Cookaholics Bulletin Board

So, print 'em here.

We're having guests for Christmas Eve, so I'm doing Provencal, an area where they have a traditionally non-meat meal for the holiday:

brandade
bread
vegetables with aioli
soupe de lasagnes
french silk tart
cheese course

Apparently it's traditional in Provence to have 13 desserts on Christmas Eve, but with only 6 diners, that seems rather excessive, so no.

Our French neighbors always had 13 desserts. They baked about half and bought the rest. His favorite was Hershey's Kisses. His wife was a fabulous baker. Go figure!

fitzie

We decided not to do a sit-down this year, so we are just having a really big antipasto.

Antipasti
Stuffed Dates
Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Roulades
Crostini -- Yogurt Cheese with White Bean Paste and Red Pepper with Olives
Marinated Mushrooms
Mixed Olives
Pepperoncini
Mixed Cured Meats
Stuffed Eggs with Tuna and Capers
Mixed Cheeses
Goat Cheese Spread
Crackers and Crusty Bread
Breadsticks
Rosemary-Lemon Spiced Pistachios

Hot Bites from Trader Joe's
Parmesan Pastry Pups
Arancini Bites
Spizzico di Pizza


My sister is also bringing some Shrimp Cocktail.

Edited to add: And cookies, lots of cookies.

Our tradition has no special meal on christmas eve. Outside of post-midnight mass meal (which I know of), always wondered where those eve traditions came from.

I am doing Lechon Asado with black beans and white rice. I was able to get fresh the front end of the leg and have it boned. Trying to get the energy to make some Cuban bread as well. And homemade version of Marie Callender's Chocolate Satin Pie. Doubles as Christmas Eve and my son's 38th birthday.

My dad died last week and it has hit me harder than I thought it would since he was 97. So Steve and Joel are taking care of Christmas day. He's thinking of sous vide prime rib with a steak for me (not a fan of prime rib). I hope I can get into the spirit soon so I can bake something.

Deep condolences, Alina. This could stay with you a long time. Awhile back I started to call my dad for our Sunday chat and stopped just short of dialing when I remembered it had been 12 years. Still, the memories are good. I assume and hope that your memories are as well and that you know he would want you to celebrate his life and life in general. 97 is outstanding

We are having an "orphans" Christmas Eve open house for anyone with no where to go. I have spanokopida from Costco, will bake a brie topped in apple butter in puff pastry, crackers, hummus, cookies, shrimp and a few pizzas.
I like the idea of stuffed dates and arancini too, I'll see if there's time to make them.
JB - how do you do your dates? And what's involved in the roulades?

Alina - I'm sorry for your loss. I think it is a difficult thing at any age.

Jean - I take medjool dates, remove the pit, and replace it with a shard of Parmesan.

For the roulades, I take 8 oz. of goat cheese, season it with some chopped parsley, and a clove of minced garlic, then roll up spoonfuls of the mixture in strips of prosciutto.

Both "recipes" come from a spread on antipasti in the May/June 1996 issue of CI.

thanks....I should have that one too so will look it over.