It was a fairly calm month here on Planet Byn, after many foodie outings in November. As I mentioned last month, I was done all my Christmas shopping by the end of November, so December was mostly spent at home, baking lots of cookies, having friends over, and staying cozy among snowfalls and ice storms. Here’s a little bit of what I got up to on the foodie front:

• I had a great night out at Trevor with my friends from work, and ate a delicious kale salad with maple cider vinaigrette and pickled mushrooms, plus crispy roasted cauliflower. We weren’t that hungry after our friend hosted us for drinks and snacks beforehand, so I definitely need to go back with a full appetite!
• My friends Nicole & Geoff hosted their annual Big Game Holiday Jam, where I arrived a little too late to sample the big game, but had many of the treats Nicole and I baked back in November, plus some amazing little chestnut cookies and coffee toffee that she made on her own.
• I brought these Peanut Pretzel Dollies and Mint Chocolate Cookie Bars to work before the holidays and they got gobbled up in no time.
• We had a quiet Christmas Day dinner, and my Mom requested this Butterscotch Pecan Meringue Torte for her special birthday dessert (her birthday is Boxing Day). The rest of the gang came over the next day, and I’ll tell you about the treats I made in a few days.
• My friends Hsien & Katie hosted an amazing Hot Pot lunch at their house, and it was incredible! We all gathered around their big dining room table, with two simmering pots of broth at either end, and added shrimp, beef, pork, fish balls, tofu and bok choy and spent a couple of hours eating and catching up.

Other non-foodie things I was obsessed with this month:

• I love year-end lists which show me major pop culture events I missed out on during the year, and usually end up with a huge list of movies, TV shows and books to catch up on (Entertainment Weekly’s lists are here).
• This led me to binge watch the first season of Orphan Black, which is AMAZING! I thought it might be a little too sci-fi for me, but I was sucked in immediately during the first episode. It’s also filmed in Toronto, so it’s kind of fun to see familiar landmarks.
• I’ve also made it through Season 1 of Scandal (it’s only 7 episodes) and I’m hooked on that one right away too!
• I just finished reading Difficult Men, which is about TV’s latest Golden Age, and the showrunners behind The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire, etc. Great read!
• I’ve also been on a major de-cluttering tear throughout my place, which I tend to do between Christmas & New Year’s each year. It feels so good to get rid of a lot of junk and start the New Year all organized!