Every holiday season I have friends come to stay at our house over Christmas.  We share stories around the fire, sit outside under the crisp starry skies of the desert and feast together.  It is a magical, warm, sharing time that we all look forward to.  To add to the feeling of tradition that has been woven into these special 'coming together times', we have certain special dishes, both sweet and savory, that have become reserved almost exclusively for this time of the year.  One of the all round favorites is my friend Fiona's Walnut Cheddar Loaf.  This is a substantial and hearty offering that would be utterly acceptable as a stand alone dish with a healthy serving of greens on the side.  I wanted to share the recipe with you and encourage you to let us know if you tried it and what your thoughts are.

Combine and set aside the following:

3 cups (packed) fresh whole wheat bread crumbs

1 cup (packed) ground walnuts

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

½ cup nutritional yeast

2 TBS Tamari

½ cup tomato juice

Saute the following on medium heat until translucent:

4 TBS butter

2 ½ large finely chopped onions

3-4 large garlic cloves, minced

Combine all the above with:

2 well beaten eggs

1 Cup (packed) grated cheese

1/4-1/2 tsp salt

½ tsp. pepper

2 TBS dried parsley or 3/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Press into a well-oiled loaf pan and and bake at 350 degrees for appx 1 hour. Cover top of loaf with ½ cup grated chedder cheese. Bake for 10 mins until cheese is bubbly. Serve with mushroom gravy and love.