angus
Well-known member
As the countdown continues, tought we would all like to know what's cooking for Christmas. I will lead off:
Christmas for me is a bit different since it is just my sister and I now. The extended family (cousins and our one remaining aunt and uncle) are scattered and have their own families,so Christmas Eve we head up to Westborough, Mass. to spend the "eve" with our childhood friend and neighbor. She has a large somewhat formal cocktail and buffet supper for all her friends and neighbors. We will travel up with one of her brothers and family who still live nearby. Quelle soiree - very festive and it is truly the one event where I am really a guest all dressed up and purely social. Our parents were friends for many years and shared a lot of holidays so keeping this tradition is quite important. Christmas Day is at her brother's here in Connecticut.
Now my Christmas dinner is really tomorrow night. I planned an annual dinner party for 12 of my friends and prepare a traditional Italo American Christmas Day meal. Got started several years ago as just a few friends making sure they got together - then as more conversations, realized all of us were missing our parents and traditions a lot. So I thought, why not give them the whole thing as they remember? Helps me also - this way, I am keeping my mother's tradition of our home as a gathering place. For some reason, that makes me feel a bit better.
The menu? LEt's see:
Chicken soup with escarole and little meatballs poached in the broth- nothing is more tedious than rolling hundreds of those things, but you must.
Then, 2 lasagne - one traditional Neopolitan with ricotta, mozzarella and again the red gravy and little meatballs (these are fried first and make a very tasty snack as you assemble and please no hard boiled eggs or mashed up sausages)
The other lasagne is Bolognese style with spinach pasta - very traditional from another region. Must confess, I don't make my own lasagne noodles. Those are bought at a small shop on Arthr Avenue in the Bronx where they do nothing else but pasta (Borgatti's). I have never had such delicate lasagne in my life.
Next is a little intermezzo - homemade sorbets of pomegranate/tangerine, pink grapefriut/champagne, red grape and lemon/lime
Then on to the grill roasted pork loin with pomegranate/orange glaze (marinated first in pineapple juice/soy sauce/ginger/lime juice, coke and tequila.
Serve this with a mashed potato casserole (formal name - "party potatoes Beverly), broccoli rabe with garlic/oil and a lemon sauce on the side. Those potatoes are not the lightest fare, but they are so delicious and can be made the day ahead and baked for dinner.
Then of course, fresh fennel, dried figs, dates and nuts
Finally, a frozen lemon cream souffle with raspberry sauce and an assortment of homemade cookies (plain sugar cookies, cookies filled with a paste of marinated ground up dried sour cherries and amaretto, hazlenut biscotti and anginetti cookies (those are those round balls or knots that are usually anise flavored but my mother hated anisette so she hers were made with plenty of orange zest and glazed with orange as well.
It is an exhausting meal to prepare but one I truly enjoy and most importantly we get the opportunity to carry on the tradition taught to us by our parents. It doesn't hurt that I get to set a lovely table either. A good tip for centerpieces from the Barefoot Contessa - Ina Garten. I long ago gave up fussy fancy centerpieces and now just lay out seasonal greens ( just make sure they are not dripping wet) down the center and tuck clementines, lemons, limes and any other small colorful fruit between the branches and lay bunches of red and green grapes on top going down the middle. Tuck in a few votives and you have something really pretty and natural looking - also solves my problem of standing candles putting me to sleep.
Oh, well, time to go find the rest of the groceries......
Christmas for me is a bit different since it is just my sister and I now. The extended family (cousins and our one remaining aunt and uncle) are scattered and have their own families,so Christmas Eve we head up to Westborough, Mass. to spend the "eve" with our childhood friend and neighbor. She has a large somewhat formal cocktail and buffet supper for all her friends and neighbors. We will travel up with one of her brothers and family who still live nearby. Quelle soiree - very festive and it is truly the one event where I am really a guest all dressed up and purely social. Our parents were friends for many years and shared a lot of holidays so keeping this tradition is quite important. Christmas Day is at her brother's here in Connecticut.
Now my Christmas dinner is really tomorrow night. I planned an annual dinner party for 12 of my friends and prepare a traditional Italo American Christmas Day meal. Got started several years ago as just a few friends making sure they got together - then as more conversations, realized all of us were missing our parents and traditions a lot. So I thought, why not give them the whole thing as they remember? Helps me also - this way, I am keeping my mother's tradition of our home as a gathering place. For some reason, that makes me feel a bit better.
The menu? LEt's see:
Chicken soup with escarole and little meatballs poached in the broth- nothing is more tedious than rolling hundreds of those things, but you must.
Then, 2 lasagne - one traditional Neopolitan with ricotta, mozzarella and again the red gravy and little meatballs (these are fried first and make a very tasty snack as you assemble and please no hard boiled eggs or mashed up sausages)
The other lasagne is Bolognese style with spinach pasta - very traditional from another region. Must confess, I don't make my own lasagne noodles. Those are bought at a small shop on Arthr Avenue in the Bronx where they do nothing else but pasta (Borgatti's). I have never had such delicate lasagne in my life.
Next is a little intermezzo - homemade sorbets of pomegranate/tangerine, pink grapefriut/champagne, red grape and lemon/lime
Then on to the grill roasted pork loin with pomegranate/orange glaze (marinated first in pineapple juice/soy sauce/ginger/lime juice, coke and tequila.
Serve this with a mashed potato casserole (formal name - "party potatoes Beverly), broccoli rabe with garlic/oil and a lemon sauce on the side. Those potatoes are not the lightest fare, but they are so delicious and can be made the day ahead and baked for dinner.
Then of course, fresh fennel, dried figs, dates and nuts
Finally, a frozen lemon cream souffle with raspberry sauce and an assortment of homemade cookies (plain sugar cookies, cookies filled with a paste of marinated ground up dried sour cherries and amaretto, hazlenut biscotti and anginetti cookies (those are those round balls or knots that are usually anise flavored but my mother hated anisette so she hers were made with plenty of orange zest and glazed with orange as well.
It is an exhausting meal to prepare but one I truly enjoy and most importantly we get the opportunity to carry on the tradition taught to us by our parents. It doesn't hurt that I get to set a lovely table either. A good tip for centerpieces from the Barefoot Contessa - Ina Garten. I long ago gave up fussy fancy centerpieces and now just lay out seasonal greens ( just make sure they are not dripping wet) down the center and tuck clementines, lemons, limes and any other small colorful fruit between the branches and lay bunches of red and green grapes on top going down the middle. Tuck in a few votives and you have something really pretty and natural looking - also solves my problem of standing candles putting me to sleep.
Oh, well, time to go find the rest of the groceries......
