Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Eve Lunch

Normally we have our Christmas Eve dinner with my sisters and Mom about 5 or 6 pm, and then we all exchange gifts. But, since Christmas Eve fell on Wednesday, the church was having a candle light service tonight, so we decided to have our Christmas Eve dinner/gift exchange early. I had considered the idea of Italian food, but we finally went with our usual Mexican feast. We all love Mexican food, and besides, I had these nifty new cast iron fajita skillets to try out. They were a gift from my in-laws. So, here's our delicious beef fajitas fried with some onion and poblano peppers.


And we had my favorite, chicken enchilladas. Along with some shrimp poppers. These are large shrimp stuffed with cheese and jalapeno pepper, then wrapped in bacon. They were absolutely the best part of the meal.



The gravy boat makes a perfect dish for serving your queso dip. Add some chips, condiments for the fajitas, and warm tortillas, and you've got a wonderful Christmas Eve Mexican feast. If you think it sounds like a lot of work, think again. The fajita meat is ready to go in the freezer section of the grocery store. Just add some onion and peppers, heat it all up, and you're done. Even the enchilladas are easy. I start with large taquitos from the grocery freezer, pour enchillada sauce over them and top with cheese. Put them in the oven for an hour and it looks and tastes like you've worked all day. The shrimp poppers were a lot of work, but soooo worth it.

The real job is cleaning up the mess. I make it harder on myself, because I insist on washing my Christmas dishes myself. I'm so afraid someone will break one, so I always wash them and put them back in their boxes personally. So, here's a couple of pictures of the kitchen just after we finished eating. All the Christmas dishes go back in their boxes and back into that bottom cabinet. My cat had been playing with that bubble wrap that's on the floor.


The stove is covered with pots and pans used to make rice and beans and heat other things. Tomorrow morning, all those blue pans will be replaced with my brand new Cook's Essentials eggplant colored pots and pans. I love my Cook's Essentials from QVC. These blue ones are still in great condition after years of daily use, but my Mom got me the new ones for Christmas. I guess I'll have to post a picture of them, if I ever get this mess cleaned up!!

1 comment:

GE is me said...

So, Grammy, this post begs several questions; but first I must comment that, yes, you DID NOT come to RI to help me wrap my presents last night & so after playing Santa, the hubby & I sat in the living room watching "It's a Wonderful Life" & wrapping presents! I also did not put a single bow or piece of ribbon on any present.(I think my mother was probably turning somersaults over this.)
The Mexican feast looks yummy. I'd be interested in having the shrimp poppers recipe(can I post it on recipeasy?) And what are you doing with your blue pots?

Hope y'all had a very Merry Christmas. Did kitty cat get any treats? I gave mine some cat nip today & a new toy. :) She was lovin' life.
-Gail
p.s.- did you change your profile pic? I like the new background look. Maybe the pic just looks different with the new background. :)