December 24, 2016 Christmas Eve Party

This year we were diverted a bit by Willy’s commitment to orchestrating Park Ave as a pedestrians only walking street from 6:00 to 8:30.  Jan Yates brought three gallons of chocolate milk for the hot chocolate and six gallons of apple juice for the apple cider.  Suzette brought two tables from Los Lunas plus a hot beverage dispensing container and Susan Palmer loaned a 30 or forty cup electric coffee urn that we set up in front of our house to dispense apple cider.

Sandy Buffet set up a brazier at the intersection of Park and 15th and Willy set up Suzette’s brazier in front of our house beside the table where the apple cider was being dispensed.

Willy got Drew to dispense the hot chocolate at Oxnard Park at the corner of Park and 16th.  There were lots of people walking and even a bike club rode by with lights on their bikes.  All was very festive until 9:00 when it began to drizzle.

This year we had a slightly reduced spread and encouraged guests to bring food to share and they did.  Buddy brought a huge container of green Chile chicken enchiladas, which went well with my posole and Shed red Chile.

Suzette made four British Christmas desserts featured on the a British Baking Show on PBS this year, a triffle (my favorite) with Grand Marnier syrup soaked French Madeleines, Dried fruits poached in a sherry sauce, custard, and whipped cream on top, Pavalova (a ring of egg white meringue filled with whipped cream and garnished with fresh berries), and mincemeat filled Chelsea buns baked into the shape of a Christmas tree.  The fourth dessert was fabulous also but was not served because it did not jell properly, a Grand Marnier soaked cake filled with custard and garnished with orange rings candied in heavy syrup for two hours.

I loved all of them.  To carry on the British theme we roasted a five lb. standing rib roast, which due to the thick bones yielded only about two ½ lb. of sliced roast beef.  We made a sauce of whipped cream and horseradish with a dash of Worcestershire sauce and a mustard mayonnaise sauce and served the beef with hamburger buns for sandwiches.  The beef was the first item to go.  Next was the two packages of asparaguses that Suzette tossed with salt and pepper and roasted in the oven.  This year we served smoked salmon made by Chef Kelly at the Greenhouse Bistro with a bowl of Swedish Mustard and dill sauce we bought at IKEA and a sour cream, cream cheese, dill, and lemon juice sauce.

We roasted parsnips, turnips, golden beets, sweet potatoes, onion and garlic.

I bought and Suzette’s brother Jeff and his wife, Kathy, sent an assortment of good American cheeses, so this year we put out two cheese boards.  I added Italian Tallegio, French Brie, French Delice, English Stilton, Spanish Iberico, Comte, and a few others.

I toasted slices of fresh French Baguette from Fano for the cheeses.

 We cubed about ½ of the Lebanon Bologna that Suzette’s folks sent us and served it on a platter with a mixture of seeded French Dijon mustard and mayonnaise and a pile of cubed Cabot Double Cheddar cheese from Vermont like lunches in Elizabethtown.

I made mulled red wine and this year used Pinot Noir red wine.  We also served Mexican cokes, Gruet Brut champagne, apple cider, and three beers from Mike Campbell’s Crooked Kilt Brewery, a cream ale, a Scottish ale and an IPA.

Guests brought very interesting dishes to share.  Besides the huge Green Chile Chicken Casserole that Buddy brought, Michel Varner brought a fruit salad of orange wedges and raspberries doused with sugar and Reposada tequila.  Michel’s mother Lynn Adkins brought a platter of prunes poached in sherry and stuffed with Italian Marsacapone Che's and topped with walnut halves  Michel ‘s sister Lisa brought a very interesting beet tahini dip with pita chips.  Carol Levitt and Mark brought a huge casserole of kugel, Jill ducal brought a lovely baked chicken liver pate garnished with chopped onions, seeded French Dijon mustard, and capers and Cynthia brought chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies that evaporated almost instantly.

It was fun seeing all our friends, Al Shoman and Jennifer and family came, as did Bill and a Regina.  Mrs. Page and Charlie also made it and stayed for about an hour.  Fewer neighbors came this year except for Dale and Jennifer, who I think have a the longest unbroken record for attendance of any neighbors. Ron Elguera also attended out of his love for mother, which was very sweet.

Many of Luke and Willy’s friends showed up and partied on for a hour or two after Suzette and I went to bed around 10:30.  We walked to Oxnard Park at 9:30 to retrieve Suzette’s table , which is as far as I could comfortably walk this because I was suffering from a cold.

I would rank this a good year with a moderate turn out of thirty to forty plus a number of Willy and Luke’s friends and enhanced by Willy’ successful organization of Park Ave. as a pedestrian only walkway.

After the Green Chile Chicken Casserole was eaten, I heated 6 chicken tamales from Costco at around 9:00 and five of them we're eating when I went to the kitchen at 2:00 a.m.

Bon Appetit