When my daughter was young, I made it a point to always be home with my family on Christmas Eve. This is what I’ve served for over 25 years and I’m happy to say they still love it. Now that my daughter is grown and has her own family, we spend Christmas Eve at her home. This means bringing pots, pans and making the Seafood Pasta in her kitchen. It is amazing how simple the recipe is, I hope you try it and make any day special.
Family Style Seafood Pasta
1/4 cup olive oil in the largest pot you have
I large onion diced
4 cloves garlic chopped
2 Large cans diced tomatoes in sauce
Hot pepper flakes to taste – I like it spicy
Salt/Pepper to taste
3/4 Cup red wine
18 large shrimp cleaned
1/2 Lb small scallops
24 Small clams – rinsed
12 small lobster tails
2 lbs thin spaghetti
2 cans white clam sauce – optional
Heat up olive oil in large pot – add diced onion and garlic, saute for about 5 minutes – add red pepper flakes and saute for another 5 minutes – add canned tomatoes and wine and bring to a slow boil for about 20 minutes. Add the clams carefully, lobster tails, shrimp and scallops . Carefully stir once or twice. Bring back to slow boil until the clams open and shrimp and lobster tails turn pink. Shut off heat and stir in white clam sauce. (I like the little hint of flavor the white (NOT RED) clam sauce gives. Put cooked/drained spaghetti in large serving dish (we use a large roasting pan) and top with Seafood Sauce. Put extra sauce and seafood in a large bowl. Make a salad, pass the bread and open a bottle of your favorite wine. Enjoy!!This year my daughter decided to host a ugly sweater contest – The kids made their own with items from the Dollar Store – Lots of fun!
2 cups cold heavy cream
3 Tb sugar
1 cup each – blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries (Total 4 cups fruit)
3 oz grappa or rum or whatever you like
1 Panettone Cake
Whisk the heavy cream with 2 tb sugar in a large bowl until firm.
In another large bowl, add all the fruit, 1 tb sugar and grappa or rum. Stir and let stand for a few minutes until sugar melts.
Cut the cake into 1 -1 1/2 in thick slices. Reconstruct the Panettone cake by layers, spreading the whipping cream and mixed fruit and juices equally between the layered pieces. Repeat until all the cake is put back together. Top the cake with remaining whipped cream and fruit. If you have more, you can put around the bottom of the cake.
12 servings
Honestly, I lost control of the situation from the start (too many cans of whipped cream going on) but Merci said go on with the show, so we went with it. We used frozen fruit (had lots of juice), left out the sugar and rum/grappa and used canned whipped cream. The kids just loved the reddi whipp cans and went to town, really had a great time and we made a big mess. Fun stuff . P.S. Now I know how OIive Oyl felt around Popeyes’ nephews
Black Friday and Cyber Monday have past, but there are still plenty of bargains you can pick up in the month of December.
Computers – Buy an older model before the new ones are released. Check out tech blogs and manufacturers web sites to stay on top of release dates
Seasonal Produce - Stick to locally grown produce
Airline Tickets – Planning a spring get away, shop for rates early in the week booking flights that depart in the middle of the week or on a Saturday. Sign up to receive e-mail alerts for fares in your price range (Kayak.com)
Champagne – Look for specials through the month of December and before Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Chocolate & Candy – The days after a big holiday is a excellant time to get deals of chocolate and candy. Check local supermarkets, mass retailers and pharmacies and compare prices. Look for the higher end chocolate to have the better deal . Your sweet tooth will thank you in the new year.
Three Kings Day is celebrated today, January 6, 2012, twelve days after Christmas. Today is viewed as the last day of the Christmas season ( the end of the 12 days of Christmas). Three Kings Day, an ancient celebration that commemorates the visit of Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. Though Christmas may have faded into the past for much of the western world, many eastern nations and Spanish speaking parts of the world are just now getting into the holiday spirit. All around the world, there are many ways that today will be celebrated – through food, dance, parades and costumes. But everywhere, the (good) kids – wake up to gifts from the Magi!!
When my daughter was young, I made it a point to always be home with my family on Christmas Eve. This is what I’ve served for over 25 years and I’m happy to say they still love it. Now that my daughter is grown and has her own family, we spend Christmas Eve at her home. This means bringing pots, pans and making the Seafood Pasta in her kitchen. It is amazing how simple the recipe is, I hope you try it and make any day special.
This year my daughter decided to host a ugly sweater contest – The kids made their own with items from the Dollar Store – Lots of fun!
