‘Twas the Night Before the Night Before Christmas…

Phew – finally made it to Friday, and even made it to work for awhile today. Things are certainly looking up! Unfortunately both The Husband AND The Neighbor both went to the doctor today and BOTH have sinus infections too. Hey, at least we can all share the misery. In the meantime, The Neighbor Husband is the only healthy one of us four, so he better hang strong for the rest of us!

Nicholas and The Girlfriend have their regular Friday Night Date Night, and it was our turn to be “free” for a few hours. We haven’t been out to dinner by ourselves in AGES and grabbed a bite to eat at Charlie Browns. One of the best dinners I’ve had out in a long time … don’t know if it was just because I’ve been feeling so lousy lately or what, but it really hit the spot. Just Garlic Prime Rib with Frizzled Onions, and their salad bar, which I loved, but I ate till I couldn’t eat any more.

OK, finally have my menu planned for tomorrow. As I’ve mentioned, being half-Italian, Christmas Eve tradition is the Feast of Seven Fishes.

Pre-dinner munchies will be Bleu Cheese Chips and then Assorted Breadsticks with Smoked Salmon Chive Pate (fish #1!), Green Olive and Mascarpone Dip and Shrimp Spread (fish #2!). Dinner will start with a Warm Spinach Salad with Crispy Pancetta and Goat Cheese and an Antipasto Platter (a must have at our holiday tables). Then, Cioppino (Italian Fish Stew), taking care of fish #3-7, served with Cheddar Chive Bread. I purposely planned a really easy meal, knowing I didn’t want to overdue it. I just ordered all the groceries online for pick-up tomorrow morning — can’t get easier than that! French tradition for Christmas Eve is 13 desserts, and Mom’s got that covered. I’m looking forward to it … this is definitely one of my favorite times of the year.

Our Christmas Morning breakfast tradition is a dozen Dunkin’ Donuts. I have NO idea how that got started, but it did some 13+ years ago. I’ve decided to add to it a little bit and will also be making Baked Eggs and Mushrooms in Ham Crisps and Egg Nog French Toast with Cranberry-Apple Compote. Sounds like a yummy way to start the day, eh? Out of all the recipes planned for this weekend, only 2 are tried-and-true, so fingers crossed that I get a few winners here. Mom’s taking care of Christmas Day dinner.

We’re going to spend the night at my parents’ house tomorrow night, along with my sister and brother-in-law, so it should be fun with everyone waking up in the same house on Christmas morning. The ONLY thing Nicholas wants from Santa is a guitar. He’s a kid with simple tastes, what can I say?

Until tomorrow…

P.S. No Weekend Dog Blogging this weekend. For the first time since its inception 15 weeks ago, we’re going to take this weekend off to enjoy the holidays. But do snap away if you see some cute, can’t resist ’em poses from your pup, because Weekend Dog Blogging will be back in full force next weekend. ;)

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