Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For us, Christmas Eve is always Feast of the Seven Fishes, a popular Italian American tradition for xmas eve.

We will usually have 1 main "cooked" dish, like cioppino or linguine with clam sauce, which can be made in advance. Everything else is from the market, including cracked crab, chilled shrimp, smoked salmon, crab cakes, caviar.

It feels very festive.

https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/12/07/where-to-find-feasts-of-the-seven-fishes-around-dc-for-christmas-eve/

You do 7 different dishes!

We put shrimp, calamari, clams, mussels and scallops in our pasta.

That’s 5

Crab dip and smoked salmon as app.

We did a traditional Italian meal growing up, but it was squid in tomato sauce with pasta. Man it smelled.

The seven fishes thing must be an East Coast Italian American tradition. I am Italian-American from the Midwest and I had never heard of it. We are Sicilian and we have spiedinis, which are truly the most delicious thing on Earth.

The last few years we did broth fondue (I make a vegetable stock) and I have platters of beef, chicken, shrimp and salmon, plus a variety of veggies. Everyone get fondue nets and skewers and cooks their own, then we get a large sample of sauces and dips.

But this year, I want to do something different so I'll be making my twist on surf and turf. We will be having roast leg of lamb and a broiled teriyaki salmon. Plus sides.

We make a cioppino too. Plus spaghetti w/garlic oil for kids. Nods to my upbringing where we had literally 7 fishes and various southern Italian dishes. I no longer live near my family and this just makes me feel good during the holidays. So grateful my husband has supported me keeping this tradition alive for 20 years. He makes the soup. ❤️

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lasagna

Same. So easy. With good bread, heavy apps, Christmas cookies and wine

Same. Ordering from the Italian store.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If lasagne doesn’t seem quite fancy enough, maybe manicotti or stuffed shells? With a nice antipasto and good garlic bread.

How is that fancier thsn lasagna?
Lasagna is best, imo.

I am not PP but if I make manicotti it is a big deal, as I make each shell from scratch (basically like making a ton of crepes). Lasagna is not as big a deal. I do it for Easter, usually.

Chinese before heading to midnight mass. I’m not cleaning up my kitchen before or after church. I usually do a breakfast casserole that’s already set up in the fridge for Christmas morning and then cook a full Christmas dinner.

Anonymous wrote:If lasagne doesn’t seem quite fancy enough, maybe manicotti or stuffed shells? With a nice antipasto and good garlic bread.

How is that fancier thsn lasagna?
Lasagna is best, imo.

We do an appetizer meal for the 24th. I make some, TJs makes some .

Like you we do 4pm Mass on Christmas Eve so our traditional Christmas Eve dinner is soup with good bread, sometimes a side salad and Christmas cookies for dessert. If we didn't go to church that evening I could see doing something more fun and special.

We do a bigger, fancier dinner on Christmas, usually a beef tenderloin or prime rib with all sorts of side dishes, but the dinner hour on the 24th is already a bit hectic so soup that I can then keep warm in the slow cooker while we're at church is a game-changer in my stress levels.

We've done raclette the past couple of years, and it's been fun.

You could do the prep (cut up sausages and veg) beforehand.

We always have prime rib and crab legs.

Going to my inlaws where they essentially repeat the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Jealous of these other options.

Breakfast we always do a casserole with bread, eggs, cheese and sausage that sits overnight in the refrigerator and is baked on Christmas morning.

Smoked turkey (ordered, just have to slice) and Martha Stewart’s mac and cheese, which you can make the day before and bake the night you want it.