Casual Christmas Touches

Merry Christmas

Welcome to my home, I’m so glad you are here. My name is Julie and this is my kitchen. If you are like me then you spend more time in your kitchen than anywhere else in your house. There is nothing wrong with that, but, during the holidays while the rest of the house is all decked out and festive, we are stuck in the kitchen and away from all that excitement. So I decided to take a page from Nigella Lawson and I started decking out my kitchen with ‘Casual Christmas Touches’ here and there. Seeing all this puts me in a festive mood instantly and makes whatever I am doing in the kitchen, that much more enjoyable.

Julie at the Breakfast Bar

I am not here to tell you what a great decorator that I am, because I’m not. My style is a mix of most everything because I have many interests. What I am here to do is to just point out that it is nice to add a bit of Christmas in every room in your house. I mean, most of us don’t have time to sit in the living room staring at a Christmas tree. Although it would be nice if we did.

So here is what I have done to add some Christmas in my kitchen.

Lychee Cocktail, Anyone?

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I usually have several Christmas trees in and around the kitchen that I change up from year to year. This particular year I just wanted something cute and vintage. Glass ornaments of a Viewmaster Reel and a Camper Trailer on an old paper/feather tree.

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A Thrift Store print that I purchased for $5.00 that I tucked on the side of my kitchen cabinets with our wedding crystal hanging in front of it from a glass rack.

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Christmas in my Kitchen

Lots of Casual Christmas Bowls with Fruits Line my Breakfast Bar

Gordon may be the chef of the family but this kitchen is MINE! Gordon is the one that makes all those messes that I have to clean up. I’m also not a bad cook myself and I do plenty of cooking for this family. It is because I am in this kitchen so much that I wanted to make it as festive as possible. Anything to make washing dishes more exciting.

Actually I happen to like washing dishes.

I find it very therapeutic to put your hands into warm soapy water and hand wash lovely things.

I love getting out any Christmas plate, platter, cup, mug, bowl, etc. that I can find in my house. Eating something as simple as a peanut butter sandwich on a Christmas plate to me, just makes it taste just a little bit better.

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My sea coral candelabra that I get to stare at while washing dishes.

Same Tree, Different Angles

A little bit of beach. Dried star fish with shell leis from Hawaii draped as garland.

My Sugar Free Candy Canes in my Santa Mug

My feather tree in the background.

I’ve got 4 trees in my kitchen. Each one different.

Pretty Christmas bowls of Fruit

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Greek Coffee Anyone?

How About an Italian Pasta Tree w/ Bread and an Espresso?

(In order to place the pasta on the tree Gordon drilled small holes into it so the hooks could go through.)

And here we have the ghosts from The Haunted Mansion ride at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

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My Kitchen Nook

All of this just says Christmas to me.

Christmas in the Kitchen,

Julie

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Our Brussel Sprouts Christmas Tree

What?

You mean, you DON’T have a brussel sprouts tree in your kitchen? Or as I fondly refer to it as my “BS tree”.

Really?

Huh.

I couldn’t decide which vase to put it in but settled with the one on the right. The one on the left looked kind of Dr. Seussish.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Guess what we are having for dinner tonight? Roasted veggies featuring Brussel sprouts!

p.s. Hey, if this thing weren’t in water I would be stringing lights all over it right now.

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Merry Christmas!

Julie

An OId Florida Purse Hanging Around the Nook

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Out Through the Back Screened Door into our Backyard….

That opens up to our beautiful retaining wall, housing our Pink Poinsettia’s and Green Foxtail Ferns.

So Pretty to Look At……

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Christmas 2019

This was a very Casual Christmas which is why I wanted it down here on this post. 🙂

Julie with Spooky Lou and Sparky

Gordon in the Kitchen…….

…..here with Veronica and Brodie

Our very simple and casual but DELICIOUS Christmas Dinner of Bone In Pork Roast, Mashed Potato’s with Carrots, and Roasted Brussel Sprouts.

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Our Mojo Bone-in Pork Roast

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This year Gordon Grilled the Bone In Pork Roast out on our Lanai while I kept it casual by wearing my pajamas all day long. 🙂

Here Gordon is with Veronica, Brian and Brodie, along with little Spooky Lou.

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THE RECIPE!

Mojo Marinated bone-in Pork Roast

Start by marinating the pork roast using a zip lock styled bag. The bones are sharp, so be careful when placing it in the bag. It is best to get the help from someone as done here. This way, you don’t get the bag contaminated with raw pork blood.

Here, I placed the bagged pork roasts in a large bowl, just in case they spring a leak, the liquid won’t run all over your refrigerator.

Pour the Mojo marinade into the bag as shown. If you don’t have enough to cover each roast, during the marinating process, turn the meat over, so the liquid will cover the portion not marinated.

Marinate the meat up to two days ahead of cooking. The fruit juice acids in the marinade started to cook the pork as shown by the white color of the meat.

Place the marinated roasts on your roasting rack and place the marinade in the pan below them.

Season the roasts well with your favorite seasonings… here I am using some steak and chicken seasonings. The bold flavors of these will compliment the pork well. Sprinkle, then pat the seasoning onto the meat.

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On The Grill

Use indirect heat under the roasting pan, then direct heat on the side of the pork. Basically, I have four burners and I turned the two outside burners on and left the inside ones off.

My left burner holds my wood chip smoker as you can see in the picture below. Cook the roast until the internal temperature of the meat hits 145’F. This could take an hour or more, depending upon the temperature of your grill. Be careful that the liquid in the bottom of the pan will keep that meat at a cooler temperature. Check the temperature of this by using a digital meat thermometer. Once the center of the roast reaches 145’F, remove pork from the grill and let it rest for up to 30 min. Doing this will let the juices flow back into the center of the meat, making your roast very juicy.