It's Christmas morning. Santa came last night and left a bundle of boxes under the tree. My family is sleeping upstairs, so there's calm in the house (the calm before the storm). The dog, freshly walked, is lazing around in front of the fireplace, and I’m sitting at the kitchen bar wearing a red Santa hat, sipping my freshly brewed coffee, reliving the wonderful time we had last night at our next-door neighbor’s house.
Every year, Karin Levitt and Harvey Wilson host the most joyful Christmas Eve open house.
It’s one of my favorite events of the year. Starting at two in the afternoon, there’s a constant parade of merrymakers with cakes, pies and bottles of wine walking up their front walkway.
While the centerpiece of these festivities is Harvey’s wonderful feast, the food is just an excuse for friends and families to gather, hug and kiss, and relive the past year. Here's another example of how good times always accrete around food.
Harvey is a terrific cook...so deliberate. I love talking with him about his meals, because he’s as fascinated with the process of preparing and cooking his food as he is with the delicious outcome.
Harvey’s been perfecting his Christmas Eve feast for years, and serves the same basic menu, although he’s constantly tinkering around the edge, often adding new and interesting flavors. I always offer to cook something, but Harvey being Harvey knows exactly what he wants on the dining room table. This year, however, Harvey was traveling the week before and did take me up on my offer. I made a ratatouille recipe I found on Epicurious.com
The two items that define Harvey’s Christmas Eve banquet: Butternut squash soup and Turducken.
Last night, Harvey, who recently lost a ton of weight and looks great, was proud of the fact that his soup was as low fat as possible. He sautéed the onions in just a little bit of butter, then used no-fat cream in the soup. I was fooled. The soup was thick and rich. There was just the right blend of sweetness and kick from cayenne and white peppers.
Harvey ordered his Turducken online. If you don’t know what it is, a Turducken (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turducken) is a turkey, stuffed with a duck that’s stuffed with a chicken. Then there’s stuffing inside the three birds. I often wonder what the person who invented Turducken was drinking when he came up with this concoction. But it is a flavorful mix of fowl and, as Harvey discovered, a perfect holiday dish.
Here’s the full menu from last night (as best as I can remember):
Butternut squash soup
Turducken
Baked glazed ham
Rice Pilaf
Macaroni & Cheese
Kibbe, an Armenian dish with a grain cooked in tomato, fresh tomato, and parsley, wrapped in pita
Armenian string cheese
A red & green cabbage salad (very Christmas-y) with a citrus Dijon vinaigrette—made by our good friend Elizabeth Fabian
My ratatouille
Now, a question for you…
What’s your favorite holiday food tradition?
Post your answer here.
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