feast of seven fishes

christmas eve dinner

has always been a bit of a hodgepodge for us

growing up

my mom and i would do most of the cooking

relatives would contribute to the bounty

with a specialty or two of their own

the only constant

baccala

and

linguine with clam sauce

the rest

a crap shoot

as the crowd grew from 20 or so people

to upwards of 70

my folks began having the affair catered

among the large chaffing dishes of gorgeous catered food

there was always a platter of

baccala

and

linguine with clam sauce

always

for the first time

in the 40 plus years my folks have lived in california

we are doing an immediate family only christmas eve

which means

instead of 70 people

we will be 

17

also

for the very first time 

we are doing a traditional italian christmas eve supper

a feast of seven fishes

(for more on this tradition click here)

but

because i am italian

which means

my fear of not having enough food for people to eat

supersedes my need for stress reduction

we are having

2 by land and 8 by sea

because

what is christmas without just a little bit of pork?

because

i am not crazy enough to make the food twice

(once for the blog and once for real)

i will be sharing the recipes

post christmas

but

i wanted to share our menu

just in case 

you are looking for last minute ideas

A Feast of Seven Fishes

Christmas Eve

roasted shrimp cocktail
gravlax with blini
calamari fritti
bluefin tuna tartar
cheese platter

linguine with clam sauce
orchiette with sausage & spinach
king crab
swordfish siciliano
baccala pugliese
kalua pork

arugula salad
braised leeks
roasted asparagus

cream puffs
cannoli
chocolates
cookies

Merry Christmas 
to those of you who celebrate
...a weekend filled with joy
for all