Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) Dinner at Home - The Menu

This year, since I had the cute baby, everyone came to VA to spend Christmas with us. My mom, older sister, brother and niece flew in from CA. Maki's parents and brother are already in VA so the family was nearly complete. All we were missing was my nephew Rusty, who graduated last May and moved to Tokyo. I was so happy not to have to travel with a 6-year old and infant!

Our family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. We call it Noche Buena, which literally means "good night" in Spanish and typically refers to Christmas Eve. Ever since I can remember, my family has attended midnight mass, followed by dinner and opening of presents. Because of the kids, we no longer attend midnight mass. This year, we attended the 5:00pm mass.

I knew it was crazy to host Christmas Eve at our house, but we did it! We had 25 people, including my family, Maki's family, close friends, neighbors and a co-worker. Everyone helped. Maki, my mom and brother helped get the house ready. My younger sister made the ham and desserts. I made the sides. Friends brought wine and soda and more sides. Our Christmas Eve menu consisted of:

• Cream cheese, pesto and sundried tomato dip
• Brown sugar glazed ham
• Roasted vegetables
• Mushroom and chestnut dressing (stuffing)
• Beet and goat cheese salad
• Fettuccine with brie, tomato and basil sauce
• Pear and arugula salad
• Plain and spicy enari (tofu stuffed with rice)
• Tiramisu cake
• Cheesecake
• Biko 
• Chocolate and caramel crackers
• Chocolate
• Hot chocolate
• Spiced cider
• Beer, wine, soda

Yum! We ate a lot of the food, but surprisingly, very little of the wine was drunk. I guess we're all getting older and drinking a lot less! Too bad I forgot to take pictures of the food!