Christmas glitches...

and a delicious meal anyway!

I posted recently about my plan for Christmas dinner. While I was MOSTLY on track with the things I needed to get done in advance, a tiny glitch in the process {my oven broke on Christmas Eve in the middle of my cooking spree} threw things out of whack and some of my dishes had to be sacrificed in the end. :( Here is what I ended up making, and my thoughts on the finished products:

APPETIZERS:

• veggie tray
• black & white bean dip w/chips {it's been WAY too long since I made this tasty dip. I need to remember to make it again soon!}
• hummus w/pita {disappeared in the blink of an eye. multiple people at our get together hadn't even heard of hummus before, let alone tried it. But it was a huge hit!}

MAIN DISHES:

• lasagna
• mac & cheese  {I chose these as my two main dishes because I thought they were basic enough that my picky nieces and nephew would at least try them (and hopefully like them)! I was mostly correct. Almost everyone ate and loved both of these dishes. My oldest son most of all. He went on and on about how much he loved them and he devoured pretty much all the left overs single-handedly in the days following Christmas. I will say, I wasn't totally wild about the lasagna filling, but I think with one small change it will be better so I will probably try it again. The mac & cheese was AMAZING when it was fresh, but by the time everything else was finished cooking it was not nearly as creamy and dreamy. Still good, but not great. I WILL make it again for sure, and we'll eat it right away next time!}

SIDES:

• garlic mashed potatoes with gravy {a big hit with pretty much everyone. I'm not usually a fan of lumpy potatoes myself, but these weren't bad}
• brussel sprouts {I've never eaten them before and since my BIL asked for them I gave it a go. I've discovered I'm not a fan. But said BIL and others loved them}
• garlic mushrooms {HOLY GARLIC BATMAN were these mushrooms garlicky! Very, very good... but powerful!}
• cranberry sauce {delicious and SO super simple to make}

DESSERT:

• double chocolate cookies {I am not a huge fan of chocolate, but I chose these cookies in particular because I figured kids would love them. apparently I know nothing. and the world has flipped upside down because most of the kids DIDN'T like these, but I LOVED THEM! I probably ate far more than my fair share... and multiple kids fair shares as well! The feedback I received was that they were not sweet enough, but frankly I think thats why I liked them. Because I'm not a huge fan of candy or sweets in any form. They were definitely chocolatey, and plenty sweet if you ask me. Pretty easy too so I could definitely make these again if I needed cookies for some grown ups who don't mind a slightly less sweet treat.}
• raspberry bars {so this is what I had JUST put together and popped in the oven when it decided to die on me. :( Unfortunately, because it was 1am at the time I couldn't run them over to put them in my sister's oven. I decided to try and salvage the dish, because what did I have to lose at this point. I covered them and took them to my sister's house the next morning. they definitely didn't turn out right, then bottom was too soft and the top was too crumbly, and somehow they still disappeared. I didn't try any myself, but my dad (who asked for them specifically) said they still tasted good, even with the texture being a bit off.}

Sadly I wasn't able to make any of my pies, the peanut butter cookies, the sweet potatoes or the dinner rolls (but I plan to try them all at a later date). I didn't get to my sister's house the next day until 2pm (because she had another commitment in the morning, which is why we were doing everything at my house to begin with) and I was cooking non stop from 2 until we ate at around 6 or 7 I think. In fact I was SO busy cooking, even with my mothers help all afternoon, I never had a break and I managed to not take a single photo all day of anything! :( Not the food I slaved over, not the kids opening presents, nothing! :( I'm pretty bummed about it. But I suppose there's nothing that can be done now. That's just the way it goes.

The food was great though, 100% completely meat and dairy free! And everyone had a great time.

I'm looking forward to our next vegan holiday!