Treat of the Week, Part I: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, 2013

Ah! Christmas… It means many things to many people. For me, beyond images of  stars and sparkling trees, Christmas means food. Now, as you all know, my mother treats me and Bertie to a beautiful meal once a week when we visit her and my father. But, on Christmas (and New Year’s Day and Eve), the food is at the very height of its gloriousness. 

So, today and tomorrow we will be doing a two-part “Treat of the Week,” (since it was too much for one day's post) and taking a look back at the sumptuous holiday feasts which marked a grand and beautiful end to 2013, which was a hideous year, I’ll tell you! 

You’ve all already seen the cookies. Oh, the cookies! Lovely, wonderful cookies. But, there was so much more…

On Christmas Eve, we began, as we traditionally do, with our own little personalized antipasto, rich with imported cheeses, meats and olives.  No roasted peppers on mine, please, as I'm allergic.

This year, my mother made something we haven't had in years!  Manicotti!  From scratch!  Homemade, tender, delicate crepes, lovingly filled with cheese were topped with a rich tomato sauce cooked with vodka and prosciutto.  Heaven, pure heaven!  Truly, I don't think we've had this since we've lived in Texas and that's been well over twenty years, so, it was a much appreciated feast.

Cookies followed.  Lovely, perfect cookies.

And, then we slept.

Typically, our Christmas tradition begins thusly--a large Italian feast starts of the festivities on Christmas Eve. This is a nod to our Italian heritage. In case you hadn't guessed, "Crisalli" is an Italian name. 

Christmas Day, however, we indulge in a traditional English feast--not because we're English, but because we are Anglophiles. This will come as no surprise to regular readers of this site.

The morning of Christmas day, we began with a lovely breakfast of homemade scones and clotted cream.  Hooray!

So, on Christmas Day, we stuffed ourselves with herbed prime rib and Yorkshire puddings (one of my favorite things in the world) garnished with a luxurious gravy and whipped cream infused with horseradish. Gorgeous! This is accompanied by roasted potatoes and petite, buttered Brussels Sprouts.  Lovely, fluffy homemade biscuits were an ideal companion to the meal.

For each holiday meal, we partake in the English tradition of "crackers," those brightly-wrapped cardboard tubes filled with a paper crowns, mottos, and a prize.  When pulled apart, they pop like gun-fire.  Bertie always runs, and tends to associate dinners in my parents' dining room with the sound.

And, so, once Bertie was soothed and convinced we weren't shooting one another, we sliced into this year's Christmas Cottage Cake.

This ginger spice pound cake, in the form of a snow-covered cottage is painstakingly decorated by my mother who takes great care with it--down to ensuring that each of the four trees are trimmed with little icing ornaments. Each year, one or more of you will always ask if my mom is going to make the “cottage cake,” so, we thought of all of you as we ate it. And, we laughed…because you can’t have any. Okay, I’m kidding about the laughing bit. 

We had a wonderful time and , as usual, we ate far too much. But, as the song says, “Christmas Comes But Once a Year.” And, so, I’m gonna get all that I can.

Tomorrow, you'll get a look at our New Year's festivities.