In the kitchen.....

....... That's where I've been for most of the day. I've made the soup for Christmas Day, so it is sitting in the fridge and will have time to "get happy," as Emeril says. All I have to do is stir the crabmeat into the soup, but I won't do that till tomorrow night. The soup is the same Crab/Artichoke/Parmesean soup that I made last week. This one came out a little better than the first try, and when I put the crab into it, the soup will be excellent. In my humble opinion...

The soup will be the first course for dinner on Christmas day. I'm serving the soup in teacups, so everyone can enjoy it without getting filled up on a creamy soup. Then we'll have steamed mussels in pesto sauce... C's mom is making the garlic bread to go with the mussels. The main course will be my salmon cakes, mixed with some lump crabmeat. C's mom is making roasted potatoes with feta cheese to go with that, and our friends C & R will make the vegetables (I won't know what they decided on till they get here), and they're also making a fruit chutney to go with the salmon. I've decided to go over-the-top with the salmon cakes...... I'm using a large cookie-cutter in the shape of a Christmas tree to shape the cakes. That will give everyone a nice serving of salmon on their plate, in a festive tree-shape. I may even take some green peas and place a few on each of the little trees.... green-pea ornaments. I'm not sure about that.... I'll try it with one, but if it looks silly.... then no green-peas.

I cooked up the salmon today, and flaked it into a large bowl.... so all I have to do tomorrow is mix the salmon with the crabmeat, cooked onion, and all my usual crabcake ingredients, and they can sit in the fridge overnight so the salmon-Christmas trees can get happy as well.

Except to walk out to the mailbox and to walk Gracie around a couple of blocks, I haven't gone anywhere today. My husband offered to do the last-minute grocery shopping for me this morning, and I took him up on his offer. While he shopped, I cleaned the house, and when he got back, I started the cooking.

We're going to a Christmas party tonight... our friends V & S are picking us up and driving to their friends' house for the party. The people giving the party (B & H) are friends that we met a couple of weeks ago at V & S's house when she had her dinner party. B and H were supposed to go with us to the Christmas lunch at the Victorian Bed & Breakfast last weekend, but B had a cold and didn't feel well.

I guess I've got to get out of these "cooking clothes" and into party clothes. I've already showered, but I've got to do my hair. My nails are done..... I did that yesterday before we took the girls downtown to see the Rockettes, and I was careful not to mess them up while I was cleaning and cooking this morning. I'm wearing the same outfit tonight that I wore downtown yesterday so my clothes are ready.... black skirt, red sparkly top, black velvet jacket, red beaded purse.... festive and Christmas-y, and (as Aunt Dolly always says)--- you can't go wrong with a black skirt and a pretty top and a pair of dressy heels. Jingle bells to that........ it's 3:30.... I need to get ready.