A Very AIP Christmas (and New Year)

The first morning I was home, I had a simple breakfast of bacon and kale:

I realized there was no fat for me to eat, other than coconut oil, so I made a whole pound of bacon for that fat, and I took my first stab at making lard.

The verdict is........ well, it took me two hours to chop all that up, and even then it probably wasn't as small as it should be. The food processor looked like it was going to explode when I tried that, so I had to do it by hand. I probably ended up with about 3 c. of lard, much less than I was expecting. Sure, it tasted good and I was able to not burn any of it. But until I get a meat grinder or something, I don't think my frozen pork fat is going anywhere. 

For Christmas Eve dinner with family friends, I made three recipes. The first as a simple pot roast, the second was a parsnip and white and yellow carrot mash (a big hit with many non-paleo folk, also included lard and broth), and the third was a new liver pate recipe: blueberry balsamic liver pate, except I used half chicken and half duck liver. I doubled it, and was left with almost twice as much blueberry topping as I wanted but I thought it turned out really well. The two other liver-lovers at dinner weren't thrilled with it. I think they prefer it more savory. But for me, as much as I love savory liver pate when it's fresh and warm, I really don't like it cold as leftovers the next day. But this recipe I'm enjoying eating days later and luckily I have a lot leftover.

For Christmas Day...

One little boy was very happy to have his own stocking

We started with an apple and fennel soup

The main course consisted of...

A beet and orange salad (I had to use regular oranges)

 Cauliflower and leek stuffing (so good, it felt just like grits)

Roasted brussel sprouts in bacon fat

 And a fresh ham (from my pig share) with apple sauce

I followed TPM's recipe, with some snafus in cooking times (I think I tried to stuff too much in the pan) plus I stuck in a lot of whole cloves

The night finished with another round of this pumpkin pie, this time with a little less gelatin. It turned out much better than last time and is shaping up to be a go-to recipe. 

As for New Year's Eve, I put some GT's kombucha in my champagne glass and snacked on caviar-topped cucumbers and then polished it off with some more pumpkin pie. It was later than some of us had stayed up in a while...

We (I) added another four-legged addition to our family. This is my first experience with a shepherd and he's shaping up to be a doozy :) 

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I remained completely nut-free, which greatly helped with the holiday food hangover. As my mom raises chickens (and they eat organic soy-free feed at my urging), however, I did eat a lot of eggs and since raw milk is legal in NY, I also ate a lot of dairy. It took a few days to build up in my system, but now dealing with it back in class (and with finals), I regret it. Here's to a strict AIP Christmas!

GT's 'booch in my wine glass

A bacon-less and rosemary-full version (because I was lazy) of these biscuits

My signature side dish: roasted butternut squash, Brussel sprouts, apples, and bacon

The carved bird (my mom and I each roasted one and I stuffed mine with onions, lemon, and thyme)

I altered this recipe so much it's probably not even worth linking back to it, but this was my stuffing (I should've let it boil off a bit longer)

I also made this gravy BUT, in an unfortunate turn of events, I knew my mother had left out a mug full of melted pork fat (from some pulled pork she'd made), so while making this stuffing, I grabbed a mug half-full with translucent, light brown liquid inside and cooked my onions in it. Turns out it was green tea. The end result was still tasty, though. I also used anchovy paste instead of fish sauce and left out the tomato paste (because even if this was not an AIP-friendly weekend, nightshades are still a no-no). 

I also made my now infamous pumpkin marrow garlic soup... except I forgot the garlic. I basically have been making it every time I make broth with new marrow bones, so I'll post a recipe-type thing next time. 

Now this.... this beauty is this recipe, without the frosting. I am forever grateful to Mickey for coming up with this recipe. A pumpkin dessert that doesn't require eggs (because it's easy enough to leave off nut-crusts and use coconut milk)? I'm sold! I have several pieces in my freezer waiting for me to finish my exams and will probably make this for Christmas again. Now, I may have accidentally spilled some extra gelatin into the filling, and my brothers may have taunted me by seeing what they could stack on top of this pie without it sinking in or losing its form, but they can laugh! I'll go on to feel fabulous after eating this. 

For Christmas, I'll probably stick to things from this AIP recipe roundup. 

Happy holiday season!