hi blog viewers!!

last night 6 of my friends (jesse, sienna, asher, laura, jasmine, kal) & i met at jesse's house for our lovely vegan family christmas dinner. it was so nice to see everyone and spend time together before the end of the year, as well as to share food and music.

here is how YOU can host your very own skramzmas dinner!

to cater for the night, i cooked a main course of roasted butternut pumpkin, which was filled with stuffing made from mushrooms, lentils, cranberries, nutmeg, and more.

for dessert, i tried my hand at making a vegan tiramisu. although i misjudged the size of container a little bit, i was surprised by how well this turned out! i will definitely make this again soon.

and, to keep a promise i made at the last spit show, i also brought everyone some of my cookies. this batch that i baked might have been my best so far...

in the afternoon we sat outside, making the most of the daylight before eating. while everyone else sat by or swam in jesse's pool, sienna, kal and i decided to move the christmas tree onto the dinner table (MUCH easier said than done). after a few minor setbacks, we started adding some final touches to the room.

we were lighting candles, setting the table, and getting all of the food ready to serve. sienna arranged some vegan cheese & sriracha to look like little snowmen, with peppercorn buttons & eyes. we also made up a last-minute punch, made from tropical juice, ginger beer, and sprite, with pieces of mango and a strawberry.

with all of our decorating completed, the results spoke for themselves...

to complete the room's ambience, we played some quiet music, closed the curtains and dimmed the lights, and finally invited everyone upstairs to eat.

after we finished our skramzmas dinner, we went into the kitchen to decorate gingerbread that jasmine had baked, complete with a turmeric and mango frosting that asher happily contributed.

once the sun had set, we spent more time playing music, swimming in the pool, and looking at wasp nests in jesse's board game collection. although the evening would eventually end up as early morning, our skramzmas dinner didn't ever feel rushed or overplanned. yay!