Merry Christmas from Ally's Kitchen to Yours!

Whether you celebrate this wonderful holiday or not, I hope that you are having a day filled with love and laughs. It's a holiday, so eat, drink and be merry!

This Christmas was not all about the kitchen. I did ask for a few non-kitchen items since a girl cannot live without some of those things that she won't always buy for herself.

One kitchen related item that am super excited about Santa bringing me is my new blender. I have been wanting this one for a while. I use my blender for lots of things like making soups, gravies and purees, so I need a heavy duty blender with a glass carafe. My current blender is still in good shape, but the plastic carafe has a huge crack. Need to replace that and put the one on the bar for those fun mixed drinks that you can't get enough of come summer time. So far, the blender looks great on my counter, but I haven't put it to work. I'll let you know what I think after I kick the tires, so to speak.

And, of course, I was blessed with some new editions to my cookbook obsession collection.

I plan on working through both of these great books in the coming month or two, so check back for updates on the recipes that I make and what I think about them.

I was particularly excited about The Pioneer Woman Cooks because it was autographed. I've been watching Ree's book tour schedule to see if she was coming to my area, but no such luck. So, when I put on my Christmas wish list that she was having a book signing near my parent's house, I didn't think much of it. But, to my surprise, my parents went and met her. They said she was super nice and told great stories. Here's Ree signing my book. Too bad, I didn't know that my Mom was going or I would have sent her with a few questions. Oh well, I guess that would have ruined the surprise after all.

Christmas dinner chez moi is a small affair. Just me and my guys - exactly how I like it! We're having Beef Wellington (Gordon Ramsay's recipe), oven roasted fingerling potatoes (my recipe) and Roasted Tomatoes (Barefoot Contessa's recipe). For dessert, it's Apple Crisp (my Grandmother's Pennsylvania Dutch recipe) served warm with fresh whipped cream.

I'm off to start cooking. Merry Christmas from Ally's Kitchen to Yours!