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jennifer rose

Dec 21, 2004, 7:38 AM

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Christmas Dinner

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What's on your menu for Christmas dinner? Bacalao vizcaini, turkey, pollo en mole, tamales, or ???

The residents of Casa Rose will be worrying not about our menu, because we have invitations! Our only concern is finding an appropriate hostess gift. We're invited to a Mexican friend's house for Chilean cuisine -- how's that for fusion fare? What are your ideas for the perfect hostess gift?

Uncle Jack


Dec 21, 2004, 7:52 AM

Post #2 of 18 (1668 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Christmas Dinner

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Wine, always wine. Even it your host or hostess does not drink, wine for their guests now or in the future is always appropriate.

Of course, I ain't never met none body who dint like chocolates.

uj

esperanza

Dec 21, 2004, 8:11 AM

Post #3 of 18 (1666 views)

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Re: [Uncle Jack] Christmas Dinner

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I'll be sharing Christmas dinner with friends at their home. The husband adores creamed peas with baby onions, so I volunteered to make them.

The perfect hostess gift: if you can find a bottle of Mamá Pita's almond tequila liqueur, you will be the hit of the day. I've tasted several brands, but Mamá Pita is superb. If you find two bottles, save one for me--it's hard to find.




http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com








julietl


Dec 21, 2004, 8:39 AM

Post #4 of 18 (1664 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Christmas Dinner

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We are going to my boyfriend's family home. Last year it was chile rellenos & albondigas, rice, beans, great cheeses and lots of tequilla and beer. (I am hoping for a repeat.)

I threw a big comida for family and friends on Sunday: chicken chipotle empanadas, quiche lorraine, albondigas, smoked salmon mousse, spanikopita, and crostini with various toppings.

As for the hostess gift, I have to agree with wine, you can never have enough. You could also bring a bottle of Chilean Pisco to go with the menu.

Although, after the party on Sunday, I am thinking that perhaps a gift certificate for a massage may be just the thing......
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(This post was edited by julietm on Dec 21, 2004, 8:42 AM)

Gayla

Dec 21, 2004, 9:19 AM

Post #5 of 18 (1653 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Christmas Dinner

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Jennifer

Gotta agree with the wine suggestion, it's easy, portable and almost always a welcome gift. Except I'd say go for champagne/sprakling wine, it's more festive, the bubbles, you know. If you can find them in Mexico - which is hard believe it or not - go for any of the Monte Xanic or Camus vineyard wines. These are 2 of the boutique wineries in Baja del Norte, in the Valle de Guadalupe just a stones throw North of Ensenada. I've sampled almost the entire product line and they're all good. I think both make a sparkling wine, but I'm not entirely sure on that.

Wines have been grown in this region for eons, but it was bad to awful wine at best. But with the wine boom in CA during the 70s, 80s and beyond, some of the local familes figured out they were actually sitting on a gold mine in that the Valle de Guadalupe has a climate nearly identical to Napa and Sonoma. So they started sending their kids to France to learn wine making and to the vinecology program at UC Davis to learn wine making. The kids came home and began praciticing what they had learned. Then they began picking off winemakers and marketing guys who were looking to get out of the rat-race that is the CA wine industry.

The Baja wines are hard to find in California due to import regulations, and they can be somewhat hard to find in Mexico if you aren't in a big city. The high-end liquor stores generally will carry it.

Bubba

Dec 21, 2004, 11:53 AM

Post #6 of 18 (1642 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Christmas Dinner

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The French have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and ours will start with foie gras on toast points served with Perrier Jouet Brut Champagne. Then sea bass served with a bone dry Alsatian Gewurtztraminer by Trimbach (don't worry, you can't find that in Mexico - we snuck it in. Alsatian Gewurtztraminer made by other producers can be found in Guadalajara and other big cities at finer wine stores. It is far superior, in our opinion, to that made anywhere else.), chicken stuffed with chestnuts* and brussel sprouts cooked the French way#. With that course we will have a Dominus '97 from Yountville in the Napa Valley. We'll end the meal with a salad we learned to make from Casa Oaxaca consisting of pears, apples, avocado and mixed greens with a dressing of oil and balsamic vinegar flavored with roasted pumpkin seeds. The thing ends with almond cake with a raspberry coulis followed by a glass of calvados and cafe express.

Now you know one of the reasons I married a frog instead of a southern belle walkin' around going, "Well, Ah do declare, that's the best Cold Duck Ah done ever tasted, Sweetie Pie."

* For those of you living in the lake Chapala area, we found chestnuts imported from Spain at Super Lake.

#That is, brussel sprouts parboiled and then sauteed in pure butter until a rich brown color. Lordy, lord, if you had any idea how we could ruin that fabulous vegetable down in South Alabama.


(This post was edited by Bubba on Dec 22, 2004, 9:00 AM)

sfmacaws


Dec 21, 2004, 8:01 PM

Post #7 of 18 (1608 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Christmas Dinner

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Oh Lordy Bubba, you owe me a keyboard now that I drooled all over this one. That sounds like an exquisite meal. You are very lucky to have found that particular frog, she's not only smart but gorgeous and a sublime cook. Now, what she saw in you I can't imagine. You must have been very persuasive or it was your sparkling wit that won her over.

We arrived in San Miguel today and were happy to see other RVers here. We find that we miss hanging out with RV folks if we are away too long. We've already been invited to share Christmas dinner with a group, I don't know the menu yet but I can guarantee that it will be a potluck and that everyone will bring their own chairs and probably their own booze as well. I think I'll make my mini cheesecakes and perhaps a salad. It is another world to some of you but the feeling of family and kinship that we find with other RVers is one of the best parts of this life. Two of the couples here are members of the same RV club we are, the Escapees, so we introduced ourselves with hugs and were immediately family. Another couple we met in Belize a couple years ago, it's a small world when your house has wheels.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Rolly


Dec 21, 2004, 8:18 PM

Post #8 of 18 (1604 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Christmas Dinner

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Tamales and more tamales. We had our first tamal party tonight at the front house where I live. In the midst of the party, my Santa Claus suit arrived. I tried it on, and the kids went ape. I'm to be Santa at a church party Thursday night. I hope it snows 'cause this suit is really heavy! Stay tuned for pictures.

Rolly Pirate

jennifer rose

Dec 21, 2004, 8:24 PM

Post #9 of 18 (1601 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Christmas Dinner

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That does it. I'm heading over to Bubba's for the recaldo on Christmas Day. I'll even bring some marrons glaces as a hostess gift. Heck, I'm tempted to even bring along some of my pine nut and raki stash.

EEK

Dec 22, 2004, 7:03 AM

Post #10 of 18 (1587 views)

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French food -- of course, but

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Bubba, bubba, Bubba... You made me hungry. French food of course, but you forget I'm from the Gulf Coast. Everything your wife cooks, I would cherish, but lets go a step further. The first French NOB were frontier men. They ate what they found, bear, buffalo and beaver.
Then about the same time came Creoles and Acadians. Things changed. The Creole tried to stay with French tradations, but supllies were limited. Bouillabaise turned into gumbo, crawfish and oysters found their way into a good bisque, audouille survived. Shrimp found a good jambalaya for a home.
Then came the Acadian (Cajun). Tasso and boudin (red & white) arose, coush-coush snook in, any kind of game became sauce piquante, hogs made fromage de tete, vegetables grew from squashes and mirliton. Frog legs, alligators, Canada and snow geese, ducks and turtles became fair game. Lagnippe for the dogs became hush puppies and for the children became Ouf La Neige (I don't know the French- we called it Floating Islands) or plain Lait de vanille. Rue's became secrets and worth while fighting about. You never want to have a Creole and Cajun cook in the same kitchen. If you want to see the difference go to the old resturants in New Orleans (Antoines or Galluatois) or anywhere in cajun land.
Stay away from the new (cooks like Paul Prudahone - dern newcomers- with their new blacken red fish).
The Germans, Spanish, Mexicans, Africans. and Yankees came with their file', beans, cinnamin, sassafras, corn, grits, garlic, chile peppers, Tabasco, yams,okra, chocolate, -yes Bubba chicory.

As for my Christmas dinner. I will go to the children's house in Houston and let them do a typical Turkey NOB dinner. But the day after Christmas, what is left of the turkey finds some rue', some bay leaf, some andouille or just plain salt meat, then the Trinity (onions, bell pepper and celery). A rebirth--- Turkey gumbo.
Tell your wife to get two tables -- one for the old World (French traditional dishes with her delicious flair) and one for me (downright good Creole/Cajun cookin'). I don't know if Mexico can handle this. Yum...yum. Just me...eek!

Bubba

Dec 22, 2004, 9:41 AM

Post #11 of 18 (1566 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Christmas Dinner

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You're on Jennifer. I don't know how much we'll have left over but the raki, pine nuts and marrons glaces plus our stash of xtabentun honey and anis liquor we brought back from Merida should see us through. Hell, if nothing else, after the raki and xtabentun, we'll be feeling no pain.

By the way, the xtabentun, if you haven't had it is very sweet but quite nice and it has a kick to it. My wife is Basque whose family hails from the area near Biarritz and the xtabentun reminds us of the Basque liquor Izarra. I think I now know the origins of the Mayans. Those Basque are a tricky lot.

EEK!. Don't forget that Bubba is a gulf coast boy as well and Bubbette is an honorary Mobilian. When we first got married, we lived a few miles from Alabama's Dauphin Island which, by the way, was the first capital of French Louisiana before a hurricane and smallpox decimated the colony. It is then that they moved the capital to New Orleans. You have caused the boy to change some plans with your talk of gulf coast food. When I drive to Texas to sell my truck next spring, I'm taking a detour over to Louisiana to pig out on the food you describe in your post.

EEK

Dec 22, 2004, 6:54 PM

Post #12 of 18 (1540 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Christmas Dinner

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Rolly: What do you mean a Santa suit and play Santa at a party? Some of us still believe. NOB Santa lives at the north pole and eats cookies and milk. Now you tell me he eats tamales and looks for snow. I've been good this year, not naughty, and always nice. You better save me some tamales and send me a picture for my wall (I'll put it right next to my playmate calandar). Enjoy your holidays. eek!

Carol Schmidt


Dec 23, 2004, 12:11 PM

Post #13 of 18 (1513 views)

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Thai pizza for Christmas

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We're having Christmas dinner at a friend's, so I don't know that will be on that menu, but the next day we're having eight people over for homemade Thai peanut pizza (recipe from the California Pizza Kitchen), homemade pineapple coconut ice cream, foccacio, salad, and cookies. Why not?

Carol Schmidt

Bubba

Dec 23, 2004, 12:24 PM

Post #14 of 18 (1509 views)

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Re: [Carol Schmidt] Thai pizza for Christmas

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OK, Carol, come clean. You're telling me you have a California Pizza Kitchen recipe book? I used to love their BLT Pizza. Very innovative people. You wouldn't want to share this now, would you?

Carron

Dec 24, 2004, 9:58 AM

Post #15 of 18 (1487 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Christmas Dinner

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After having attended several Christmas parties with posole, chili con carne, tamales, arroz, frijoles charros, tacos de everything imaginable and possibly unimaginable as well, moles, rajas con crema, enough postres to last until the next season, and did I mention tamales????, my husband and I are spending a deliciously quiet Christmas just the two of us together. After years of raising 6 kids and one or both of us always having to work on The Day, we are having a thoroughly wonderful time at home.

We are enjoying a constant supply of salty nuts (not including just the two of us!), assorted cheeses, olives ripe and green, slices of fruit cake, hot teas,
brandy, wine, and our kind of music on the stereo.

This morning hubby prepared boneless pork chops, an omelet, grits, toast and jelly. I made a pot of Community coffee and chickory from my hometown of New Orleans.

Tomorrow I will make comida. Found a half turkey breast on one of our infrequent trips to WalMart that was reduced from $1.18 a pound to 68 cents. Since I don't have an oven, I will steam it and serve the slices in a cream gravy. Add a box of instant dressing, which I will doctor up to suit our tastes, some whole sweet potatoes simply cooked in their skins and slathered with real butter (to remind us both of the way our grandmothers used to cook), and make a side of long-cooked green beans seasoned with bacon and onions. And open a couple of cans of cranberry sauce. Serve with wine on my best china and matching table linens. There will be no room left for desserts, but we will be listening to our newest copy of Janis Joplin's greatest hits (our children know they have to replace our worn out CD every couple of years) and toasting each other's health and happiness with cups of strong coffee laced with Kahlua.

May each and everyone of you have a day of peace and rest and joyful companionship.

Carol Schmidt


Dec 25, 2004, 9:29 AM

Post #16 of 18 (1457 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Thai pizza for Christmas

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Actually, the recipe for the California Pizza Kitchen's Thai pizza is online at

http://www.rosewave.com/...ThaiChickenPizza.htm

I didn't see an official recipe for their BLT pizza but here's the link to what someone did to create a lighter version of the pizza:

http://www.innershine.com/....jsp?id=000000026161.

I never tried it and can't in good conscience recommend a diet pizza to you, Bubba, not without fearing for my life.

There is a California Pizza Kitchen cookbook and my sister told me she is sending Norma one for Christmas, though it isn't here yet.

You'd be surprised what famous restaurant recipes are online now. And we have copies of every book in the series of "Top Secret Recipes" which are pretty close knock-offs of just about every U.S. restaurant meal you ever dream about.

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Carol Schmidt

(This post was edited by Carol Schmidt on Dec 25, 2004, 9:39 AM)

esperanza

Dec 25, 2004, 9:39 AM

Post #17 of 18 (1451 views)

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Re: [Carol Schmidt] Thai pizza for Christmas

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Top Secret Recipes are online, too--http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/.

I just finished making a vat of creamed peas and onions for dinner today and was thinking how grateful I am that I didn't need to prepare an entire Christmas dinner--relish trays to turkey to pies--by myself. Where I'm going, everybody will bring something wonderful and nobody will be exhausted from cooking the entire feast. Hallelujah and please pass the rutabagas!




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Bubba

Dec 25, 2004, 11:28 AM

Post #18 of 18 (1445 views)

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Re: [Carol Schmidt] Thai pizza for Christmas

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Thanks, Carol. And, you are right about the diet food. Our Zapoteco friends from Oaxaca brought us some Jacobsen's Danish Butter Cookies today as a Christmas present and these turned out to be "sans sucre" or sugar free. They don't really read English or French so they had no idea that these divine Danish cookies were sugar free. I was very upset since these cookies with sugar are normally exquisitely delicious. We really miss European sweets. Innovation, however, is in the American spirit so I found that if I dipped these sugar free cookies in Havana Club Seven Year Old Dark Rum, they regained much of their charm. Especially those consumed toward the end of my repast.
 
 
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