This post is sponsored by La Crema Winery.

After an incredibly busy past few months, I'm really enjoying a slow holiday season and have been planning a super low-key Christmas at home with my little family. I've always loved the idea of doing something non-traditional for Christmas dinner (my family has been known to do seafood on Christmas Eve), and if you know me at all you know my love for Chinese food knows no bounds.

We could always go super easy and order takeout, but I started thinking it might be fun to make our own as a family, so I put together a simple menu of chicken chow mein, beef and broccoli, and some delicious crispy egg rolls to get the whole thing started. Stop by the La Crema blog today to get the two entree recipes, but keep reading here to learn how to make your own egg rolls! (And don't forget to put a few bottles of La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay in the fridge to top it all off.)

Ingredients: 

• 2 carrots, julienned
• 10 ounces of mushrooms, sliced (I like regular ol' button mushrooms but you could use shiitake)
• About half of a small cabbage, shredded
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
• 1-2 green onions, chopped 
• 1-2 handfuls of fresh bean sprouts (optional)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• Spring roll or egg roll wrappers
• Cooking oil (olive or canola), for sautéing veggies and frying the rolls

Instructions: 

1. In a large pan, sauté garlic, ginger, and green onions together in a little oil for 1-2 minutes. Add the carrots and mushrooms and sauté for another 4-5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are browned slightly.
2. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil, stirring well to combine. Add the cabbage and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until the cabbage has wilted slightly. Remove the entire mixture from the pan and set aside.
3. To assemble the egg rolls, take a wrapper and lay it down flat. Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of the veggie mixture onto the wrapper and begin to roll from one side, tucking the edges in as you wrap the roll up. Use a little water on your fingers to seal the whole thing. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
4. Add more oil to the pan and heat over medium-high heat. Fry each egg roll for 1-2 minutes per side, or until the wrappers are golden-brown. Serve immediately with your favorite spicy Asian dipping sauce (there's a spicy peanut one at Trader Joe's that I like) or a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, and hot chili oil. 

Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy, and delicious holiday this year.

This post is sponsored by La Crema Winery.

For as long as I can remember, my mom has made some of the best holiday cookies--these delicious shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate and dusted with nuts (she always used a half-moon cookie cutter that I absolutely loved as a kid); some walnut balls dusted in powdered sugar; and, last but certainly not least, some simple but oh-so-delicious biscotti.

I'm super excited to be partnering with La Crema Winery again--I shared the recipe for those first two cookies I just mentioned on their blog right here! And you can keep reading for the biscotti:

Mom's Holiday Biscotti

Ingredients:

• Half a stick of butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon anise seeds
• 1 teaspoon anise extract
• 1 cup of chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, cream together the eggs and sugar. Add melted butter and mix to combine. 
2. Add the sifted flour and baking powder and mix gently to combine--batter will be thick. Add the anise seeds and extract as well as the chopped nuts if you want them. Use your hands to combine batter and pat it into a nice ball of dough.
3. Cover the bowl and transfer to freezer for about half an hour, or until it's less runny and easier to handle.
4. Preheat oven to 350. Roll the dough into two "ropes" the length of the cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven, cut diagonally, loosen gently with the spatula, and return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes. Serve warm with coffee, tea, or a glass of wine--it is the holidays, after all.

Make sure to stop by the La Crema blog today to get the rest of our holiday cookie recipes!

Rob and I are off to the East Coast for ten days this morning--we land in Charlotte later this evening and are actually spending a couple of days in Roanoke before heading back to Charlotte for Christmas. 

It's our first long trip back since we moved to California, and the first time we've ever left Ender in California without us, so I'm feeling all kinds of different things this morning. But I'm looking forward to being back in Charlotte--going to our favorite coffee shops, seeing our friends, hanging out with our family, and being on the same time zone as the majority of people we know.

I'm wrapping up a big cookbook deadline before Christmas and don't have very much blog content planned for the rest of the year, so this is one of the last few posts you'll see from me in 2016. I want to spend these next two weeks really being present and soaking up our time in North Carolina and Virginia.

You can still find me on Instagram and Snapchat (username is flynnmd), where I always post daily, regardless of what's on the blog. Thank you all so much for following along this year--I'm wishing each you the happiest of holidays, wherever you are.