Me with massive food and wine haul from Italy

I have a really bad habit of disappearing without saying where I’m going. With my last post being a recipe for roasted root vegetable salad, it might have appeared that I overdosed on butternut squash and have spent the last few weeks in a food coma.

No, in fact, I’ve been travelling, both abroad and close to home. My sister came to visit over Thanksgiving, and since I won’t be home for Christmas, we had an early Christmas party here on the farm. Pumpkin pie, presents, even a real Christmas tree – we went the distance, and it ruled.

With this first Christmas party behind me (and a Thanksgiving party shortly thereafter), it all making this coming Christmas feel somewhat surreal (even more surreal than having a Christmas party before Thanksgiving). But it also feels insanely cool – TWO Christmases, which is great if you’re like me and love the holidays.

(Side question: does any foodie NOT like the holidays? I’m honestly curious!)

In addition to Christmas, we also went to Italy for 8 days (which was supposed to be 7, but we got snowed in on our last day – oh darn). The trip really deserves a post in it’s own right. For a food lover, this was perhaps one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. I’ll leave it at that for now and save the gushing for another post.

Anyway, I’ve returned, just in time for the holidays, and with a sudden urge to bake bake bake. Recipes to follow. It’s good to be back.