Christmas with derryX

Christmas Eve is the big holiday in my family, and the table is mostly loaded with fried fishes that my mom takes the whole day preparing. I’m not big on the preparation, so I usually bring a bag of tricks so that I can eat good too.

This year, I picked up a nice piece of duck proscuitto from Adventure in Food Trading. That doesn’t need much preparation, so I sliced it up nicely.

I also picked up a few shrimp cakes from Fin: Your Fishmonger. I just fried those in a pan with some olive oil.

I glazed a small ham with brown sugar and rum.

But the real hit were the crostini I made. I baked some thin slices of semolina bread in a hot oven with some olive oil until crisp, and then I served them with a little Maplebrook Ricotta and fig butter. Everyone loved these, but my mom, who generally is indifferent about most foods, thought they were incredible.

My dad has had an obsession with cassata cakes, so we had some of that for dessert.

Cassie made some super fudgy cupcakes that she stuffed with peanut butter frosting and topped with marshmallow frosting. These were a hit too.

After food, we exchanged gifts.

My parents got me a bunch of blu rays. The Indiana Jones Collection, The Dark Knight Rises, They Live, Star Trek: TNG Season 2, Masters of the Universe, (All blu ray) and No Retreat, No Surrender on DVD (which, if you find it online or out and about, it’s not an official release, and you’re probably better off watching it on youtube because the quality of the DVD stinks.). Dom and Amanda got me a Razor Ramon t-shirt and an awesome red and black case for my Kindle Fire HD. [I got Dom an awesome figure you can see featured here among other things.]

Dom and I posed for our yearly Christmas picture.

Christmas morning, Cassie and I headed back home to exchange gifts.

Cassie gave me some really exciting stuff this year!

The first was the Kindle Fire HD which she gave me before we made the trip because Dom and Amanda’s gift would have ruined it.

She also adopted me an olive tree in Italy. (Apparently, they send you oils from their vineyards throughout the year too.)

From the same company, she bought me some chocolate spread made with olive oil and chile and some chile olive oil.

There’s the fun little wrestling monkey figurine she gave me.

And she got some of the super special Ommegang beers for me.

The cutest gift she gave me, by far, was a Christmas tree ornament of apple pie a la mode which she actually went to Cambridge, NY (where we got engaged) to find.

After we celebrated Christmas Day with Cassie’s family, we went home and I got myself another awesome gift. Amazon was running a special where, if you buy the immediate digital download of Taken 2 for $15, you get $15 off the purchase of the blu ray which doesn’t come out until January.

I’d say that this Christmas was up there as far as “Best Christmases ever” go.