photo-heavy post. Over the holidays we did all the amazing things we said we were going to do and then some. It was as amazing as a staycation could get, and I kept wondering why we didn't do this every year. 

We hosted a Christmas dinner for a few close friends and their family. It was a stylish grown-up dinner party with uninterrupted conversations over tons of good food and wine. 



I highly recommend this Hungarian dessert wine Tokaji Aszu which pairs nicely with rich appetizers like foie gras. 

I tried decorating sugar cookies for the first time. It was really hard. 

It got easier during the second batch. The trick was to use a pair of tweezers for precise placement of sugar beads. 

Making candied orange peel has become a Christmas tradition at home. I used this recipe. 

Picked up a few bottles from Dollarama, dressed them up with red ribbons, tagged them, and they became the most popular party favours. 

We also hosted an afternoon tea party for Anthony's family. We used the Dulce de Leche Oolong and Lemon Meringue loose leaf tea from Tealish , and they were delicious! 

I invented this fig, apricot preserve and cream cheese over Wheat Thins finger food. It was very easy to make and tasted great. 

We have a dim-sum-and-skating new year's day tradition, so in the morning we headed to what I think the best dim sum restaurant in Toronto Lai Wah Heen for lunch. LWH is located on the second floor of the Metropolitan Hotel on Chestnut Street. 


Everything was good there and the food quality has been very consistent over the years. This was my favourite milk custard and fresh papaya pastry. 

After lunch, we joined the crowd at the Nathan Phillips Square skating rink. It was brrr...freezing cold! 



For the first time in a long time I also had the time to appreciate the City Hall buildings. 


Of course we also spent two days at Blue Mountain. So much fun! 


How were your holidays? Do share!