Great Gift: Mandala Christmas Hummus

This gift is in the spirit of my book, This Is for You, but didn’t make the final cut!

One Christmas, my parents announced that they wanted a sugar-free holiday celebration. First I was bummed because I love baking fancy desserts, which are the most “special” and pretty foods in my childhood household. And so, I gave myself the assignment of designing a savory, non-sugar fancy food with which to celebrate. I made homemade hummus, spread it nice and flat in a shallow dish, cut stencils, and sprinkled a mandala-type pattern with turmeric, paprika, and cumin.

I don’t think I would have dreamed this up if it weren’t for the beautiful Tibetan mandala made by traveling monks back at my college campus – thank you for the inspiration. I hope I didn’t cheat too terribly with my stencil approach, but I saw it online via cupcake stencils and got super excited about the possibilities! Upon further reflection, I’m noticing more fully how this dessert was also a nod to parts of the world and religions that do not celebrate Christmas, which feels fitting for my family, a secular one living in the socially diverse state of California. I hope this is cool and feels like an honoring — drop me a line if you have an opinion here. I’m all ears and eager to learn and adapt to my surroundings.

Cutting stencils for spice pattern sprinkling, while rocking out.

Close up of stacked stencils. So pretty! Love my X-acto knife – forever and always.