I had a great quiet Christmas this year with my wife and kids (I mean our two cats). For maybe the second time in my 32 years on this earth I was able to sleep in until eight without being awoken by my Christmas anticipation.

I started the morning off with a banana and some coffee. I normally steer clear from the coffee due to its known laxative impacts, but no problems occurred. We immediately started opening presents and I was happy to receive an arsenal of new running gear. My wife made out well too. The cats seemed the most pleased of all as they received the best gifts possible, a stack of paper and boxes to pounce around in.

Staying home made sticking to the SCD easy. For brunch we had scrambled eggs, banana pancakes and bacon (recipes here).

For dinner we had some beef tenderloin (aka filet mignon) with squash fries, carrots, and apple sauce (same place for recipes), and red wine for desert :) Actually for the steak I followed the recipes at NoRecipeRequired as I have failed at cooking these kinds of meats in the past. This year I nailed it. I covered the meat in salt and pepper while it sat out for 30 minutes on our counter. Then I seared it on the cast iron skillet for a few minutes per side. Finally I got it warmed to medium rare in the oven after a few more minutes at 425 C. This worked amazingly and I was super proud of how it tasted.

After dinner we enjoyed ourselves at the movie Wild. Hope you all had a happy holiday season!