Sincerely, the grinch

A list, not of wishes to St. Nic, but of things i actually like about Christmas:



1) The excuse to make a variatable 10 cookie jars worth of my favorite baking...and to consume them all in less than a month

2) The excuse to refine and expand my cocktail knowledge

3) Sparkling wine

4) Cocktails made with sparkling wine

5) Once a year movies like "Love Actually," "The Family Stone," and "Home Alone."

6) Seeing my sister (and the rest of my family whom i have no excuse for not seeing the entire year round for living in the same city let alone province...)

7) A traditional Sicilian feast


"Feast of the seven fishes;" how Christmas eve is spent on the Italian island. Consciously Catholic, there is no meat eaten the night before Christmas, rather a banquet of pesce from antipasto, through ensalada and primi pastas, to the roasted whole entree. I can think of no greater meal to get through--i mean, celebrate-- this holiday.

And so i did--after all, this was no North American thanksgiving that i themed Italian, but their custom i gratefully celebrated here.

And how we celebrated. Working at the fish shop over the holidays helped in attaining 7 fishes--tuna tummy (a raw salad with salted capers) and a boiled lobster (the meat added to a spicy Fra Diavolo sauce for linguine) were "perks of the job" and much appreciated--the pasta made the menu for me. There were cocktails made from Fernet Branca and, yep, sparkling wine, because, hey, its Christmas. And then there were cookies, plenty of cookies, because, hey, its Christmas.

And because, hey, its Christmas, its time for traditions--this fishy feast is now mine, because, hey, it makes me actually enjoy this holiday.