2000 Holiday Party



Holiday & Party Recipes

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marga@lacabe.com





This year my whole family is coming to our home for Christmas, which meant that unlike other years we wouldn't be able to share the day with our friends. To make sure we enjoyed some holiday cheer together, we decided to throw an international and ecumenical holiday party the week before. International, so as to keep with the theme of my usual dinners and ecumenical to celebrate our different holiday traditions. To simplify things, I decided to serve dishes that would not only represent different regions of the world, but also different religious traditions. Alas, I was not wholy successful on this. At the last minute (I was running late with all the cooking), I realized that I had thrown out the recipe for baked plantains that I was going to serve to represent Africa, the Caribbean and Kwanza. Next year, I'll try to be more careful (or industrious).

I also included some easy to serve food that had no particular connotations because they were either party favorites, or I had previously served to great acclaim. We had about 13 people at this party, and as usual, I made much more food than necessary.

Party Menu

    Home Made Food

  • Sweet Lamb for Ramadan
    I served this dish when I cooked Algerian food, and it immediately jumped to my mind as a good representative for both the Middle East and Ramadan food. For the party I doubled the recipe. It came out great, but this time it wasn't a great party favorite - there were lots of leftovers.

  • Chicken Satay
    This is one of our favorite Thai dishes and we used it to represent Asia. It was very much liked at the party.

  • Shrimp, bacon and cheese appetizers
    A very easy to make appetizer that everyone loved. It didn't represent anywhere or anything.

  • Ricotta Latkes
    Served with store-bought Apple and Pear Sauce
    These little pancakes repressented Europe and Hanukkah. Got a good reception.

  • Sangria
    I figured it is red - just like Christmas punch - and it tastes much better. I only made 1 pitcher, which was a mistake. It was very quickly gone. Next year, I'll make 2 or 3 at least.

    Store-bought Food

  • Assorted Phillo Hors d'oeuvres
    These phillo pastries, stuffed with vegetables and cheese, are delicious and very popular. They come frozen and they need to be baked before serving. They are available at Costco during the holiday season and you may want to stock up to serve at other times.

  • Turrón
    This hard candy is a traditional Holiday sweet in South America and Spain. It represented Latin America and Christmas.

  • Tortilla chips served with Guacamole, salsa and sour cream

  • Sliced plain nan bread served with Duck and truffles pate and walnut and cilantro pesto.
    All very good and available at Trader Joe's.

  • Christmas M&M's
    There were none left!

  • Assorted Drinks
    Beer, wine, soft drinks, juices, etc.