So Christmas was fucking fantastic. Like I said in my Christmas Eve post, friends are the most important people to have around you when you live in a foreign country away from your family. Many friends I know get down around this season, especially cuz most of us work, and are away from home and the ‘spirit’ of Christmas.
Well, Christmas this year at Shane’s changed all that.Great company. Great festive environment. Great food. I mean, the best meal I’ve ever EVER had in my life on Christmas Day. It was all thanks to the hot hot heart of Shane Murphrey, who took a day off work and spent a pile of money to cook a giant feast for 40 people, with the help of Stef and his favorite girl from home in New Orleans, Erika.
Holy moly. They sure know how to eat in New Orleans. Shane prepared a meal “fit for kings and queens,” said Jeff Rad. Shane is one of the Raddest People I Know.
Love this man!! Thank you thank you thank you SO MUCH for including me. I’m so glad I took him home with me when I found him in ALV so many summers ago!
Now to introduce the feast (if I got anything wrong, or you know how to describe it better, please comment so I can change it.)
Braised Pork:
Cajun Dirty Rice (don’t ask what makes it dirty!) and the Marshmellow Sweet Potatoes (one of my favs!)
Two outstanding dishes: Creamed Spinach (with enough Cheddar cheese to feed a cow, says Erika) and the STAR dish of the night, Pumpkin & Goat Cheese Ravioli in a Green Curry Sauce.
If you like spicy food (or can handle the burning of your mouth) this would’ve been your fav, the Moule (um, chicken breasts in this amazing black sauce – but i dunno how to describe except sensational and spicy)
The 20 Pound turkey (thanks for bringing it Ben! and to everyone who chipped in on it!) That’s the Gumbo poking out on the right in the pot. You know there’s Southerners in the house when…
The second batch of the Marshmellow Sweet Potato holy fucking yummy goodness. Thanks for making 2!
The homemade cranberry jelly on the right, and the Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche on the right. (So fucking yummy too. Vegetarian heaven!)
These two were a little hard to decipher, even when eating. The one of the left is stuffing of some sort (so good!) and the one on the right is Cornbread stuffing (or something like that). Totally amazing and complementary to everything else.
One last shot of the turkey, the Black Pepper Pork (what a hunk of meat that was to cook!) the pot of Moule, and hiding in the back right the best Mac and Cheese I have had in forever – with fresh grated Velveeta Cheese and super thick Macaroni noodles.
Everyone, everyone, ate til they were full and were SO SO SO happy. Shane not only warmed our stomachs with his Christmas meal, but our hearts as well. Not a unhappy face among us! Everyone was into the wine and the laughter and the company. A happy time had by all!
Candids in the night:
I decided to take just a few pics and then put my camera away and enjoy the party. Some things are priceless and worth living with my memory only, instead of all the flash flash bang bang of cameras. This experience was definitely priceless, and we all have Shane to thank for bringing us together.
We also celebrated Austin’s birthday, and he marked the special occasion with a song he wrote and composed. For a beautiful moment, everyone stood around the Christmas tree and listened. Happy Birthday Austin. Wanted to take a pic but deemed it inappropriate to disrupt the intimate scene.
Ended the night at the Saki bar with Billy, Lisa, Stef, Gavin and James. What a great night!
Much love to Shane, Stef, Jeffrey, Erika, Ben and all those I shared the night with! Great to see everyone in such high spirits! x
hey this is a nice post and also bookmarked your site to look for more updates… thanks.
hey babe! this is so fantastic! thank you for such a wonderful post…it’s one of the few that i can show to my coworkers;-) !!! thanks again!
ps- its cajun dirty rice, not fried rice…but in this cuntry who knows the difference! just dont ask whats in it that makes it “dirty”!
love you darlin’
shane