A Lebanese Christmas

I know these are a little out-dated at this point, but I wanted to share pictures of our yummy Christmas dinner. Since Matt's brother and mother were visiting, we decided we wanted to have a traditional, authentic Lebanese dinner. Matt's mom is an amazing cook, and we always love when she spoils us with her amazing Lebanese recipes! Lebanese food has been an acquired taste for me, but over the past 10 years, I have learned to love it! Tori lives up to her Lebanese blood and absolutely loves all the food, and even Jacob tried everything and liked most of it! I was very proud of them. Matt, having been raised on Lebanese food, was in heaven! Anyway, our menu consisted of Whatatht Eneeb (grape leaves), tuboolee (green onion salad), Kibbee, hummus (thanks to my sister-in-law Kathryn), and pita bread.

In the foreground is the Hummus (thanks, Kathryn!). Although I have heard of hummus before, this was my first time tasting it! It was great - a lot better than it looks!

This salad is called tuboolee. It is made with fresh mint, parsley, green onions, tomatoes, bulgar wheat, lemon juice, and olive oil. In the background you can see the kibbee, which is a raw meat dish (I know - ick!), but my sweet mother-in-law is kind enough to fry some up for us squeamish folks. Of course the Lebanese portion of the family love it raw, and even Tori tried it and liked it!

These are the grape leaves. The leaves are stuffed with a tomatoey meat and rice mixture. Very unique, but very yummy!

Thanks, Mom, for the amazing Christmas dinner! It is definitely one I will never forget!