The Feast of the Seven Fishes. Maybe.

Jim! Buddy! (Crap, or was it Jeff? I'm terrible with names. I'm going with Jim). I hear you are familiar with my father-in-law Papa Amherst and get some sort of kick out of reading this blog, and wanted proof of the Feast of the Fishes that we had for Christmas. Consider this your delicious proof.
Antipasto platter! Bunch o'cheeses fresh & aged asiago. Anchovies wrapped around olives. Toasty bread. Moar cheeeeese!

This was quite the fun Christmas eve - I got to sous for Papa Amherst for a while in the kitchen. "Yo Papa, tell me what to do." "Okay. Do this."

We realized about 4 dishes in that maybe we should hold off on more than four dishes for four people. It was a good call. So much food. So much.
So much tastiness. Top to bottom: Broccoli, mussels in white wine sauce, salt cod stew, and housewife's shrimp. That shrimp. Oh. That shrimp. So good.
I love any Christmas that involves dishes comprised solely of seafood.
So, funny story. I decided to pick up some cannoli for dessert from the Cap Region. I stopped off at Bella Napoli in Troy. HOLY LINE WAITING! I waited about 45 minutes to be able to order (they had a numbering system in place), but I actually enjoyed the wait. It seemed like an action one goes through when when one is part of a community. Everyone crowds in the bakeries leading up to Christmas.

I also picked up that penguin-covered red velvet cake for a mere $5.50. Because how can you resist a cake with a giant penguin made of icing plopped on top? I don't have that kind of willpower. It was a small cake (I'd liken it to a smash cake, which is more prevalent in the south) - maybe ~4" in diameter. Wasn't too dry or anything.

My mom also willed us some leftover baklava from Christmas at her place on the 23rd. Thanks, Ma!
We think we covered more fish dishes on Christmas dinner. Squid stuffed with scallops, prosciutto (and a teeny bit of carrots and other filler). SO GOOD. Unfortunately, I want to eat this Every. Single. Night. The recipe called for shrimp, but we used that all up the night before (and hadn't touched the scallops). Trust me, this substitute WORKS. Nom. Merry Fishmas to us one and all.