La Noche Buena

‘Tis the season for many things: holiday cheer, family & friends, divine food and perhaps the most fabulous of all, celebrations and dinner parties!  Christmas came early this year since we’ll all depart to various locales for the actual day.  So last Friday, everyone gathered once again in my piso to celebrate Navidad with a potluck dinner party entitled, “La Noche Buena.”

  

Although it was rainy, windy and generally dreary outside, the piso quickly filled with laughter and cheer.  The first part of the night served as a cocktail hour, complete with a variety of Spanish appetizers, vinto tinto and cerveza.  After everyone had mixed and mingled, Amy and I retreated to the kitchen to finish preparing the main course.  Dinner was served fresh and it just so happened the plates were completely cleaned at the end.  Finally, we slowly but surely made it to the sweetest part of the night around 1 a.m.: dessert.  Afterwards the obligatory food coma did ensue, as we all rested in the living room and debated whether or not to venture out into the rain for a night of bar hopping. 

  

For the most part, the night went decidedly smooth: the food was delicious, people enjoyed themselves and there was no shortage of wine.  However, every dinner party has that one glitch or flaw, and it just so happens that this one could have been disasterous.  I’d been searching restlessly for an interesting yet feasible chicken recipe for the main course, when I found the perfect one: baked chicken in a spicy sweet honey glaze.  The day of the dinner party I bought all the ingredients, including two whole chickens.  Since I’d never made the recipe before, I decided to test it out on a single chicken breast for lunch.  After 15 minutes I open the oven to find cold, still raw chicken.  Yes, my friends, out of all the 365 days in the year, my oven picked the day of La Noche Buena celebration to break.  And I was stuck with two chickens.  But, Amy came to the rescue, offering chicken thighs instead.  So, with my innovative, culinary-inspired mind, I decided to marinate the chicken just the same, wrap it in foil and cook it on the stove-top instead.  Although the night didn’t unfold exactly as planned, it still tasted delicious.  But I’m still wondering, the eff am I supposed to do with two whole chickens?? 

  

All in all the night was a success.  To end the indecisiveness of “to go out or not to go out,” El Jefe (in true American Pee-ay style) made a proposition that Amy couldn’t refuse.  Whoever won said proposition would decide how to end the night.  True to his name, El Jefe de Jaen won and it was finally decided that we’d all go to sleep.  Thank you everyone for another successful evening.  And special thanks goes to las mamas de los chicos, who I’m sure had a hand in preparing some of the night’s cuisine ;)

Spanish appetizers, vino y cerveza (yes that is my hand reaching for the wine)

La cena de Navidad

I hope your holiday celebrations are just as wonderful!  Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad!

Besos,

B