This was our first sunny Christmas day in as long as l can remember, crisp and bright and full of possibility.

We were tempted to spend the day outside, but instead we pulled back the curtains, let the sun in and spent a relaxing day inside.

We slept in and opened our presents late; for breakfast, we drank hot chocolate with thick slices of panettone slathered with butter, and snacked on chocolaty Belgian cookies and oranges throughout the day.

Ours was a lovely Christmas, filled with good food, wonderful people and lots of laughter and lounging.

We ate dinner early, stuffing ourselves with cardamom rice with caramelized onions, spiced Puy lentils and Aleppo pepper blackened wild salmon.

We tried jade pearl rice for the first time and adapted (very, very loosely) the caramelized onion & cardamom rice recipe from the Jerusalem cookbook – it’s a beautifully aromatic and delicious one-pot dish.

We bought the lentilles du Puy months ago from a shop around rue Montorgueil in Paris, and brought it home specially for this dinner; and the salmon is from the waters around Parksville Qualicum Beach here in BC.

The food was spectacular, prepared by @pearlsa who continually manages to turn the humblest of ingredients into a nourishing and delightful fare.

Thankfully, I have more time this week to relax, catch up on my sleep, reflect and look forward to the fresh New Year.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a few fun photos of our Christmas 2014…

I hope you’re having a wonderful and joy-filled festive time, that you’re spending time with loved ones and there’s plenty of laughter and delicious food.