Cooking and week 2 of vacation

I spent Sunday cooking. I like taking leftovers from Christmas and making other yummy meals out of them.

I made turkey stew for lunch and salted caramel French toast for breakfast. I am pleased with how they turned out.

My first week of vacation is over. I have one more week to go. It goes by quickly, but I am enjoying the downtime.

Christmas

My Christmas was quiet, but nice. I spent three hours cooking. I spent the rest of the day relaxing.

I roasted a turkey. I love my convection oven. It does a great job crisping the skin and keeping the turkey juicy.

I made mashed potatoes with ghee. It was a first and it turned out nicely.

Stuffing is a must. I no longer stuff the turkey with it. Instead, I make it on the stovetop and it's so much easier. I live for stuffing.

I did something different and made salted caramel quick bread at the same time that the turkey was roasting. It turned out well for my first try. It was nice to have dessert.

I also roasted sweet potatoes. The key is to poke a ton of holes with a fork before they go into the oven, so the sweet potatoes don't explode.

I fed my parents. They seemed to enjoy the food. They took a nap afterwards.

Oddly, I couldn't nap. I slept well last night, though. I'm happy that they had a great meal.