Christmas Eve Traditions

I love Christmas. It is so full of tradition and family and all those things that just make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. One of my favorite traditions, the Feast of the Seven Fishes, is eating 7 different types of fish on Christmas Eve. This is an Italian tradition, origins are  not completely known, but it has to do with fasting before Christmas and the '7' has something to do with the 7 Sacraments or the number of days it took God to create the world. And Italians are just the best. :)

We don't do ours exactly by the books because we have picky fish eaters and little children, but we still carry out the tradition as best as we can. Here is how we do "7 fish" in the Andreola house:

Btw my mom makes all of this and it is amazing

First we start with hors d'oeuvres of a tuna ball with crackers and shrimp cocktail! 

1:

2:

 3: Then we have Crab Bisque which is to DIE for. It has just the right amount of kick to it. 

A giant vat of course

Then we move on to the main meal. All of this is served with a giant bowl of pasta with olive oil and garlic and red and green bell peppers for a festive appearance. 

4: Tilapia 

5: Salmon 

 6: Crab legs

 7: Scallops 

And of course for the picky eaters who won't eat the above 7 fish, 

they are free to stuff themselves full of fish sticks :) 

Like I said, my mom made all of this so I can't really tell you how she made anything, but everything was SO delicious. I've been eating leftover bisque for two days now and haven't gotten sick of it. I think we have polished off the last bit though. Sad day. Until next time....