“No matter how far away you are, if you want to be happy in a million ways, for the holidays you can’t beat home sweet home.”
Take a bow, 2020, and good riddance.
Looking back it’s been a helluva year. Too many things to list but at the end of the day, I am definitely looking forward to the new year and its new opportunities. It’s also hard to believe that I’ve been back on the East Coast for about a year now. Crazy.
2020 taught me that sometimes life doesn’t go to plan. But you learn to roll with the punches, make the best of the situation, get up, keep going, and don’t take anything for granted. That includes your health, family, friends, and life itself. Learn to enjoy the ride no matter what happens.
I truly hope that like me, you too learned some valuable lessons and grew stronger and wiser coming out of 2020.
“Out of adversity comes opportunity” – Ben Franklin
But this is not a post to reflect on 2020. Lord knows there is enough of that out there.
No, I wanted to share with you my some of the favorite holiday meals from the last couple of months. It’s been at least 5 years since I have been back in the U.S. for both Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years and what better year to be home social distancing with some good ol’ home cooked meals!
Holiday Recap:
Pomegrantes were in 
Best stocking goes to? 
amazing lox bagel in OBX 
MD crabcakes 
Millie grinching 
Eggplant parm 
My hood 
Avocado toast 
Embracing my inner lumberjack
Thanksgiving
Starting with Thanksgiving, I decided to venture down on a little road trip to the Outer Banks, North Carolina. It was more of a getaway trip to surf and fish but then ended up turning into a chill couple days where I didn’t do anything.
It was great to get away from the city life and have a change of scenery.
I picked the Outer Banks because I was itching to get out of city and had always wanted to check out the Outer Banks in the fall. The Outer Banks is a truly special place where time seems to stand still and every day worries melt away.
The Thanksgiving holiday seemed like the perfect time to visit.
I booked a little AirBnB at the very end of the Outer Banks in a town called Avon. I (wrongly) figured there would be less people visiting during Thanksgiving. But alas, I packed the truck with the essentials – surfboard, fishing rods, beer, and guitar – and headed off!
It was an awesome trip. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much luck with the fishing but still had a great time relaxing, reading, and taking some epic walks on the beach with unseasonable summer-like weather.
toes in the water… 
….arse in the sand
The Outer Banks, and all of North Carolina really, is such a beautiful part of the country. The Outer Banks also has some amazing history as the location of where the Wright Brothers flew the first modern airplane. It was only fitting that I flew my drone.
I made a little video of the trip you can watch here:
Back to Maryland
I spent Thanksgiving day in North Carolina and I ended up driving back to Maryland the following Saturday to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family.
My family doesn’t have many traditions for Thanksgiving, other than eating pancakes on Thanksgiving Eve. We usually cook the “standard” American Thanksgiving dishes like Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, rolls, and we always seem to have a massive salad as well. You know, to be healthy of course!
There are always some random dishes thrown in the mix every year depending on whose house we’re at or who is cooking and the guest list.
This year we had two turkeys, because you know, what’s more American than having a two turkey on Thanksgiving?
Yes, we had 2 turkeys for 5 people, an over gluttonous amount of food, but it was really just so the leftovers lasted longer. 🙂
We did one smoked turkey and one broiled. Both were amazing, although I will say, I think my all time favorite is a deep fried turkey with some hot sauce. There was a time when we used to always have a deep fried turkey at Thanksgiving. That’s one tradition I’d like to bring back.
Thanksgiving has to be one of the best holidays. Eat great food, spend time with family, and reflect on all that you are grateful for in your life. And this year being back with my family for the first time in 4 years made it extra special.
Christmas
We go hard for any holiday on my block! 😉
As it always does, Christmas comes up fast. It’s July and then all of sudden it’s Christmas. This year was no different and the time between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years was all a blur.
My family was all able to come back for Christmas Eve and we had a feast. Our family tradition for Christmas Eve is usually to go to Mass then come back and have a huge meal and party. Then we just relax on Christmas day with a big brunch and one ongoing meal throughout the entire day. We’ll usually end up going to another relative’s house for more food, dessert, and music/signing.
This year our Christmas meal included a delicious pot roast, crab cakes, asparagus, mashed potatoes, a big salad, and some random sides.
As I’ve mentioned before in previous blogs, I don’t eat much red meat (mainly for environmental reasons) but Christmas is one of those times when I will make an exception.
Crabcakes are a Maryland speciality and there is always a debate on where to find the best and who has the best recipe. As my family is from Maryland we tend to be very tough critics on crabcakes. In my opinion they are all good as long as they have enough quality lump crab meat.
The Christmas meal did not disappoint. It was one heck of a meal and boy did I pick the right time to eat meat with a perfectly cooked and seasoned roast.
The following days after Christmas were spent relaxing, eating, and spending time with family.
The next week I ended going back to DC and stayed at my house through New Years. I met up with a couple friends that week, went on some long “urban hikes”, and ordered lots of take-out – mostly Thai, Jamaican, and Mexican.
During the holidays I also perfected making Coquito, a Puerto Rican Eggnog-like drink. Coquito is a very popular Puerto Rican holiday staple and is made with coconut milk, coconut cream, and rum, instead of the regular cream, eggs, and whiskey used to make Eggnog. I used this recipe and it was dangerously good.
Maybe it’s my bias to all things coconut but I actually think Coquito tastes better than Eggnog. I’ll definitely be making it again next year for family and friends!
I hope everyone was able to enjoy the holidays and despite the strange times, were able to see some family and friends. And if you weren’t able to see or be with family, I hope you were at least able to relax, recharge, and enjoy some good food during the holiday season and are ready to take on 2021!
Stay safe! And until next time…
Keep It Sambal
