We decorated our lovely little Christmas tree tonight. Below is a photo of our finished tree, I put about 500 lights on the tree and it takes about 1.5 hours to do so (so I am told!). The tree is decorated in silver, gold and crystal…it sparkles like diamonds! I just love it! We chose a much smaller tree this year so that it doesn’t crowd the room too much and I think it’s perfect.

It's a small tree, about 5' tall and not very fat, but I put about 700 lights on it! JT thinks I'm nuts!
We wanted a simple dinner with not much fuss, so we’re making Kristy and Mike’s Portuguese Baked Cod; instead of Cod we’re using Tilapia because I had some at home. I was immediately drawn to this recipe because of the flavours and that it was super easy to make. I made a few very minor alterations, Kristy, I added paprika, about a teaspoon, and JT wanted some carbs, so we added Israeli Couscous – it was bang on! Really great flavours and textures. Thanks Kristy, we loved it!
I do hope you make it; thanks Kristy and Mike, I knew the minute I read the recipe I would love it! Both JT and I gave it a raving 4 Spoons!
Beautiful tree and I adore Israeli Couscous. wait can I man say that? 😉
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I’ve never tried Israeli couscous but I bought some today at Bulk Barn. Now I have to find a good recipe that will make it flavourful.
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Hi Maria, it has a different texture than regular couscous…I really like it. Hope you like it too.
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Hi Jed, thank you kindly. I like the texture of Israeli Couscous, it’s so different than regular couscous!
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I love your tree! Simply beautiful! And the fish looks delicious – I’m a big fan of israeli couscous!
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Thanks Bill, I do love a monochromatic theme. The Israeli Couscous was great texture because the tomatoes really cook down to make a rich sauce.
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That is one beautiful tree Eva
and the fish looks like a wonderful meal..I love the addition of paprika
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Thank you Sawsan. The fish was delicious and quite easy to make. I would recommend the recipe, for sure.
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Yay! I’m so glad you liked it Eva! I love the addition of paprika and couscous. It looks delightful – easily a four spoon dish now! 🙂 Thanks so much for featuring us. And it puts a smile on my face knowing that you enjoyed the meal.
And your tree – just stunning. I love white lights! And the ornaments are just beautiful. 🙂
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The recipe was perfect for our tree decorating evening, and so delicious. We will definitely make it part of our repertoire. JT, who doesn’t love fish, really enjoyed it.
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What a stunning tree!!!:) I am looking forward to my tree soon too…hehehe 😉
Ohhhh, baked cod, hand me some please!:D
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Hi Christy, thank you for the lovely compliment. I really love decorating the house for Christmas.
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Oh, what a gorgeous tree and I just love that you flooded it with lights… sparkling diamonds indeed. How great that you made Kristy and Mike’s dish!! (looks beautiful…).
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You tree is AMAZING! It looks like it belongs on a Christmas card! :O
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Thank you Lorraine! I really love the monochromatic colour scheme, it’s not for everyone, but I find it so elegant,
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What a gorgeous tree. I haven’t ever put one up but this year I did put out my Christmas stocking and some basic decorations. Maybe next year I’ll do a rosemary christmas tree. 🙂
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Thank you Maria. Even though it’s mainly just the two of us for Christmas, we both feel it necessary to put up a real tree. Fortunately, this year I have every weekend booked for entertaining at our place so it won’t go to waste.
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That dish does look great and so does the tree. Everything ties together so well.
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Thanks Greg, it was incredibly flavourful. We have decided to make it part of our regular repertoire for sure.
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Your Christmas tree is simply gorgeous! It really does sparkle like diamonds. I love the crystal icicles and we use those on our tree, too, when we have a regular sized one…in spite of cats.
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Thank you Betsey, my sister-in-law’s sister had a cat last year that turned their tree over TWICE! I got the icicles at Crate and Barrel in Chicago several years ago — it was after Christmas so they were only 10¢ — can you believe it?
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Now that’s lovely tree, Eva. Good to know that Kristy & Mike’s recipe worked so well with tilapia but how did you manage without Miss A & Mr. N?
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Hi John, thank you for the compliment. We probably had a slightly less exciting dinner than Kristy or Mike!
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Beautiful tree Eva – like something out of a Christmas catalogue! 😀 I think we’ll be getting ours soon too – hooray! The next couple of weeks will be busy with entertaining so on the days when we’re not I think we’ll be craving light, simple things too, full of flavour and colour! Double-hooray for Kristy and Mike’s Portuguese post 🙂
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Thank you Charles, I’m really happy with the way the tree turned out this year! And I’m looking forward to leftovers of the fish for lunch today 🙂
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