Ann, the lobster looks great! Fun tradition for NYE. Funny how we want what we don't have locally. We frequently mail order King Crab for NYE. You eat quite a bit of seafood. Do you and Moe fish or go crabbing/clamming? It's a fun hobby and the reward is, of course, dinner. DH fishes several times/month during the season and we go crabbing or dig for clams when the mood for linguini or chowder strikes. Once a year, usually in late July or early August, he goes tuna fishing for a week. DH also has a personal use lobster license. It allows him to maintain up to ten pots for $120/year. We never have ten pots in the water at once though 'cause he doesn't want to maintain that many and it's too much lobster for two people. Also, he's a fair weather lobsterman. (chuckle) If the long-term weather forecast looks rough - he'll pull the pots. If we do have extra we take them to our fishmonger and trade for whatever looks good. We have a Nordic Tug and a little lobster boat but that's not really necessary. There's always guys at the docks, at least here, looking for extra people to go fishing with them to help share the fuel costs. Anyway, just wondering if you fish? Here, frequently people that love seafood eventually want to drop a line in the water. The lure of the lobster pot is why we got Whiskey River, our first boat (a little 22' sport lobster). Your dinner looks fantastic! DH hasn't had any pots in the water since Sandy. We've got our hands full without going out to check pots that we can't even cook the catch. :( /tricia

Talked to my cousin, sister of the cousin I was so close to that passed away, we laughed and cried for quite some time. Our friends from church did not stop by but another did, ones we had not seen for a long while, a few years, so it was great to catch up. We were so close for a very long time but then just seemed to drift apart, he was working out of town all week and she changed jobs, I was working at my office but also as at the mall so had little free time. It was fun to rekindle the friendship, we went thru some very tough times together.

I'm just doing a few appetizers with drinks before Christmas Eve dinner and this is what I'm making. DEBBIE'S HOLIDAY BACON APPETIZERS (from the early 80's) Club Crackers 1 pound Thin-Sliced Bacon cut in half 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese Begin by laying crackers on a cookie sheet, face up. Now just spoon 1 teaspoon of cheese over each cracker. Assemble: Wrap 1/2 piece of thin bacon around each cracker. Being careful to completely cover the entire cracker. Place the wrapped crackers onto a baking sheet with a rack. I used my two piece broiler pan. Place the pan in a 250-degree oven for around 2 hours. The great thing about these is, you can make them way ahead of time, then store them in a large Ziploc in the freezer. Then, when youÂre ready to serve them, just thaw and warm in the oven for about 10 minutes. BAR NUTS From The Union Square Cafe Cookbook, HarperCollins, 1994 These nuts won The New York Press award for "best bar nuts in New York." Every afternoon at about 4:45, a piping hot batch emerges from our ovens and is sent out to the bar, where the sweet rosemary fragrance wafts throughout the restaurant. Though they don't have a television set at they're bar, these nuts would probably be a hit in your living room accompanied by a football game and some ice-cold beer. Yields 5 cups  1/4 pound each peeled peanuts, cashews, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, and whole unpeeled almonds or 1 pounds unsalted, assorted nuts.  2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary  1/2 teaspoon cayenne  2 teaspoons dark brown sugar  2 teaspoons kosher salt  1 tablespoon butter, melted 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 2. Toss the nuts in a large bowl to combine and spread them out on a cookie sheet. Toast in the oven until they become light golden brown, about 10 minutes. 3. In the large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, brown sugar, salt, and melted butter. 4. Thoroughly toss the warm toasted nuts with the spiced butter and serve warm. CINDY 5NY's HOT CRAB AND CHEESE APPETIZERS 1 can crabmeat, drained 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup cheddar, shredded 2-3 green onions, minced French bread, sliced 1/4 inch thick or melba toast rounds (I am using small cocktail size pumperknickel) Combine filling ingredients. Spread thickly on bread or toast. Bake 375 15-20 minutes.

I reheated the "mini fritattas" in the microwave. I like them just warmed through. Here's what I do: Beat 10-12 eggs with a big splash of cream. Add salt and pepper. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish, prepared with non-stick spray. Add to egg mixture whatever you like or have on hand. Ham and cheese. Sun dried tomatoes and feta. Sauteed onions and peppers. In my example above, I had sauteed diced onions and garlic in evoo and seasoned with salt and pepper. Then, I added finely chopped Spanish chorizo and cooked for 5 minutes. That mixture was allowed to cool a bit and was added throughout the egg mixture in the baking dish. I also added shredded manchego cheese. Cover the egg dish with aluminum foil. Put the covered egg dish into a larger pan, and fill about 1/3 of the way with hot water. Place in 425 degree oven and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for 10-15 minutes, or until just set. This makes the creamiest baked egg ever! ^ another egg casserole topped with slice tomatoes. Nice presentation.