Festivus/ Tibb’s Eve, we had scalloped potatoes topped with parmesan and a Portuguese cheese from the Azores that I find a little too strong. (I had asked people what to make with it a while back ) Canned Jalapeño Chile Rellenos.
Xmas Eve, I made Mexican Xmas Eve Salad, and an adaptation of Michelle Bernstein’s Chupe de Mariscos, this time with turbot, lobster, shrimp and Digby Scallops. I also served a vanilla raspberry Yule Log from my favorite local indie grocery in London, ON, Remark Market.
Xmas Pudding and whisky sauce made by a dear friend for dessert
Homemade Chex Mix with rosemary for a midnight snack. Other Xmas Day snacks included panettone, a neighbour’s kipferl, Italian chocolate truffles, Leonidas chocolates.
I was bummed that some handmade chocolates I bought for a gift 4 weeks ago, that I have kept at room temp, had a label saying they were only good at room temp for 7 days, and needed to be kept refrigerated. I don’t want the recipient to get sick, so we are playing it safe.
Annual Christmas Day brunch, which - as tradition demands - means I put out at least three times as much food as eleven people (this year’s guest list) can eat, even when some of them stay ‘til 8pm.
We had a big Chinese lunch for Christmas Eve this year — a dim sum extravaganza is usually our Christmas or Boxing Day meal, but we were losing a couple of people to travel Christmas morning so we moved it up.
@mts, it was a variation on this Rick Bayless Xmas Eve Salad. I didn’t make his ground peanut dressing. I tossed all my toasted peanuts with the cooked beets, peeled Asian pear (could not find jicama at the 3 grocery stores I visited on Dec 23rd and 24th, so I used some nice Asian pears I found at Farm Boy (an Ontario store that has some similarities to Trader Joe’s) in place of the jicama, and segmented Cara Cara Oranges. My dressing was orange juice from a half orange, some lime juice, some olive oil and some white balsamic condiment to taste.
Rachel Roddy at The Guardian, Pasticcini di mandorle, I cut back on the sugar a bit. I also make various combination of nuts, half almond/half pistachio all almond, all pistachio. I made hazelnut last year which we enjoyed. It uses a whole egg rather than egg whites.
ETA…I bake for considerably less time and also make them smaller..one bite!
Most are, which is why I have been using that recipe. I make them year round. Important not to overbake them, I’ve made other similar recipes , but this is my favorite.
We (B, Spring Onion, and I) spent Xmas Eve at our RI house and had mom and dad over for a dinner of roasted salmon, sauteed kale + cherry tomatoes, and big fluffy baked potatoes/vegan gravy. No photos.
Xmas morning, we all headed down to Westchester County to spend the next few days with my brother and his family. My brother and SIL are both good hosts and cooks. Spatchcocked turkey, roasted salmon, smashed potatoes, Brussels, garlic crostini, grilled kalbi, Korean banchan, danjeong (Korean miso) soup with tofu. Lots of wine and beer. The 3 kids (11 years and under) are having a blast. I love the fun chaos!
ETA: My SIL’s birthday is today (26 Dec) so we had yet another delicious meal of Korean food, bulgogi, salmon, ttokboki (spicy Korean rice cakes). And the big snow is coming as we speak (almost 9 inches here). We went for another beer run, s’mores for the kids, cozy fireplace, Xmas shows on the big screen TV.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
78
We’ve been away for 4 nights to a hotel looking out over Lake Windermere. First time we’ve been away for Xmas in this country. Lovely experience with no hassle. Food was very good. Lunch on Christmas Day was quite a feast. Crayfish & lobster cocktail to start, traditional plate of turkey, stuffing, roast spuds, veg. Christmas pudding for, erm, pudding. Only problem with being away is that there are no traditional leftovers to feed us.
