Christmasgram #7.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I can't believe it's December 25th. And that 2014 is just around the corner. 

To be honest, this last month has been one of the most difficult I've experienced in a long time. You may have noticed the lack of posts; new recipes have been few and far between lately. But despite the craziness, I'm beyond lucky and blessed with the most generous and supportive family anyone could ask for. I have just the very best husband (of four months, yesterday!), a warm and beautiful apartment, and the means to provide for our future together. The road to that future has been a bit bumpy lately, filled with unexpected turns and detours, but I'm finding my way through it, with the help of my favorite people by my side. 

This is the first time that we haven't been with our families at Christmas. We miss you all so much, more than we can say. But we've had a lovely day together, just the two of us, as our own little family. The apartment building is quiet today, and it's been cozy and calm to snuggle at home and cook all day. 

Here's just a bit of what we've enjoyed over this first Christmas as a married couple...lots of photos (thanks to a beautiful brand new camera!!!), plenty of coffee, constant Christmas music, and delicious food. 

We hope everyone enjoyed some time with their family and friends and was able to share in a meal, a drink, or a phone call together. That's what today is really all about - coming together in any way, shape, or form.

A very Merry Christmas, from our family to yours.

In the kitchen: salted butter chocolate chip cookies.

The other night, my husband called me a bad wife.

This came about when we both decided we wanted chocolate chip cookies for dessert, but didn't have any in the house. He reminded me that I used to make so many cookies and that now I don't make any, and that fact alone qualified me as a "bad wife."

Never mind that I had been at the office all day, or that we didn't actually have any chocolate on hand at the time of his request, or that he, too, could have gone out earlier to get the ingredients to make them. Apparently, I have been slacking. Right.

Despite that lovely comment, I braved the elements and trudged to the store (ignore the fact that we actually have two grocery stores within a two minute walk from our apartment...I'm going for drama here), and came back ready to bake.

I've linked to this recipe before, but below is the version I made last night; there's a bit less flour, so they're slightly less chewy and definitely more buttery. I think the best thing about these is the salt. Using flaky sea salt is the key to making these cookies so delicious. And if you sneak a spoon-full of batter to taste before baking, I won't tell...oh, and I did redeem my bad wifely qualities with these. Especially because I have extra dough in the freezer. 

Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, via David Lebovitz. 
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1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces. 
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 C. flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300. Adjust the oven rack to the top third of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Beat the sugars and eggs together until smooth, about 2 minutes in a stand mixer. Add in egg, vanilla, and baking soda. 

Stir together the flour and salt, then add them to the batter. Add chocolate chips and mix until incorporated. 

Scoop the dough into 10** balls (I use a rounded tablespoon of dough for each cookie). Space them at least 2 inches apart on the baking sheet, they do spread out a bit. 

Bake for 17 minutes, until pale brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. 

**The recipe makes enough for about 20 cookies, but since there are only two of us, I'll usually just make half and freeze the rest of the dough. And when the rest of the day has looked like this, having that batch of dough ready to be sliced and baked makes the night that much cozier. 

In the kitchen: roast pork loin with bacon and Comté cheese.

I've said it before, and I'll say it plenty more times: I have a fantastic husband. Not only is he extremely dedicated to his work and research, he's also a fantastic cook (I like him for other reasons, too, but for now, these praises suffice). This Sunday, after a long day of research, grading, and writing, he whipped up this for dinner.

Yes, that is pig, on pig (on pig). The kitchen smelled amazing as I walked into our apartment after spending Sunday at work. Andrew put his own spin on it by cooking the pork in the sous vide (see here for more), which ensured it wouldn't dry out, but the recipe below just requires regular roasting. As there are only two of us, this recipe left plenty (read, PLENTY) of leftovers, but I think it'd be great for a family get-together, too; maybe a pre-Thanksgiving dinner party?

Roast Pork Loin with Bacon and Comté Cheese, adapted from Stephane Reynaud's Rotis.** 

-------------------------

2 lb, 12 oz. pork loin

4 tablespoons olive oil

6 sweet onions, peeled and sliced into rings

6 slices of bacon; cook until crisp and set aside. 

7 oz. Comté (or Gruyere) cheese, sliced

4 green onions, finely chopped. 

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a non-stick frying pan until lightly golden. 

Heat remaining olive oil in a roasting pan. Add the pork and brown on all sides over high heat. Once all sides are browned, roast pork in the oven for 1 hour, 20 minutes, basting it with its juices. 

Remove roast from the oven, let rest for about 5 minutes. Make 6 cuts about 2/3rds of the way through the roast; in each, place some fried onions, a slice of bacon, and a slice of cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then return to the oven for another 10 minutes to melt the cheese. Sprinkle with green onions. 

**This book is fantastic. Roasts are really easy (and generally quite hands off), but for some reason I find lot of people are intimidated by them. Rotis is the perfect cookbook to help you break out of that. And besides, who wouldn't want to make their home smell like a French kitchen? 

The best day.

Over two months have passed since our wedding day and I'm still over the moon. So many people I've talked to have said their wedding day was the best day of their lives. I've had many "best days" in my life, but none really do compare to our wedding weekend; those days were truly the most wonderful, happy, and love-filled days I can remember. Everything all flew by so quickly, despite the months of planning that lead up to it, and that's why I'm so, so grateful to our amazing photographer. Sarah Blesener's photos allow me to relive our day over and over again. She captured what I want to always remember as well as those little moments that I didn't even know were happening around us. It's impossible to pick favorites, but here are a few that I love...

We had an absolutely incredible time at our wedding, and Sarah's photos remind me of just how lucky we were to be surrounded by our friends and family on our favorite day. We can't thank you enough!