What did you guys have?
In Spain the traditional big family meal is held on Christmas eve and presents are opened afterwards (though the real day for exchanging gifts is on January 5th). Then there is a family lunch on Christmas day. This year at casa az I made the Christmas eve dinner and Nog took me out to Casa Robles for a lovely Christmas day lunch.
Christmas eve dinner was based around the fabulous smoked salmon that zoomer brought for us when he visited in October, and was eaten in two ‘shifts’ in order to enjoy the food better. So we had the starters (bacon-wrapped langostines with alioli and arrugula salad) at 3 o’clock, accompanied by a nice bottle of cava. The main course (smoked salmon with thinly sliced fresh fennel & garlic in a white wine & parmesan cream sauce) was served around 9 pm. In between Pablo came over bearing gifts of cava and some very decadent chocolate truffles.
For Christmas lunch we shared a plate of fried fish (hake, monkfish, cod, shark and swordfish) and had pork tenderloin in a mushroom & sherry sauce for the main course. Later on in the evening we had a snack of caña de lomo and goat cheese with crushed black pepper – and more wine – while we watched the marvelous Alistair Sim version of Scrooge.
I have discovered that since the last op I sure can’t drink wine like I used to, nor can I eat much at one sitting. Which are actually not bad things. Anyhow, those were our two Christmas meals and I think today it’ll be back to broccoli & green tea…
casa azahar 
We went to a community potluck, at which we had curried rice, ham, and chicken for those who wouldn’t touch the ham or curry. Baked beans, black-eyed peas, scalloped potatoes, mac & cheese, jello with fruit, and marble cake. Yum!
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turkey! and chocolate…..
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Turkey and the usual fixings… Trifle (Ohhhh it was yummy!) and my sister made Norwegian Chocolate Cake… I haven’t had it in a few years as my mother can’t manage it any more. I could eat an entire batch, myself… I limited myself to two pieces.
My sister sent home the turkey carcass so I could make soup. I might make Iroquois Corn Soup with it. YUM!
Az heard about my lovely gift from my sister, brother-in-law and niece… a drawing tablet for my computer. The only snag is that all the drawing software is on a DVD and I don’t have a DVD Drive. I am hoping my friend Krys can download the software to a zip drive and I can upload it from there….
I did try it out with my existing software and while I don’t have any of the features, I was able to do some finer and more accurate work using the stylus than I could ever do with the mouse. I got a taste of what it will be like using the tutorial on the installation disk.
I can’t wait to get it all working fully!
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Yesterday’s breakfast was kedgeree and bucks fizz.
The first course of our Xmas Day meal was eaten at lunchtime … smoked salmon terrine, venison, duck and chicken liver pates – and some salad, bread and oatcakes.
The main course was eaten early evening … turkey, two kinds of home made stuffing, wee sausages, roast pots and parsnips, carrots and sprouts.
We waited until later in the evening to have pud … raspberry panna cotta, lemon cheesecake and Xmas Pud.
I am stuffed!
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Too much…
Duck and the usual Xmas fixings. Very sucessful.
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Christmas Eve, we were at my sisters up in Hockley Valley. She made a turkey dinner, and I brought along a traditional Polish treat called Patychky, or “meat sticks”. These are either pork, pork and veal or chicken kabobs, made using meat marinated with plenty of garlic. They are dipped in egg and rolled in breadcrumbs, browned in oil then baked. Yum.
Christmas day, I cooked for Tuffy’s side of the family. I made a crown roast pork with mashed potatoes, turnips, green beans, salad, and a special chickpea patty dish with mushroom gravy for the vegan in the house.
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Barbequed (in the snow!) venison with edemame, scalloped potatoes and baby carrots. A bit protein heavy for me but delish!
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We had the usual meal; turkey, sweet potato & rutabaga, gravy, cranberry sauce, & stuffing. Next turkey dinner though, I plan on making my own stuffing from scratch. Im up for the challenge!!
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My little engineer did one of his signature pasta sauces, at which he shines, this one with mixed olives, capers and loads of garlic, and I tossed mixed herbs and greens with slices of grapefruit, onion and honey toasted walnuts for a salad. Young folk, no relations of either of ours, were invited but I still can’t get them to eat a salad. My 19 year old techie friend gave me my very own flying monkey — it screams as it shoots around the room on a slingshot principle. The cats don’t klnow what to make of it.
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The community potluck sounds like such a wonderful idea, Silverstar, especially as you were all snowed-in.
Turkey and chocolate or turkey then chocolate, nursemyra?
How did the soup turn out, Anneke?
Where are the promised photos of your feast, Teuchter? Sounds like it was totally divine.
Long time since I had duck, Blues. Mmmm…
I’m going to try making those kebabs, mister anchovy.
Edemame, zoomer? Qu’est-ce que c’est?
You bought stuffing, DKL? Why? I shall forthwith send you stuffing instructions – it’s easy peasy!
Loads of garlic is always good, Sledpress. Will we get to see a video of the flying monkey?
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Our xmas lunch was quite frugal compared to traditional standards. I’m not much for these excesses. Gravlax (raw salmon cured in salt, sugar, and dill), pickled sill in mustard sauce, grated mash made of turnips, potatoes and carrots, red cabbage, meatballs, potatoes, bread, cheese, small sausages and sötost of course.
Sötöst – which I can’t translate into any other language (litterally translated it means sweet cheese) is a traditional xmas thingy here in the Far North I learned from Mum, who learned it from Nan and so on. I’ll try to describe it instead. Not that I have any recipe – it’s more “a little of this and some of that” cooking.
Melt a huge lump of real butter into a big cooking pan – 10 litres in size will do. When the butter is melting cover inside of cooking pan with the melted butter. Add 3 litres of milk and five or so cinnamon quills. Let boil on low heat until approximately half is left. Add sugar to taste -not too much! Cool to 37C or less.
Batter four eggs and add 1½ – 2 tablespoons of rennet. Mix. Add egg-rennet mix into the milk and pour into ovenproof container and bake for 45 to 60 minutes in 175C. Makes a pudding like thingy that is just yummy!
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Find of the day was the goats’ cheese rolled in black pepper. The truffles were unusually good, too.
As were the salmon, the rucola salad, the….
Kedgeree and bucks fizz sounds like a proper breakfast! Lots of other good stuff being consumed too.
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I’ll go for the puty vote here: I’m housesitting and spent the day with two dogs and a cat. THEY had a feast of canned food, twice in the day. Minor ball tossing and string dangling was added to the festivities, later in the day.
My meal was … y’know, I can’t even remember. I’m sure I ate something, just can’t remember what. Probably left over pork tamales from the day before, with some mandarin oranges?
When eveyone gets back from their holiday trips, I will insist on lots of lunches, brunches and dinners with my old friends, before I wing ip back up North. 🙂
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Edemame, spicy, salty, steamed soybeans in the shell-
I buy them frozen, steam them and add my own cracked pepper and umami (Japanese sea salt with powdered seaweed).
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My lot don’t really like turkey, so we had a lovely big free range chicken. Home made stuffing (courtesy of Rog), roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and sprouts done with crispy bacon. And mashed potato and gravy. I’d had smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, with bucks fizz. My lot don’t like Christmas pudding either , so I’d made a mountain of Nigella’s special rocky road bars, which everyone laughed at the over-sweeteness of, and then promptly demolished.
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