Twas the Night Before Christmas Cocktail Party

  

Over the years we have created different themes for Christmas Eve.

Different stages of life do create different scenerios.

When it was just the two of us living in New York, Christmas Eve meant shopping at the very last minute. My husband, Bill would love to wait till "twas the night before Christmas" to be swept up in the merriment and the urge to give. The twinkling lights of New York, the tree at Rockefeller Center  all added to the merriment. Running through Bloomingdales we gathered as many presents as there were friends and family. Then a special dinner out to celebrate our enjoyment in all this last minute shopping. Twas a stage.

The very first Christmas tree my husband and I shared was based on storybooks of old fashioned Christmas’s. Visions of sugar plums danced in my head. All of the ornaments were home-made and edible. The tree had a child-like charm. Garlands of popcorn and cranberries were hung around the branches. I baked Gingerbread men and all kinds of Christmas cookies and hung them on the tree with ribbon. I put candy canes on every branch. Hand-made cornicopias decorated with old-fashioned  printed Christmas memorabilia, lined with paper lace doilies and filled with silver covered almonds. Clementines were studded with cloves. Then I added lady apples and meringue Christmas wreaths . And of course lots of colored lights and tinsel. This to me was the quintessential Christmas tree.

This tree would later become the inspiration for a  cocktail party. 

In 1995 I sent out invitations to all of our friends, and family...asking them each to bring an edible ornament to decorate the tree.  Below, I am sharing the journal entries from that party....   

"Twas The Night Before Christmas Cocktail Party"

Notes on a Page from my 1995 journal

The dining room table was covered with a bed of evergreen. Groupings of hors d'oeuvres were arranged on serving platters atop the branches so guests could nibble while mingling. Nearby, the tree was lit and ready to be adorned with the guests' edible ornaments.

                                            

Hors d'oeuvres Menu:

Canapes and Crostini's

Gravlax with mustard-dill sauce on dark pumpernickel bread

Smoked tuna on cucumber

Tuna and black olive tapenade on garlic crostini

Cucumber rounds and cherry tomatoes stuffed with 

Potted shrimp

Tarragon and mustard deviled eggs

Herring and beet salad on whole grain bread

Tomato bruscetta

Round of brie stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes and pesto

Hors d'oeuvres Menu continued:

 Red pepper dip with grilled asparagus

Baked ham sandwiches with plum chutney

For those guests who linger on late into the evening, I prepared an oxtail and onion soup, served with slices of crusty baguette.

 Recipes:

  Gravlax 

(adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook) 

If you like smoked salmon, you will love this recipe for Gravlax, a Scandinavian preparation for marinating raw salmon.

The salmon is cured with salt, sugar, and spices. It's very easy to make, but you must start at least 48 to 72 hours ahead.

3 pounds fresh salmon, center-cut and halved lengthwise.

2 very large bunches of fresh dill

1/4 cup kosher salt

2 tablespoons crushed white peppercorns

Place half of the fish skin side down in a  deep rectangular glass dish. Spread the dill over this half of the salmon. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the dill. Top with  other half of  fish, skin side up.

Cover the fish with foil and weight down with a small cutting board, and a 5-lb weight. You can use unopened cans of beans, exercise weights, anything really, that will weight it down.

Refrigerate for 48 hours to 72 hours, (remove foil and weights) turning the salmon every 12 hours and basting with the liquid (this is what cures the fish) that accumulates in the dish.

Cover with foil and weights each time.

To serve, remove the salmon from the liquid and scrape off all of the dill and spices. Pat dry with paper towel. You will have two sides of salmon. Slice the salmon thinly on the diagonal and serve with black bread or sliced baguette. Serve with Mustard-Dill Sauce, lemon wedges and garnish with fresh dill.

Mustard-Dill Sauce

(adapted from Saveur magazine)

makes 1 cup

This is a sweet sauce, traditionally served with gravlax.

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

2 teaspoon dry mustard

2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon lemon juice.

1/2 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Mix the Dijon mustard with the dry mustard in a small bowl. Using a whisk, beat in the sugar, salt, and lemon juice. Continue beating while slowly pouring in the olive oil. Stir in the chopped dill. 

Note: This sauce can be made up to a week ahead and stored, covered in the refrigerator.

Tuna Tapenade Dip

(adapted from Doris Tobias)

1 7-ounce can of Italian tuna, drained

1 2-ounce can anchovies, drained

1 tablespoon capers, drained

1/4 pound pitted Kalamata olives

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup  cognac (optional)

In the bowl of a food processor, place the tuna, anchovies, capers, olives, olive oil and cognac. Puree until smooth. 

Tomato Bruschetta

makes 30-40 pieces

8 ripe Italian plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped

3/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 baguette

Preheat broiler. 
Combine the chopped tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil in a bowl. Season with sea salt and ground pepper.
Slice the bread 1/3 -inch thick. Place slices on large baking sheet. Broil both sides until lightly golden.
Spoon tomato mixture on top of toasted bread.

Oxtail and Onion Soup

(adapted from "The New Doubleday Cookbook" by Jean Anderson and Elaine Hanna)

serves 6

2 pounds oxtail, trimmed of excess fat and cut in 1 to 1 1/2 inch chunks 

1/2 cup flour plus 2 tablespoons

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

2 medium-size yellow onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 quarts water, or 6 cups water and 1pint beef broth

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

bouquet garni of 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 3 cloves, 2 sprigs parsley

2 medium-size carrots, peeled and diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1/3 cup dry sherry or port wine

Dredge the oxtails in 1/2 cup flour. In a Dutch oven, brown the oxtails over high heat in the oil. Remove them from the pan and drain on paper towel.

Turn heat to moderate and cook the onion, 8 to 10 minutes until golden. Sprinkle in the remaining flour, mix well and brown lightly.

Slowly add water, or water and broth. Stir in tomato paste, salt and pepper and bouquet garni. Return oxtail to kettle, cover and simmer 3 hours until meat is fork tender. Cool and skim off fat; remove bouquet garni.

Separate meat from bones, cut into bit-size pieces and return to kettle along with carrots and celery. Cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes until carrots are tender. Stir in the sherry or port. Serve with crusty bread.

A sconce by the entry adorned with lady apples and winter foliage(again, to add to the edible theme)

Whatever you choose as your holiday theme to share with family and friends, 

I hope you will enjoy and treasure the memories tomorrow.

Next week, I look forward to sharing Christmas table ideas and a dinner menu from my journals.

As Always, 

xxoo Sheila