[Sca-cooks] Christmas stuff

Christiane christianetrue at earthlink.net
Mon Dec 28 09:51:57 PST 2009


I received nothing in the way of cooking stuff, but I did use some of the cash we were given to get a decent stainless steel slotted spatula at Target (all one-piece forged construction rather than the riveted dollar-store piece o'crap that I had been using). 

I did give my mom a large bottle of Madagascar vanilla extract and a set of Le Creuset silicone spatulas; I scored both at a store called Tuesday Morning.

Christmas Eve was my aunt's usual "feast of the seven fishes" (actually four); cold appetizers were shrimp with cocktail sauce, a platter of smoked mozzarella, sharp provolone, figs, dates, and olives, a dish of stuffed cherry peppers, a dish of little anchovies, a platter of fresh mozzarella with red onion, tomatoes, and basil, my aunt's saladura, my aunt's olive salad, and fried artichoke hearts. The rest of the fish came in the hot meal; shrimp in garlic and butter sauce, linguine with white clam sauce, lobster tails with drawn butter, and stuffed mushrooms. The saladura, a sort of fermented salty pickle of hot peppers, celery, and olives, continues to be good, but this year, I ate far less of it, and my stomach thanked me for it. There was also locally delivered pizza, which my husband, my cousin's husband, and her son ate (my husband likes pizza and my cousin's husband and son can't stand fish).

My mom made cream puffs and her raspberry mousse. 

For New Year's Eve, I plan to make a vegan vegetable lasagna, as the folks hosting the party are vegetarians and my husband is lactose intolerant. I experimented already with a baked ziti for the hubby in which I used tofu as a substitute for ricotta, and a rice milk-based mozzarella that actually tasted fairly decent, so this should turn out OK, especially since I will be making my own sauce for it. 

Adelisa



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