Preparing for the Festivities!

Since The Kid is going to be out of town for Christmas Eve (as usual), it will be just me and Mr. B. He proposed to me that we have a fairly modest Christmas gift-wise this year and splurge on a nice Christmas Eve meal. Sounds good to me.
So, tonight we're having:

Standing Rib
Spinach Salad
Gorgonzola Potatoes and Peas

A VERY VERY VERY Nice Bottle of Red Wine (saved for just such an occasion!)

Not a lot of food, but, GOOD food. And, good wine! But, no worries about lack of food quantities for us as, this year, we volunteered to host Christmas dinner. As it turns out, it will be a smallish crowd as my brother Jon and his family are visiting with his wife's family this year in PA. But, we WILL have a brand new addition to our family in attendance with our very recently born niece Holly Noelle (along with her parents and her big brother Kendal). Plus, my mom and dad and, likely a variety of pets (at least our three!) So, six adults (mom and dad B, if you're reading this; know that we will miss you (and Fritz) very very much this year!)

We decided to build the dinner around an excellent baked ziti dish that Mr. B makes. It is actually an old family recipe of his ex-wife, but, since it really is tasty, we'll try and forget that. He's probably made enough adjustments to it by now to call it his own, anyway. So, an Italian themed dinner! Here is what is on the menu for Christmas:

Antipasti e Pani
Italian Meatballs
Shrimp Salad
Italian Bread with Olive Tapenade, Pesto and Herbed Olive Oil Dipping Sauces
Fried Mozzarella with Antipasto

Primi, Contorni e Piu Pani
Baked Ziti Southern Italian Style
Asparagus with Prosciutto Chips
Garlic-Cheese Biscuits

Bibiti
Sparkling Water
Variety of Beers and Wines

Dolci
Cranberry Shiver
Pumpkin-Butterscotch Brownies
Chocolate Polenta Pudding Cake
Apple Mead
Scotch
Espresso

Yeah, we'll probably have to literally roll out of bed the following morning!

I also decided it would be nice to use our various china sets and silver for dinner Christmas. I'm in the midst now of polishing, rinsing off dust, etc. But, it's worth the effort in order to have memories of at least three of our grandmothers surrounding us as we dine (My Grandmas W and C and Mr. B's Grandma W).

Oh, BTW, Pete and Lily have FINALLY discovered the Christmas Tree. Yesterday I saw Lily under the tree gleefully scooping water out of the tree stand with her paw. Said water went all over the gifts. Thankfully, nothing that can be water-damaged. Needless to say, I used the gifts to put up a blockade around the tree stand. This morning, both Pete and Lily were running and taking flying leaps and jumping into the presents. I decided (since nothing really can be harmed) to let them do it because if I kept stopping them, they'd only get more determined. Now, about an hour later, they are not paying the tree any never mind!

Ok, well, this is it for Mrs. B until after Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

Mrs. B