Christmas Eve Spectacular (and day after Christmas pancakes from a box)

WHEW. With that, the Christmas season has come to a close. New Years is right around the corner and everyone has joined a new gym and we're almost done cleaning up after Christmas Eve Dinner. Almost. Leftovers? Still in the fridge. Christmas cookies? Still on a 3-a-day diet. Might have to up it to 4. All in all the Holiday was a good time for just about everyone. We've picked up the tradition of  hosted a big dinner on Christmas Eve for both of our families and some close friends every year. Last year we tackled a beef wellington dish and had four other courses. This year we toned it down just a little, preparing a rack of pork with sides and French onion soup. The meal definitely created a sense of fullness which really set the trend for the rest of the next two days. After dinner we sat around the fire and exchanged gifts and had a white elephant gift exchange. If you've never done one its a good time to see Murphy's law in action and may be the only time you can see a staunch Republican get a commemorative Obama plate or Charisse let Eric have a garden gnome. One of Eric's family traditions growing up is reading a Christmas story on Christmas Eve, so Eric read "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus"  to everyone as the party wound down. For those who made it we took a walk around the neighborhood around midnight looking at all the lights and talking about what tomorrow would bring. Christmas started for us around 6 AM with trips back and forth between both of our parents houses. When we got home, it was straight to bed with a thankful heart, full stomachs and the feeling that when we woke up, the house would be a disaster. The next morning, we discovered that it was worse than we thought. Paper, boxes and ribbons everywhere and stacks of dishes to do so we did the only sensible thing: made pancakes from a mix with Eric's new Pancake molds, which turned out to be the perfect after Christmas breakfast. We hope you all had  a wonderful holiday (whichever one you might celebrate) and all have wonderful and safe New Years Eve! We'll see you next year!

Blackened Scallops Over Light Pasta

It was a dark and stormy Thursday night and our usual chef had had a long day at work, so Eric went for the combo: Head Chef and Photographer. Never doing that again. How anyone in their right mind thinks it’s a good idea to try to sauté mushrooms and onions, prepare a rub, defrost scallops dredge said scallops and operate a camera while making sure the pasta does not get overdone all at the same time is beyond me. It came together right at the end, somehow or another, but not an experience anyone wants again anytime soon. It’s a good thing the dish was worth it. Very much worth it. The scallops were blackened in a pepper mixture and the pasta was drizzled in extra virgin olive oil and butter. Even with all the butter, this was one of the healthiest meals anyone’s ever felt the need to brag about. This is a super easy meal, as long as your not trying to do everything all at once and take pictures.

Chef’s note: the recipe has a lot of pepper in it. I mean a lot a lot. If I did it again, I would probably cut down the Cayenne Pepper a pinch. This was also a total leftovers meal, so a lot of the discrepancies between the original and mine have to do with item availability. That and the fact that I hate the texture of tomatoes. So here’s the Foodies@Home rendition of Blackened Scallops Over Pasta.


Pictures and Recipe after the break