2011 Christmas Recap

For Christmas, we typically have two holiday meals. On Christmas Eve, we have a seafood dinner typically with lobster with some sort of side, and then for Christmas dinner, we have hot pot. This year was no different. 

Vodka Pasta: This was a request from my sister who has fallen in love with the vodka pasta from Sfuzzi in Dallas. It's a simple recipe and I've grown fond of Giada's version.  Check out my recipe here.  In an effort to add some sort of veggie to our meal, I sauteed up a bunch of spinach and added it to the top of the pasta.

Steamed Lobster: A lobster for each! Simply clean the lobster and then steam with some water until cooked. If you want to make another dish out of this, keep the lobster steamed water and lobster shells after you clean it of the meat. With just a little bit of broth making with the shells and some veggies, I was able to make a seafood risotto the next day for lunch.  Recipe to come soon.

Oven-baked Drum: Look at the size of this!  Even more impressive, my mom caught this fish! It seems like my parents go fishing at least once a week and the a few days before Christmas, my mom caught this enormous drum. When my mom called me with excitement about catching this fish, I actually had no clue of the kind of fish. Quick google and here you go. My mom seasoned the fish, added lots of butter and slices of onions. Baked in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

Russian Tea Cakes: To cap off the night, Russian tea cakes for dessert! Recipe can be found here.

And to end this post, my little booger of a niece, Sophie. She did take a few bites of the pasta (hooray!) and a few nibbles of the fish. The lobster, not so much, and much rather preferred salty seaweed snacks...