2016 East Coast Holiday Vacation Recap: Cookie Baking, Christmastime in Philly & More

Hi friends!

How did your first week of 2017 go? I was fighting an annoying cold all week (not my favorite way to start off a new year!) and feeling pretty worn out, and I’m happy that I’m starting to feel more like my energetic self again in week 2 of the year.

Today I’m looking back at my 2016 Christmas to share what I’ve been up to lately. My holiday trip to the east coast included lots of family time and good food, with some workouts sprinkled in, and a day in Philly!  

My hubby and I kicked off our Christmas celebrations with our annual early gift exchanging prior to our holiday travel. I made us a picnic in the living room and we enjoyed some food and wine while opening presents and watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas. He gave me a new camera for Christmas, which I’m excited to learn how to use well for my food and travel photography!

The next day, I tired my holiday bow wearing fur baby out on a hike, brought her to the pet resort, then off we went on a flight to Philadelphia!

Our trip was a typical whirlwind of visiting with different sides of our families across New Jersey, and here were some of the highlights:

Our annual cookie baking tradition continued on! My aunt, mom, cousins, and I baked our butts off – and Adam even helped roll out doughs for the first time ever.

We used my grandma’s kitchen to bake – which has THREE ovens – so it was a busy scene as per usual. I think I counted a dozen types of cookies that we made to share with friends and family, and I did my fair share of tasting! My pictured favorites are peanut butter cookies, 7-layer bars, and chocolate kiss peanut butter cookies. I might be a tiny bit bias, but I swear, our tried-and-tested cookie recipes are the best (tasting-wise, not health wise….!).

Christmas morning was spent at my parents’ house with my parents, siblings, sister-in-laws, and nephews, plus all of my parents’ and sisters’ fur babies – which equals 2 dogs + 4 cats (plus a bearded dragon and a pet rat that didn’t participate in the festivities). We are all animal lovers!

We exchanged gifts, drank mimosas, and I made my healthy apple crumble. Adam gave my sister, soon to be sister-in-law and I the above pictured ridiculous, fun animal onesies as a joke. He’s going to regret it when I start actually wearing my wolf onesie around the house!

Christmas dinner was spent at my grandpa’s with all of the above mentioned family, plus my aunt, uncle, cousins and grandpa. We all made a couple of dishes, and my favorite eat of the day?

Cream puffs!! My grandma made it a tradition to make these every Christmas, and we’ve kept many of her food traditions, including cream puffs, going since her passing. I’ve actually never made them myself, so I’m thinking that perhaps I need to learn and share the recipe with you guys this year!

A few days after Christmas, we journeyed into Philadelphia to check out the holiday scene in the city with my father-in-law.

I love walking around cities like Philly, and it was the first time I got a chance to experiment with using my new camera.

Growing up, I lived closer to New York City and visited it way more than Philly, but in recent years, I’ve spent a lot more time in Philly whenever I visit the east coast. I love how historic of a place Philly is, and it was fun to just walk around and soak the city in a bit.

It was chilly, but not too cold that it was uncomfortable being outdoors exploring – which I thought was better in comparison to the last time I was in Philly last summer, when it was about 100 degrees with disgusting humidity. It was like a sauna then!

We checked some things off of Visit Philly’s 20 must-see holiday attractions list, including visiting city hall’s Christmas tree, The Rothman Ice Rink and Christmas Village at Dilworth Park.

We also visited Macy’s Center City, where they have a famous Christmas light show, as well as Franklin Square’s holiday festival and light show.

I’ve been wanting to visit Reading Terminal Market for awhile now, so we also popped in there to walk around. Known as Philadelphia’s indoor haven for all things food, it’s probably no surprise that I was curious to see it!

I adore markets like Reading Terminal for a number of reasons: One, there’s food… and A LOT of it! Two, the emphasis is on locally made food, which I’m a big fan of. Three, there’s a lot of buzz in famous markets like this, which makes it fun people watching, with lots of sights & sounds to check out. This is the kind of place that I can happily get lost in for the afternoon.

If you’re ever in Philly with a bunch of people and can’t decide what type of food to eat, Reading Terminal Market is the place you should go. It has a little bit of everything! 

So just what did we eat there?

Adam and I were drawn to Profi’s Creperie, where sweet & savory crepes are made right in front of you. The cooks make crepes with some serious speed and ease, and we sat at the counter and watched our Nutella banana crepe being prepared. 

So yummy! Crepes get me every time.

The last couple of days of the trip were spent back in my hometown, where we got to relax & recharge a bit post-Christmas craziness.

Although I was sick (along with about 10 of my family members!), I fit in some workouts during the week – as both a mood booster, and a way to offset some of my Christmas cookie, cream puff & crepe eating!

I also got to take a yoga class with my sister and mom on New Year’s Eve morning. We all practice yoga almost daily, but it’s a rare occasion for us to practice all together, and it was a fun, relaxing time!

I also had a chance to do some leisurely baking and cooking during the last couple days of the trip, and a few household favorites were:

This healthy maple gingerbread loaf, recipe a la Cook Nourish Bliss.

These awesome chocolate walnut biscotti via David at Spiced. It was my first time ever making biscotti, and they were a hit.

These slow-cooked sweet potato chips, which I whipped up on our low-key New Year’s Eve.

So in a nutshell, that was my holiday vacation!

I was happy to spend my holidays in the first state that I ever called home with my family, and happy to get back to the place I’ve called home for the past 7 years, California. My favorite spots, like the above pictured Carlsbad Cliffs, always look especially pretty to me after I’ve been out of town! I’m thankful to live in such a gorgeous area.

Tell me… What’s your favorite Christmas cookie? Ever been to Philly at Christmastime? Favorite dish you made over the holidays?