CHRISTMAS EVE

What is Christmas Eve to an Italian family?  It’s at least 7 fishes!  Christmas Eve is held at my cousin’s house.  There are probably about 30 people for dinner.  (not really so many for dinner compared to our outside picnics – they can host up to 60-75 people – but we’ll get into that later when we blog about the Fourth of July).  Everybody tries to help out with the food.  Of course the main meal is handled by the “older” family members.  The younger family handles the desserts (and drinks).  There is a constant joke that when the “older family” is unable to handle this celebration, the younger members, and by younger I mean the “close to” fifties will take over by having “take out”!  At this point in the game, the twenty-something’s really have no clue.  We still cannot even get them to wash or dry the dishes, so what did we do?  We went to plastic!  Only one member of the family, the eldest – Maria’s dad, my Uncle Al – he was 93 God bless his soul – still ate on china while we used plastic, but he passed this year (may he rest in peace).

My cousin Maria, who hosts this dinner, her husband Jimmy (may he rest in peace) who was Irish, would always say that the Italians would eat the plastic fruit if it was on the table.  We miss his sense of humor!

Whenever there have been small children around, Santa would be sure to stop.   Most times we would hear the fire truck while we were eating dinner or other times much later in the night when the children were sleepy.   He would have gifts for all the little ones.  It never seemed to fail, at the age of 2; the children would scream and cry.  Sometimes you would try and sneak your kid on his lap if the child had fallen asleep and woken up, all hell would break loose!  Unfortunately, I cannot locate any pictures of this although I know they exist.  

After dinner, all of the adults would exchange gifts.   We tried a Pollyanna once, but that didn’t really work out, so we went back to everyone exchanging.  More recently due to the expense, we say we only do for our own immediate family, but most of us usually give a family gift instead, so everyone is at least thought of.  Some members of the family, give out their gifts early, and say they are not Christmas presents, they were just something she picked up (right Mom?).  The children still always receive gifts from everyone.  After all, Christmas is for the kids.  We put a cut off, at the age of 18 for kid’s gifts, but for some reason gifts still keep coming and my kids are 21 and 17.  The cut off seems to follow when the children actually move out, then they get a house gift, if there are 2 in the house.

I love giving presents.  I usually start actively shopping in September-October.   In July, however, I usually already have a least 1 gift put aside.  I love seeing people open what I have picked out for them.  I really try and find something that is unique to them.  As I am getting older, I find that I am starting to have a hard time keeping the secret, but I still can, unlike my Mother who has already shown us (me and my girls) things she has purchased for us for Christmas already.  Let me also state that I already have been wearing a ring that she purchased for my birthday.  My birthday is in September, she gave it to me in February.  She loves to give hints as to what her gifts are, even if you don’t want them.  She keeps saying things until you finally know what it is, and then she says you guessed it.  My mother is 73, so she is not senile yet.  She just cannot keep a secret. 

Getting back to the menu for Christmas Eve.  Most times we do have the very same things every year.  Why deviate from perfection?

1.)    Clams and Spaghetti

2.)    Tuna with roasted peppers and black olives

3.)    Smelts

4.)    Calamari (Squid)

5.)    Crab Imperial

6.)    Shrimp Scampi

7.)    Shrimp Wrapped in Bacon

8.)    Cod in lemon

9.)    Cod in red gravy (or sauce as some might say)

Along with all this on the table there is salad, bread, olives, fennel, fruit (not the plastic type) and figs.  The desserts come out later.

The shrimp wrapped in bacon is the quickest to go and, to me, the best of the meal.  I could just eat that and would be extremely happy.  The recipe is my fathers, may he rest in peace, and is made with his special sauce.  Some of you may be familiar with this as it is sold locally and has put the “Golden Nugget” in Berlin on the map for its wings.  Unfortunately the Nugget fell victim to arson and at this point has still not reopened.  I am told they are selling the wings from another location. Another location in West Deptford that does extremely well with Tony’s Wing Sauce is “King of Steaks”.

Shrimp Wrapped in Bacon

Jumbo shrimp

Bacon

Tony’s Wing Sauce

Take bacon and cut in pieces (about 1 - 1 ½ inches long)

Wrap bacon around cleaned shrimp (trying to cover the center of the shrimp)

Spoon wing sauce onto each bacon wrapped shrimp

Broil until bacon is crisp and shrimp looks white, flip over and put wing sauce on second side

When bacon is crispy and shrimp is cooked, remove and enjoy.  You can spoon some of the sauce that melted off back onto the shrimp before serving.  Each side may take about 10 minutes, depending upon the size of the shrimp and the thickness of the bacon.

A quick note regarding the sauce, we no longer own the company, my father's partner bought the company from us – so I am not trying to make a sale, just trying to introduce you to an excellent product.  This sauce is excellent on anything!  It was originally made for wings (I'll go into that story under my Superbowl blog), but it is great on fish, pork, chicken, rice and even chicken quesadillas.  My daughters even put in on toast and popcorn!