Aren't the holidays about carbs?

Don't forget the ritual crab races across the kitchen floor...

Sounds wonderful. If we were back in California, we'd have our traditional debris dinner: crab, artichokes and garlic bread.

Have a great time!

Kitchen floor? The live crab don't come inside at this house. They can run in the driveway all they would like. Propane burner, stainless pot, working out of the garage and never in my kitchen.

John, your dinner is going to be wonderful. I think if its not balanced and cohesive, no one but you is going to know - they'll be too engrossed in enjoying the food and each other.

(DH cooked 49 Dungeness crab for a friend who has access to crab but doesn't cook yesterday. In the driveway. They were the friends Christmas gifts to a number of people ;0) Our gift to friend was cooking his crab)

John, it all sounds delicious to me and it's Christmas!! Who needs vegetables? (grin)

I love crab, and seafood of all types. Our family dinner won't be until next weekend, so I don't even have tomorrow's meal planned out for Elery and I. Tonight will be leftover sloppy joes from yesterday's cookie baking.

I'd rather have crab.....

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a very Happy Everything to Everybody

Annie

They're vegetarians, not vegans, right? If so, I think you have enough for them to eat. As to vegetables themselves, it depends on the salad and hummus makers. At a mixed buffet, even my biggest veggie eaters (including me) are more likely to go for the raw stuff. If you want to supplement with something cooked ahead, a camponata or ratatouille might be nice, or you could do a relish plate with pickles, hearts of palm, etc., up to sauerkraut or kimchi.

Menu sounds lovely. Add me to the list that would dive into a fresh vegetable tray with some dressing or dip.

Weather is proving a wild card. Portland is covered with ice and crusty snow-ice from freezing rain. We drove to Beaverton this morning for brunch with my sister and there were accidents and sliding cars everywhere.

This has been a dry-ish December and there was only a small, and generally disregarded, chance of precipitation today, so this freezing rain has taken many by surprise. Portland doesn't deal well with snow. We seldom get it, and when it comes, it is very wet and quickly turns to slick smooth ice - or comes down as freezing rain, as now. Cars without snow tires can hardly move around, and just walking is tricky. And most don't have snow tires . . .

We do have snow tires on the cars, a bag of de-icer for the steps, and those traction thingys you pull over your shoes. So we are perfectly prepared. But our guests may not be.

We are fielding queries now. Is dinner still on? How are the roads? Can anyone give me a ride?

Most likely I will have to drive around picking some people up, and some of the others will arrive late or not at all.

Well, we'll improvise. Fortunately the food requires no timing.

I'd like to crash one of your holiday party events! BIL/SIL, Portlandians, are once again spending the holiday week in Mexico.

Hillbilly, lol. I'd be all over a p-salad anytime of the year.

DaughterSan made the holiday hummus? I did three at 2am. A pale green... no garlic or spicy or cilantro, some cooked split peas for color,(picky kids), a neon green... cilantro, roasted garlic, hatch chili, fresh turmeric...red one has red pepper, smoked chipotle, paprika, tomato powder, urfa biber, roasted garlic.

Great eclectic menu. Usually pleases all. I see lots of veg and carb. Veg and hummus on the list.

Pearl balls can easily be a veg variety using avocado (love pearl balls)

Quick one-hour pickles always get the ooohs-and-ahhs from the veg people. Paper thin mandolin yellow beets, Persian cukes, radish...watermelon and daikon, red onion, etc. Lots of aromatics.

Brought tears to a three year old when we had lobster races on the back deck. ...once he realized they would soon be supper.

Posting simultaneously...crazy how unprepared some parts are about snow and ice. My parents South had 6inches of snow a few weeks ago. We had 2 slushy inches. Texas was colder than NY yesterday.

I have a vague memory this has happened before with one of your gatherings/parties.

John your party sounds like it will be great fun.

Annie, your evening sounds like a perfect film. No snow here -way too warm.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Cleaned up and ready for bed!

Dinner went well. A few people cancelled due to icy roads, everyone else made it and as each new group arrived they were hailed as heroes. It really is crazy slick out there.

I decided to steam the crabs, but to assuage my vegan friend, I first chilled the crabs by setting them outside until they went dormant, then placed each one in boiling water to kill it quickly, before transferring to the steamer. 25 minutes steaming. The crabs were very good, although I can't say they were dramatically different than boiled crabs.

SWMBO is sitting at the piano. The man in the black sweater is a standup comic, a very funny guy. His wife has white hair and is also wearing a black sweater. She was a model in England in the early 1990s, now a makeup artist for film, TV, and print. She recently returned to England and reconnected with her friend who fronted the BritPop band "Lick" and, for a brief moment, was in the limelight, then walked away from music. https://youtu.be/jYeAE4y6Vkg

She and her friend are working on a book or screenplay or something about those days. It is an interesting story. The English music scene then was controlled by a few labels and promoters who choose which bands to make into stars. He was overtly gay and that was still unacceptable in the industry. They struggled, finally found a label, started touring and released an album, then the pressure blew the band up and he decided it wasn't for him. He recently regained control of his band's music and I've been listening to their first and only record. Not exactly my kind of music now (or then - in the 1990s I was a jazz snob), but it sounds pretty fresh even 25 years later.

We haven't had a big dinner party for quite a while. It was fun to shake off some of the rust and get a bunch of friends together.

I dunno, John, to me it looks like the cat has a "Why me, Lord?" expression :-)

Looks like the cat is saying, I"m only allowing this because I love you.

John, I've never been a fan of Potluck, but I could be talked into one of your get togethers.

John, your mix of friends sound very entertaining, what a diverse group of people.

I'm glad your dinner went well and your guests arrived safely, although the crabs did eventually have to be sacrificed in the name of dinner. :-)

As mentioned, the cat looks like she's tolerating the collar, but isn't all that pleased about it. She is a cat, after all, she's probably think that as rightful ruler of the world she deserves at least a crown!

Annie

What a saintly cat. My three not so gentle beasts would have gone berserk.

Sounds like a wonderful dinner, the best being the gathering of friends, even under adverse conditions.

Question about the pearl balls. Do you start with cooked or raw rice?

Sounds like a lovely evening!

And tasty.... crab.