Christmas Dinner

For Christmas this year, we decided to host an intimate dinner party for our friends who were staying in town for the holidays.

 

 I am not sure how we managed to arrange two tables into our tiny living room/kitchen/bedroom#1 area.

 

For starters, arugula salad with steak and tomatoes.  NEVER buy steak on sale at Whole Foods - it will spoil in the blink of an eye!  We almost cried when we discovered the steak had gone bad and I had to rush to the grocery store downstairs for a last minute “steak” run.

 

 

Orecchiette with peppers, sausage, arugula, and a tomato/garlic/shallot sauce.

 

Seafood paella - includes shrimp, mussels, squid, and chorizo. 

Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking.

Paella is a great party dish; everyone loves it and it feeds a ton of people.  I think seafood paella is becoming a new tradition for us, since we made it last year as well.

Do you have any traditional Christmas dishes?  What was your Christmas meal like?