Cooking at the Holidays

Years ago I experienced my first Feast of the Seven Fishes feast on Christmas Eve. A few years ago we adopted this tradition with the addition to the family of my Italian Uncle Vinny from New York City. Christmas Eves spent in Florida (where my parents and my Aunt Kim and Uncle Vinny live) include large quantities of fresh crab legs and claws (cold and steamed), lobster tail, jumbo shrimp and various other delights. This year I cooked this meal at home in Chicago for my son and his Navy buddy. As fresh lobster is hard to come by here I instead substituted various types of fish to go with the crab legs and shrimp. With sides of roasted green beans and parmesan and paprika roasted potatoes, the boys were quiet for 30 minutes while they gorged. It was tons of fun.

Christmas morning I made a quiche for the boys, another family tradition my mom's family has been making for years. I combined a few recipes to create the recipe below. Although a vegetarian I didn't enjoy this dish, but my hungry boys did.

Lively Librarian's Bacon and 3 Cheese Christmas Quiche

1 9 inch deep dish frozen pie crust
1 lb bacon ( I used honey and apple smoked bacon)
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 oz shredded cheddar cheese
3 oz shredded mozzarella or swiss cheese
3 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup half and half
4 lightly beaten eggs

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the bacon for 20-30 minutes until crisp, pat dry with paper towels to remove the grease. Chop bacon into bite size pieces. In a large bowl combine the chopped onion, the cheeses and the bacon pieces. Pour this mixture into the unthawed pie crust. Lightly beat the eggs with the half and half and pour this mixture into the pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350, bake an additional 35 minutes until top of quiche begins to brown.

Today I have soup in the crock pot for the boys which they can enjoy all day in-between naps, holiday movies and projects around the house.