That's Amore'

Christmas is a time of excitement, surprise,  and exhaustion - at least, for me.  I stay up too late trying to do all the things on my to-do list.  I want to find ways to save steps, while giving attention to detail.  So, I do little things like print Christmas labels for the gifts and prepare my Christmas morning French toast on Christmas eve, so things move quickly when excited girls are waiting to open gifts.

After years of serving lamb and garlic mashed potatoes for Christmas dinner, I wanted to try something new.  For our 2010 holiday meal, I decided to make an Italian meal.  I thought everyone would enjoy the aroma of marinara sauce simmering and fresh rolls baking.

I absolutely LOVE trying new recipes when I have a captive audience (yes, I know, you're not supposed to do that, but I always have a frozen pizza or lasagna in the freezer as back-up).  I began researching recipes on the Internet and found several recipes that rated very well.  With that, I chose my menu:

Antipasti tray as a starter (served hours before meal)
Braised Braciole, served with a homemade marinara sauce over angel hair pasta
Italian dinner rolls
Classic Tiramisu


While I'd love to make everything from scratch, I have to be realistic about the time I can spend shopping and preparing.  With that in mind, I bought packaged angel hair pasta and frozen Italian dinner rolls.  I made the Braciole, Marinara and Tiramisu.


The result?  Everything was absolutely wonderful!  The only downside was that I misjudged the time it would take to make the meal and instead of a 7pm seating, we sat down at 8:30pm (thank goodness for the antipasti platter).  Also, I had hoped to make rugelach for one our dear friends, who happens to be Jewish, but time did not allow it.


Indeed, a good time was had by all and it was a warm and wonderful Christmas!



Hoping you're blessed with a zest for life, ~tambrie