Work, Pie, and Christmas

My absence of late is due in part to some (exciting) changes at work, but also mostly due to my laziness. Christmas is SWIFTLY approaching, and I feel like I was just writing about October flying by. I have put off almost all of my Christmas shopping for next week since we will be off of work. This means that I've been basically ignoring the oncoming holiday except for a few twinkly lights in our window and a mini tree from Trader Joe's (it's small, but pretty cute).

My new position at work has been exciting, challenging, mildly stressful, and also combined with my old position (until after the winter break). This all means that I am SO excited to get into the holiday spirit next week and start baking (more), buying gifts, making gifts, wrapping gifts, and oh yeah - sleeping in.

I did however, bake a bit over the weekend. As I type I'm eating some leftover (heart shaped) blueberry pie with a glass of wine. This particular blueberry pie is SUGAR FREE, but don't cringe - it still tastes like pie. Damn good pie. Zack has been avoiding sugar as of late, which has been a good excuse for me to get back into adventurous baking and cooking. These blueberry pies were made with a tasty sour cream/butter crust from America's Test Kitchen cookbook. The filling? Super easy to make a fruit pie sugar free . . . organic frozen blueberries (bought in bulk from BJ's . . .), a tablespoon of flour, splash of orange juice, cinnamon, tablespoon of maple syrup. Yum.

Note: We aren't going to discuss the "sugar" cookies I made. Some things are better left unsaid . . . and untasted. What was apparently an ironic request I took as a challenge and the result was gross and doughy.

 The neither gross nor doughy but actually delicious pie crust

 Baked

Not quite baked

Yeah, he's pretty handsome. 

What's better than pie?

An Unlikely Pair: Crimson Pomegranates and Green Olives

The pomegranate is a messy, gorgeous, tasty, tart, and awkward old fruit. It is an interesting fruit to cook with - good on salads, in sauces, in desserts, in sangria . . . versatile! Pomegranates have a relatively short season that falls around the holidays. You always start to see them at the grocery store before Thanksgiving in that big, four foot high box in the produce section.

I might be a strange one, but I like to eat pomegranates fresh. Cut them open and get nice and messy with all the crunchy seeds and crimson colored juice that gets everywhere (all over me, all over the table, possibly on the walls from an errant seed . . .) Pomegranates can be rather tart. Although when they are ripe they look a little uglier on the outside and begin to lose some of the vibrant color (of the skin). The unique sour/sweet taste is a combination of raspberries, lemons, and sour grape.

Burnt orange and yellow leaves, brisk air, Christmas decorations (already??) and pomegranate seeds are making this November feel a whole lot like the holidays.

Olives, another one of my favorite foods (up there with avocados!) make their debut here tonight. These particular olives may not complement the pomegranate directly, but serve as a fabulous addition to a delicious meal and a gorgeous mate for a food photo shoot.

This is how a pomegranate should look when it's ripe and freshly cut

I wouldn't recommend the flavor of green olives and pomegranate however . . . This unlikely pair provides the most delightful Christmas colors. Vivid greens and reds without cranberries or pine bows, who knew it was possible?

In addition - these bright green olives (with pits!) have the most fantastic olive flavor. So juicy and so pretty.

The murder scene.

This became a delicious addition to my seasonal Sangria: Pomegranate seeds, pears, and plums, with cranberry-apple sparkling cider and dry Portuguese red. Yum. 

The end product? Olives with aged goat cheese and whole grain crackers, and pomegranate sangria. A perfect and light fall meal.