I hope you all had a great Christmas Eve and are enjoying your day today!
I love that it's 12:35pm and I'm still in my pajamas, with no intention of changing for at least a couple more hours!
Our Christmas Eve traditions stayed strong this year, with an after church appy party with Chris & Julie and their three little ones, my mom and dad, and Mark & Cara (who were able to join us last minute as their usual trip to Salmon Arm was postponed.)
We'd been telling the kids that they were getting a stick and a duct tape ball for Christmas. We let them open their gift last night, which was indeed, a stick and a ball of tape, hockey tape. Joel put that under the tree with a note, "I know you're disappointed because you were hoping for a duct tape ball but you only got a hockey tape ball...." and left a clue for them to find their real present, which was Guitar Hero 1,2, & 3 and two guitars. (What's Guitar Hero? A video game where you play along with the notes on the screen and you can battle each other... great music... loads of fun. Consider yourself in the know.)
So last night was one big guitar battle, lasting until almost 1 am. My favorite moment was sitting at the back of the room, the Loeppky's battling it out (Julie, at 7 1/2 months pregnant, is the queen of guitar hero)... mean while Adam was playing along on his real guitar in the corner, because he happens to know "Hit me with your Best Shot", and then, out of no where, Brodie & Mark chime in with 2 RECORDERS!!!
Background: Mark & Cara went on a seniors bus tour with their good friends because the thought it would be funny. They were each responsible for finding something to amuse the group on the trip. Mark & his friend decided on recorders, and the evening ended with an inebriated "recorder off"... and the legend of the Recorder was born. Recorders are now all the rage, get yours while you can. See MYSISTERCARA'S blog entry for the full story and photos.
Anyway, needless to say, Guitar Hero is a hit with everyone and all I have seen all day are the backs of my family. We're definately going to get "Rock Band" which is a similar game, but with a drum kit, guitar, bass and a microphone.
This has been my view of my guys all day...
On the food front, (because no Christmas Eve is complete without lots to nibble on...) I had the need to satisfy a crab cake craving, and tried this recipe... it's a keeper and VERY easy... the trick is finding the right crab. I found "lump crab" in a can at Extra foods, but my mom heard that Costco has it to, so I'll try that next time. Here it is, from allrecipes.com
INGREDIENTS
4 pounds crabmeat
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning TM
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1 cup saltine crackers, crushed
1 cup mayonnaise
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 egg yolks
1/8 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning TM
3 ounces fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
1 3/4 cups vegetable oil
DIRECTIONS
In a large mixing bowl, combine crabmeat, 1 egg, lemon zest, Old Bay Seasoning, chopped basil, crushed crackers and mayonnaise. Mix thoroughly.
Form 5 ounce patties out of the crab mixture (should make about 16 patties), and chill until cold before cooking.
In a skillet, heat 4 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Saute the crab cakes for 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
For the sauce, in a blender place the egg yolks, Old Bay Seasoning, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper. Blend for 10 seconds. Keeping the blender running, slowly drizzle the oil into the blender. Blend until sauce is creamy.
I didn't make the sauce, but I served it with a chipotle dipping sauce from President's Choice which was yummy! Oh, and I put cilantro instead of basil in. And I dont' know what Old Bay seasoning is, so I put some green onion dip mix from Epicure, and garlic, salt & pepper. If you form the balls and leave them in the fridge until they are ready to be cooked, they hold together a little better. Let them start to cook on the bottom, then flatten them to a patty.
MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 comments:
Sounds like you had a great evening Dawn! I'll have to check out Cara's blog for further details. But where's the point count on those crab cakes??
Merry Merry! We're off for our turkey dinner today at noon...
Sounds like you had a 'rockin' good time.
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