I realize that I'm a little late and out of order with this, but I wanted to share a few highlights from our "Traditional Non-Traditional" Christmas dinner. After Thanksgiving has passed, we're usually pretty burned out on standard holiday fare. For that reason, we have created a tradition in our family of serving a Christmas dinner made up of foods that are not of the mashed potatoes and gravy variety.

Being a California native, I am a big fan of fresh foods that are grown close to home. I love combinations where I can taste each ingredient, so I tend to keep it simple. This year, while it was rainy and cold outside, we had a hot and spicy (and super fresh) Mexican meal complete with margaritas made with fresh-squeezed lime juice!

Here are some highlights, in photos:

We started the day with homemade cinnamon rolls. These are a vegan version (I used Earth Balance instead of butter and flaxmeal and water instead of egg) of a recipe by 101 Cookbooks and they were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Our main meal was homemade tacos served with fresh-squeezed lime juice margaritas (I'm not a fan of the commercial mixes). Here are the stars of the show:

Pinto beans simmered all day with onion, garlic, New Mexico chile powder, bay leaf, epazote, and Mexican oregano:

A simple guacamole made with avocado (of course!), cilantro, fresh lime juice, and sea salt:

Homemade pico de gallo (organic tomatoes, red onion, garlic, lime juice, jalapenos, cilantro, and sea salt):

We used these lovely fresh things to make some seriously delicious tacos:

With warm cilantro lime brown rice on the side:

After our tacos settled, we had homemade Mexican chocolate and orange cake with Grand Marnier mousse:

Feliz Navidad!