2010-12-25 Sorta' Cuban Christmas

Christmas is here, and I have arisen from my designated sofabed to prepare for our Christmas lunch. We ordered a paella which is to be reheated slowly this morning while my parents hie themselves off to church. Paella is not a traditional Christmas dish, but it is a traditional Cuban one, so we started off the day in Cuban style.

I mixed up a Christmas punch of cranberry/pom juice and vodka, and my dad made a little concoction of rum and fruit juices. We'll need the alcohol.

We sat and had our lunch and it was a lovely day, but the smallest Christmas gathering I can remember in years. My sister and her husband awoke for the first Christmas with "empty house syndrome," having just married off their youngest in July. But we made a day of it and watched old movies on TV.

Of course, paella is not a super-filling meal, so we called over to the local Cuban restaurant to see if they were open. Score! They were...only the take-out window was open, but the full menu available. Now we can end the day Cuban-style, too.


And we weren't the only ones who had this idea, because right after we arrived, about 7 other parties made their way up to the window.


I had a Cuban sandwich, 2 croquettes and some chicharrones ("real" pork rinds). My brother had the same, except he had Papa Rellena (mashed potato stuffed with picadillo and fried). Oh my tummy was happy.

And, with a rotund belly, I fell back into my sofabed after watching "White Christmas" for the thousandth time.