christmas eve dinner

i'm sharing old family recipes with you tonight. well, sort of. it's less about the recipes and more about the love that is in all of it. for my family, christmas eve was always the most important day, not christmas day. we have family traditions that date back to old ukraine. there's so many things you have to follow, like the number of foods offered. if you want to go real traditional, there's certain ways to make those foods. i adjusted a bit, because i didn't feel like making 12 dishes for just chris and me. i'll get WAY into the traditions next year, so stick around because that's going to be fun!

 pierogies. pasta pockets filled with mashed potatoes and onions. sure, you can make them homemade. or buy the handmade ones at your local ukranian church. or pick up a box of frozen ones at the grocery store. i melted a stick(plus) of butter, and diced an onion and a half. saute the onion on about a medium heat, until the butter gets clear-yellow instead of cloudy. boil the pierogies as it says on the box, then top with the onion/butter mixture. delicious.

so i didn't mention that this dish is vegetarian. we had fish and shrimp though. i just thawed some frozen shrimp , served with lemon wedges and garnished with (a lot of) olives-- i like olives.

also had a relish tray. carrots, broccoli, celery, pickles, more olives. and a ranch veggie dip. husband put this together. it was nice to have his help with that.

mmmmm. slimy mushrooms. well, they have another name, but this is what i've been used to calling them. when i was growing up, i'm pretty sure my daddy convinced me that i didn't like them, so he could have them all. it's a lot of mushrooms sauteed with a touch of oil, then heated through with a can of cream of celery soup and a little milk. this is nice to cook ahead of time, so i made it first thing in the morning and transferred it to this corningware to just heat in the oven before dinner. very convenient.
**you can also see an empty plate here. it's left for the deceased family members, as tradition**

and one of my favorites. simple. frozen tilapia, sprinkled with lemon pepper seasoning and lemon coins. then put a small chunk of butter on top of each wedge, and some fresh ground pepper. bake at 400-450 "until done" (about 15 minutes?). it is so flavorful and flaky. delicious.

also, you see some crescent rolls. confession: those are leftovers from dinner on dec 23rd, a bertoli frozen past meal.

so, since i'm supposed to have 12 dishes, let's get creative and try to find them.

1. pierogies
2. onions in butter
3. shrimp
4. celery
5. pickles
6. olives
7. broccoli
8. carrots
9. slimy mushrooms
10. crescent rolls
11. fish
12. white wine

i did it! 12 "dishes" for my first married christmas. even if it's a stretch, it's 12 when i count :-)