Good eats
Well, Christmas is behind us for another year, and I'm happy to say that the KayakFamily did a lot of good eating this year. Claire rediscovered her all-consuming passion for chicken parm, and discovered a new love - chocolate.
I made Christmas Eve dinner here, for my parents, and my brother and his family. It was a bit of a tight fit, but we made it work. Because we shared Christmas Eve for many, many years with neighbors who are Italian, we decided to stick with what we knew. (The neighbor in question has moved to Pennsylvania to be closer to her grandkids...)
So, the menu -
Chicken Parm
Pasta with marinara sauce (We had both whole wheat and regular, and barely any was eaten)
Shrimp marinara
Mussels marinara
Calamari a la Patricia (that's what we call it - it's cut up, sauteed with a lot of garlic, oil and red pepper flake and then flavored with a little tomatoe
Bread
My sister-in-law made the chicken parm, my mom provided the pasta and the bread and I tackled the rest. I was mostly nervous about the calamari. Cook it wrong and you've got a massive pot of rubber bands. But I kept the heat low, and it came out great!) The shrimp and mussels were also a hit! Claire stuck to whole-wheat pasta, sauce and a piece of chicken parm. She kept asking for more. Also, I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies - and she liked those too.
Mom and my brother handled Christmas dinner - turkey, duck and the trimmings. Carrots, green beans almondine, stuffing, mashed potatoes, bread, olives, cranberry sauce.
Then for Boxing Day, the KayakFamily went to visit the other grandparents. Claire was pretty good in the car for both the drive up there and back, and really only lost her shit when it came to nap time. She's really only interested in sleeping in Her Crib these days. So, Kayakboy went back and slept with her for a while. Lunch up there was ham, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, corn bread, salad and more desserts than I have ever seen on one table. Note to self - have to try those Root Beer Float cupcakes for yourself!
So today was just an easy relaxing day - Claire needs to get back into her routine. She's been pushed to the limit since Tuesday really, and so we opted to stay home. Feels pretty good.
I made Christmas Eve dinner here, for my parents, and my brother and his family. It was a bit of a tight fit, but we made it work. Because we shared Christmas Eve for many, many years with neighbors who are Italian, we decided to stick with what we knew. (The neighbor in question has moved to Pennsylvania to be closer to her grandkids...)
So, the menu -
Chicken Parm
Pasta with marinara sauce (We had both whole wheat and regular, and barely any was eaten)
Shrimp marinara
Mussels marinara
Calamari a la Patricia (that's what we call it - it's cut up, sauteed with a lot of garlic, oil and red pepper flake and then flavored with a little tomatoe
Bread
My sister-in-law made the chicken parm, my mom provided the pasta and the bread and I tackled the rest. I was mostly nervous about the calamari. Cook it wrong and you've got a massive pot of rubber bands. But I kept the heat low, and it came out great!) The shrimp and mussels were also a hit! Claire stuck to whole-wheat pasta, sauce and a piece of chicken parm. She kept asking for more. Also, I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies - and she liked those too.
Mom and my brother handled Christmas dinner - turkey, duck and the trimmings. Carrots, green beans almondine, stuffing, mashed potatoes, bread, olives, cranberry sauce.
Then for Boxing Day, the KayakFamily went to visit the other grandparents. Claire was pretty good in the car for both the drive up there and back, and really only lost her shit when it came to nap time. She's really only interested in sleeping in Her Crib these days. So, Kayakboy went back and slept with her for a while. Lunch up there was ham, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, corn bread, salad and more desserts than I have ever seen on one table. Note to self - have to try those Root Beer Float cupcakes for yourself!
So today was just an easy relaxing day - Claire needs to get back into her routine. She's been pushed to the limit since Tuesday really, and so we opted to stay home. Feels pretty good.
Comments