Dimitri's menu reminded me of the Christmas Eve open houses my parents
had in Massachusetts while they were still alive. (They died in 1971
and '72.)

In their Portuguese tradition, Christmas Eve day was a day of abstinence
from meat, but big on hospitality and family.

After a full day of work, they would come home to cook octopus stew,
codfish cakes, and big loaves of bread with Portuguese chourico and ham
rolled into the dough (that was for "breakfast" after Midnight Mass.)

About 8PM the friends and relatives would begin to arrive. The red wine
(homemade) began to flow, the dining room table would be set with a
buffet of breads, codfish, octopus, clams-and-rice, lots of cured
olives, a big salad, plus cookies, chocolates, aletria (vermicelli
custard pudding) and spice cake heavy with nuts.

Our small house was packed with people coming and going from about 8
until 11:30 when people began to head off to their own churches.

It was a lovely tradition.

gloria p