Christmas Eve 2015 Tapas Menu

It was so much fun to have my brother Pat joined Claire, Mike and I for the holidays.  We had so much fun cooking together.  I especially appreciated that he made the crab cakes this year.  The lime remoulade was outstanding. 

The wine of fantastic. We started with white; a dry Riesling from Terra Valentine that Claire brought and the Salus Chardonnay for the two Mike's. The one wine missing from this photo is the Girasole Muscat Canelli included just for Jan.  We are so happy Jan and Mike Pitzo also joined in the fun on Christmas eve. The festivities start right after the 4:00 children's mass. Another highlight for me was singing in church with Claire. :)

• Meatballs with pineapple (Mom's recipe)
• Blue cheese stuffed bacon wrapped dates
• Shrimp cocktail
• Empanadas (Made for Thanksgiving and froze some. I will definitely do that again.) Great with the corn salsa
• Crab cakes with lime remoulade and corn salsa
• Spinach artichoke dip made by Claire was super delicious with toasted Asiago bread
• Salted almonds
• Popcorn with truffle salt
• A variety of cheeses (smoked Gouda, aged cheddar, Boursin, etc.) olives and wonderful deer salami from Mike.
• Large green grapes
• The port was delicious with the fudge made by Jan and the chocolate covered strawberries sent by my sister Jane. I also made almond joy bars, one of my favorites.

An extra benefit to this amazing feast is we have plenty of food for the next day. On Christmas morning I made an egg casserole served with a  grapefruit and mint salad with coffee cake along with mimosas.

After breakfast Claire and I go into movie and knitting mode and no more cooking happens.  Super fun holiday!

I forgot to serve the Fondue Cheesecake Bites with Red Grape Relish.  They are delicious.  I will make these and again and actually serve them