Whew! Been cooking all day, partly for tonight’s “Noche Buena” dinner – the big celebration growing up in a Cuban household was Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day – and then for tomorrow’s Christmas Day dinner which is potluck style.
This year we broke with tradition and *aren’t* traveling upstate to hang with childhood friends. The edema in Joe’s legs is particularly bad these days and he just can’t endure hours and hours in a car. So we’re joining our friend Vince at his brownstone here in Jersey City (just a few blocks away) and a few other friends, 8 of us in all, and having an all-gay Christmas. Finally we won’t be the token gay couple at the Christmas table!
Tonight’s menu consists of a smoke-cured baked ham with my mulled wine reduction glaze, homemade creamed spinach, and roasted root vegetables (butternut squash, a variety of potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets) followed by a luscious croissant bread pudding. For tomorrow, I’m bringing three dishes – even more croissant bread pudding, my special creamed corn (more like corn gratin) topped with bread crumbs, french fried onions, crumbled bacon, and green onions, and a root vegetable puree (similar to the roasted veggies tonight, but in a creamy puree.)
Looking forward to spending time with friends today and tomorrow. Wish I could spend time with all of you. Merry Christmas to all! CARLOS
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