What's everyone having for Christmas (or Christmas eve) dinner?

I went vegetarian! And now I'm starving already!!!lol

And I just found out that I'm the "crazy" uncle...

"Moreover, as America becomes an increasingly multicultural society, it may find it more difficult to fashion a consensus on foreign policy issues, except in the circumstances of a truly massive and widely perceived direct external threat."

Watch me make it - this may disturb you, WARNING:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=429fOZZ6nv8

Musician, Blimpographer...Hear my music: www.myspace.com/americanpirates
my videos: www.youtube.com/conservativefunds

Written by Karen Knowler, raw food coach.
http://karenknowler.typepad.com/living_in_the_raw/2006/03/a_...
"A Cascading Waterfall of Deliciousness"
I kid ye not, but the title of this post is a quote from Tessa, a recent course attendee as she took her first bite of my famous raw food pizza!

I have to say, all these years down the line, this pizza still tastes as good now as it did then. It's a real treat that tastes incredible, looks amazing and even better - lasts for 3 days or so in the fridge! This is also the self-same pizza that appeared live on LK Today (GMTV) back in November 2002,

So, if you're up for a bit of dehydrating the rest is actually very easy. Here follows my recipe, which is very long in paper terms, but in time terms, once you have the base made, will take about 20-30 minutes to make the cheese, sauce, assemble and serve. Not bad really for what you come away with... (I make HUGE ones! - and 2 or 3 at a time)

You’ll need a dehydrator for this recipe (or you could try a low set oven with the door ajar). You can make this pizza in the evening ready for lunch the next day as long as you start dehydrating the base as early in the evening as possible. The base takes about 15 minutes to get together and about 12-20 hours to dehydrate depending on how thick you make it and at what temperature you dehydrate it (115 deg F to 125 deg F is perfect). An hour before serving, get together your other ingredients and make the 'cheese', tomato sauce and chop the toppings.

Makes one 25cm /10 inch circular pizza (enough to cover a Paraflexx sheet in an Excalibur)

Base

400g sprouted wheat (or sprouted buckwheat)
2 medium fresh tomatoes
½ a medium sized onion
6-8 sundried tomato halves (ideally pre-soaked)
About 10 leaves of fresh basil
Liberal shaking of Italian dried herbs mix
1 clove garlic
⅓ cup of olive oil

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until a thick dough consistency is achieved. If the mixture feels quite dry, add more fresh tomato.
Pour into a large mixing bowl in order to finish mixing by hand and feel the texture of the mixture. Make sure all ingredients have been blended together well. If not, return to processor and repeat the process until satisfied.
Spread the mixture bit by bit onto a paraflexx sheet and gradually shape into a circle or square shape according to your preference. Use the palm of your hand to press the mixture out to the desired shape and size and thickness. A good thickness is approximately 3-4mm high.
Dehydrate at 95 - 110°F for approx. 4 hours (until top is nearly dry), then flip over and dehydrate again until other side is dried to desired degree. (Some prefer the base to be hard and crispy, but I prefer it to be semi-dry so that it is easy to cut and eat - a bit more bread-like).
'Cheese'

2 cups of raw macadamia nuts
2 cups of cashew nuts
Juice of 1-2 lemons (depending on sweetness and amount of juice)
1 clove of garlic
Blend all ingredients thoroughly using either food processor or hand blender.
Tomato Sauce

4-6 tomatoes
10 sundried tomato halves
1 clove garlic
Half a red bell pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, chopped
Handful of fresh basil leaves
Blend all ingredients thoroughly using food processor, hand blender or vita-mix.
Toppings

Choose from:

Fresh tomato slices
Fresh bell pepper slices (red, orange, yellow)
Fresh onion rings
Black olive halves
Basil leaves, finely chopped
Italian seasoning (dried herbs)
Chopped pineapple
Broccoli florets, halved and marinated
Mushrooms - either fresh, marinated in olive oil, garlic and lemon juice, or dehydrated after being marinated
Anything else that appeals!
How to make the pizza:

1. Spread the 'cheese' evenly over the top of the pizza base. Any left over 'cheese' can be spread on crackers, or crumbled into a salad. Alternatively you can mould it and shape it anyway you wish. One suggestion is to cut it into small cubes and spear top create the traditional cheese and pineapple party food.

2. Spoon the tomato sauce on top of the cheese topping and spread evenly until there is a good covering.

3. Top your pizza with your chosen ingredients. I usually begin with the tomato, then the onion rings, then bell pepper, then olives, then mushrooms, then fresh basil and finally sprinkle the whole pizza with the Italian seasoning. Occasionally I add pineapple or broccoli florets.

4. Serve either fresh as is, or put the whole pizza back in the dehydrator for a while until warmed through. Either way it is delicious!

5. Serve with a large green salad and extra tomatoes and onion rings.

I absolutely HATE to cook.

Cooked the best homemade Lasagna last night for our immediate family..
Tried to cook something non traditional,

However we didn't give up the watching of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation!!!

we're having homemade tamales and roast pork, freshly made whole pinto beans from the pot garnished w/salsa - w/secret ingredients passed down to us from our grandmothers and moms. It's the "Posada" and we do the traditional thing where everyone gets to help or make something to enjoy.

for pizza! And a few beers...

Mac & cheese, and peace and quiet!!!
Packed up family, sent them to Grandpa's for dinner.
I was to follow shortly, but had car trouble (to bad). I'm crying all over the place......L.O.L. ( fifth year in a row) What's the chance?

God Bless you all with some Peace and Quiet, I sure was looking forward to this day. What a needed break.

Which hubby had when he was a kid, and that was a long time ago. We still have cupletts, which is like a tortellini, but made from scratch. I have to mix the meat mixture with a lot of other ingredients and let it refrigerate overnight. The next day we make the dough, cut it into little squares, put a little meat mixture in it and fold it down like a tortellini. I then freeze so many into freezer bags and then use them on Christmas day for our feast. Right now I'm making the soup from scratch and then we'll put the cupletts into it and let it cook a little while. It sure is alot of work but it's really good. I also have a salad and vegetables but the cupletts is the one hubby and son really go for. This year we made 350 cupletts and I can't tell you how long it took. Some day I'd like to break this tradition but hubby really looks forward to it. He does help alot making this. Is anyone else familiar with this? If you're Italian you probably know what this is. Hope y'all have a wonderful Christmas.

vincebodie that sounds like a awesome meal. I am going in the kitchen to see what my husband brought home. It is pretty laid back today thank goodness. We will get fed but I am in slow motion. hee,hee