Saturday, November 29, 2008 at 09:51 PM

Not Too Early

Dinner tonight is easily a new favorite of mine! It was totally my type of meal! Love that! :D

Dinner was a bed of Boston lettuce topped with oven-roasted veggies, marinated in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, rosemary, sea salt, and ground pepper. The veggies turned out so delicious! 

How To:

For the veggie marinade (serves 1), I combined:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp rosemary
  • 1 clove of garlic (minced) 
  • Pinch of salt and pepper 
After creating the marinade, I sliced a small zucchini, yellow squash, and carrot length-wise, and then placed them on a greased baking sheet. Next, I brushed the top side of the veggie pieces with the marinade, and cooked on 375*F for about 20-25 minutes. Once the veggie were roasted to perfection, I chopped them into smaller pieces before adding them to the prepared bed of lettuce. 

On the side, I had a toasted finger roll with melted Dubliner cheese. 

Dubliner cheese is one of my absolute favorite cheeses ever! And (lucky me) it was on sale this week at the grocery store! :)

Dubliner is a sweet mature cheese (aged over twelve months)… It has a robust tangy flavour; it pairs well with apples and grapes, or a well-balanced red wine. It combines the sharpness of mature cheddar, the nuttiness of Swiss, and piquant bite of Parmesan. 

An excellent meal! 

Holiday Cookies 

I thought it might be too early to bake holiday cookies– mostly because it’s not even December yet, but Mal was really excited about the idea (and I just love cookies!), so we allowed ourselves some early holiday cheer. 

I would have preferred to make Christmas cookies from scratch, but Mal really had his heart set on the Pillsbury Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough. He loves the stuff! He had to twist my arm, but eventually, I agreed! ;)  

We had so much fun making the cookies! We listened to John Denver & The Muppets Christmas music, sipped on eggnog, and took turns using the cookie cutters and decorating the cookies with sprinkles. 

They’re not the prettiest holiday cookies, but we had a blast making them… and, of course, eating them! :)

This particular snowman cookie cracked us up! His poor little face got squished! We also had a cyclops snowman!  

I’m so happy that the holidays are here! I love, love, love this time of year! I also love holiday cookies! :) I’ve eaten 3 already!

Good night, guys!

Posted by: Tina 23 comments

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23 Comments on “Not Too Early”

  1. #1 Julie Reply to this comment
    on Nov 29th, 2008 at 10:07 pm

    You and your hubby are too cute! You guys have so much fun together!

    That snowman without a face looks super chewy…my kinda cookie!

  2. #2 Betsy Reply to this comment
    on Nov 29th, 2008 at 10:10 pm

    omg…that is my FAVORITE christamas album EVER!!!! that has been a classic in my home since as long as i can remember.

  3. #3 Tina Reply to this comment
    on Nov 29th, 2008 at 10:13 pm

    Betsy,

    Mal’s tradition is playing it IMMEDIATELY after Thanksgiving dinner and non-stop until Xmas! :)

  4. #4 Megan Reply to this comment
    on Nov 29th, 2008 at 10:15 pm

    Love your cookies! Sounds like it was a fun time!

  5. #5 Foodie (Fab and Delicious Food) Reply to this comment
    on Nov 29th, 2008 at 10:41 pm

    Yay for holiday cookies! So much fun!

  6. #6 Julia (Santa Barbara Dreaming) Reply to this comment
    on Nov 29th, 2008 at 10:48 pm

    Cheese! and Cookies!
    oh stop taunting me!
    :)

  7. #7 Erica Reply to this comment
    on Nov 29th, 2008 at 11:03 pm

    Dinner looks fresh, healthy and great! Nice job. I love that you two made cookies together tonight- tooo cute! Love the decorating job- very nice :) I love the Christmas feeling!

  8. #8 Mara Reply to this comment
    on Nov 29th, 2008 at 11:08 pm

    Beautiful eats…cookies and a great dinner…great day!

  9. #9 Kelly Olexa Reply to this comment
    on Nov 29th, 2008 at 11:40 pm

    thanks for sharing the cheese, I have to try that one!! MMMM

  10. #10 Maggie Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 12:26 am

    Dubliner is my favorite too :)

    Sounds like you had fun baking!!

  11. #11 Katie Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 1:01 am

    What cute little cookies! My mom wouldn’t let me get started on the “holiday cheer” with Christmas music… sad! BUT Ari and I have already planned to make gingerbread holiday cookies as soon as we’re both home… it’s such a nice way to combine tradition and romance (and cheese factor with me, sorry :-) )!

  12. #12 foodlover Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 1:06 am

    that dinner looks so fresh! does not having protein and such a small portion really fill you?

  13. #13 katie Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 1:07 am

    i cant believe how close the holidays are! the cookies are adorable and i love making wraps out of the boston lettuce! nice dinner and treats yumm

  14. #14 Runeatrepeat Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 1:08 am

    Super cute, I love that you and Mal make them together.

  15. #15 Lee (seelivelee) Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 7:10 am

    Tina, you never seize to amaze me. You are SUCH a strong woman with a wonderful glow about you! I can really sense it in your writing-you get the most out of life and enjoy the simple pleasures. I really love reading your blog-it is very grounding and cheerful for me to see- I always get something positive out of it, it puts me in an instantly good mood! like i’ve seen 100 times before, keep doing what you are doing–it is WIDELY appreciated!!

    foodlover-her cheese on top of the bread may very well serve as a protein exchange.

  16. #16 coco Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 7:19 am

    it seems that you enjoyed a lot your saturday night…perfect dinner and so much fun making cookies!!!!!!!!! I wish chinese new year tradition has this part too!

  17. #17 HangryPants Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 8:05 am

    It’s never to early for Christmas cookies! Very fun night for sure. :D

  18. #18 VeggieGirl Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 8:09 am

    GORGEOUS VEGETABLE DINNER & COOKIES!! :-)

  19. #19 Andrea (Off Her Cork) Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 8:37 am

    Ooo sounds yummy!! And of course it’s not too early! It’s Christmas time! :D

  20. #20 Michelle Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 8:41 am

    It’s never too early for holiday cookies! Love your dinner! I’ll have to try that cheese. I love incorporating different cheeses into meals!

  21. #21 Tina Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 9:52 am

    Foodlover,

    Yep, it does fill me up! :)

  22. #22 K Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 10:06 am

    What a great dinner! I’ve come to the conclusion that guys love the simple stuff when it comes to baking – my guy friends are the same way with the prepackaged dough haha.

    Cyclops snowman is great :D

  23. #23 Elina Reply to this comment
    on Nov 30th, 2008 at 11:00 am

    You and Mal are so cute!
    Mmm, holiday cookies.. :D

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