Feast of seven fishes . . .

. . . Christmas dinner in an Italian household is a treat. Yep, we are celebrating Christmas Eve dinner . . feast of the seven fishes, tonight. It was the only time we could get all three of Frank's kids, their spouses, his brother and SIL and us, in one place, at one time. So there will be eleven of us for dinner crammed at our dining room table. Three 'leaves' later and my longest table cloth is just a tad short . . . but that's OK. No one cares.

So I did my normal cleaning job . . . hiding the dust under rugs, etc. Boiled the shrimp this morning, made the salad and the dip and am waiting for the garlic to roast before I make the garlic bread. Frank is doing all the rest. I mean ALL the rest. He is making:

Baccala sauteed in olive oil with red pepper flakes
Cod soup
Stuffed Airships (calamari)
Italian hush puppies . . . think fried diced clams, bread crumbs, spices in little balls
Meat balls made with pork, veal and beef
Gravy with country ribs and sausage for the spaghetti and stuffed manicotti
Fried Smelts and
Mussels

Wooo-eeeeee. If the table doesn't cave in, it will be a miracle. Oh and for you purists out there, yes, we eat meat at this meal. I, however, will seat myself in front of the stuffed manicotti and threaten anyone who comes near, with a fist holding a very pointy fork . . . it is to die for.