New Year's Day Celebrations

We had my sister in law and brother in law over for lunch yesterday and a late Christmas gift exchange. I made a couple of great recipes out of my new cook books.

The first recipe is from Nava Atlas' Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons. This is a Brazilian Black Bean Stew.I served it over brown basmati rice. The rice was made with a mixture of tomato juice and water which made for an interesting flavour. This was the first time I made rice without my rice maker and it turned out great.

I served the brazilian black bean stew with Mediterranian Salad Stuffed Bread from Nava Atlas' Vegetarian Family Cookbook.. This recipe was an interesting mix of lettuce, tomatoes, olives, sun dried tomatoes mixed with olive oil and lemon juice. You were supposed to make this bread ahead of time to let the flavour soak into the breat. This made for bread that was a bit mushy. Next time I might heat the whole thing up in the oven and avoid soaking the bread. I didn't mind it but my hubby found it too mushy.

For dessert I whipped up apple blossoms made with puff pastry. The great thing about puff pastry is that it makes everything taste like it comes from an expensive bakery. I used up the apples I had in the fridge. Since I was out of white sugar I mixed the apples with brown sugar. It turned out fine, even though I think white sugar is better.

What did I get for Christmas from my sister in law you ask? I got this wickedly cool cupcake carrier and a cupcake tin to make mini-cupcakes! I'm excited.