Well here it is December 23rd, or as my family likes to call it Christmas-Eve-Eve. It's our first Christmas in our new house and so it seemed appropriate that we would host an event here at Francisco Nyktas! We invited my mom, Ed, and Catherine for the 24th & 25th. (Steve gets brownie points here because it was HIS idea.) They will be arriving tomorrow afternoon.
In true Christmas fashion, I came down with a cold (which seems to have been hanging around for much of December) that bloomed into a wonderful sinus infection. I was pretty miserable last weekend at the Ohio Nyktas Christmas party. But the show must go on - antibiotics in tow. The decorations are up. The house is (generally) clean. And this evening has been devoted to prepping for some meals I'm really excited about.
I'm also very very very very very excited that my christmas cactus may indeed be blooming!!!! The idea of mentioning this makes me nervous, however, as last year this same plant produced many a "faker" bud for me to get frantic about.... but nothing came of these stupid little teasers. They dried up and withered away, forming a serious grudge in my heart toward all christmas cacti *hisssssss*. I was about ready to pitch the damn thing when my dear friend Brittany gave me a few hints. A north facing window (even one that is 3 feet from the brick wall next door) seems to have an effect. Watering also helps..... hhhmm.... watering - who knew? So now I have 3 swollen pink buds dangling, waiting to open... I hope. And several others that seem to be following suit. My fear is that they will crap out because i moved it to the dining room table for the centerpiece. We shalllllll seeeeeee.
Okay so back to the menu. Here is what we are having. Not much of it is new, I'm just really excited about cooking a holiday meal for my family.
Christmas Eve
hors d'oeuvres - spanikopita, shrimp cocktail, mom's snickerdoodles and peanut butter fingers
main course - scallops with basil sauce, mushroom risotto, roasted brussels sprouts, cheddar chive garlic scones
dessert - pumpkin pie
beverages - wine, milk punch
Christmas Morning
mimosas & bacon, tomato, cheddar breakfast bake w/eggs
Christmas Day snacks
parsnip bacon, tiki snack mix, candy & cookies, lemon stilton cheese
Christmas Dinner
pork loin roast with a pork reduction mushroom sauce
Stanley's kielbasa
potato and butternut gratin
cranberry salad (Granny's version)
green beans
& maple mousse pie with candied cranberries for dessert!!!
Monkey is very grumpy and does not like holidays - mostly the "holiday guests" part. The Francisco Nyktas Theatre Co. version of one of the best christmas stories stars Monkey as the old miserable Ebeneezer Scrooge. Elvis will play the part of happy-g0-lucky Bob Crachett, with Turtle as Tiny Tim. Merrlyn (my old cat that Monkey replaced, who was also very shy) will visit Monkey as the ghost of Jacob Marley. The Ghost of Christmas Past will be Yorkie, my first dog. Rosie, my sweet, recently passed, golden retriever is the second visitor, the Ghost of Christmas Present. And finally (the kicker) the Ghost of Christmas Future is not any particular animal that has been a pet of ours, but one of the skunks who is often seen foraging in the back yard. 
