On Wed 24 Dec 2008 07:54:08p, Gloria P told us...

> 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
>

It certainly was a lovely tradition, and it's wonderful to have such fond
menories of it.

--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
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Date: Wednesday, 12(XII)/24(XXIV)/08(MMVIII)
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