Christmas Eve 2007

A Traditional “7” Fishes Feast

Christmas eve at the Mandato’s is a special evening. The entire family gets together with friends to celebrate and EAT. We get together weeks before and plan the event. The menu consists of a very traditional 7 fishes Italian dinner.  Cooking and prep start early in the morning. The guests arrive around 5:00 prepared to eat for hours, dinner is served at 6:00.

 

We start with appetizers: Baked Clams, Shrimp Cocktail, Fried Calamari, Clams on the Half-shell, Cheese & Crackers. We move on to the second course - you guessed it—PASTA!  Linguini is the pasta, with 3 different types of sauces: While Clam Sauce, Mussels in a Red-Wine sauce and a family favorite Stuffed Calamari in a light red sauce.

 

Our next course consists of our Parmesan Crusted Tilapia with a pineapple chutney and our special Sweet Bourbon Salmon  - you have to be fast to get a piece of these. Of course accompanied with pasta.

 

It is now about 9:00 and the guests are stuffed...now for the main course— Boiled Lobsters. That’s right, in 2007 we had two turkey boilers cooking 55 lobsters—what a treat!

 

To round out the evening there is coffee and dessert. As you might suspect all of the dessert is home made.

The dinning room table is filled with every kind of cookie you could imagine, cannoli, cheesecake, chocolates...there are too many to name.

 

Somewhere there is a gift exchange and some games, some great conversations and singing..i think?  It is indeed a Gala Event. The evening ends at 1:00 in the morning, there are only a few stragglers, and clean up is done. Time for the hosts to sip some wine and relax.

 

The Mandato Family Christmas Eve Gala

is a evening where we all are together

Family and Friends to share a great time….

Family, Friends, Food…

That’s what it’s all about!