A Polish Themed Christmas Buffet Revisited

People from Poland have two very distinct ways of celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Rick  and Elaine combined the two at  an open house where one side of the table featured Christmas Eve dishes and the other side featured dishes from Christmas Day.  The Poles love to have fish, but Rick and his friends aren't big on this food, so the meal contains no fish.

Oplatki  (O-pwaht-kee) are thin wafers that have four beautiful Christmas images stamped into them. The images include the Nativity, the Star of Bethlehem, or the Holy Family. Break off a piece of the wafer and do a blessing. This blessing can simply consist of what you desire for your loved ones in the upcoming year - whether it be good health, success, or happiness. The purpose of this act is primarily to express unconditional love and forgiveness for each member of the family.

The Front Side of the Table--The front side represents Christmas Eve in Poland. No meat is served.

Deviled eggs

Borscht

Instead of being the chunky  style of beet soup that is found in other Eastern European nations, Polish Borscht consists of nothing more than rich vegetable broth and a few cut up beets.  The broth consists of leeks, carrots, celery, beets, parsley and dill.

Bigos

Bigos is the national dish of Poland and is made with sauerkraut, cabbage mushrooms and a mixture of Polish sausage, spareribs, fried pork, cooked ham and pork hocks.  The only time bigos is served without meat is on Christmas Eve.

  Pierogies (Potato and cheese)
and Cherry

Red Cabbage Salad

This delicious salad is made from apples, red cabbage, lemon,  sugar, and garnished with fresh parsley and hard boiled eggs.

The Back Side of the Table--The back side represents Christmas Day in Poland.·     

·    

Cabbage Rolls

The cabbage leaves are stuffed with ground pork, ground beef and rice. They are covered with a tomato and beef broth sauce.   

Ham

It's hard to believe, but there are some 

guests who don't like Polish food. So, 
in keeping with the Polish tradition of 

serving meat on Christmas day, we

 have added ham to the menu along 

with bread rolls, lettuce, tomatoes

 and cheese for those 

sandwich lovers.

Dessert

Poppy Seed Rolls

Polish Nut Rolls

We started at six in the evening  and ate and drank until ten o'clock. What

 a wonderful way to end Christmas Day.

The Christmas Mexican Themed Buffet Revisited

On Christmas Day Rick Podowski invites his friends and relatives to an evening buffet with a theme that reflects one of the cultures of the members of The Hefty Trio.  Over the past three years he has presented buffets with Irish, Italian and Polish themes. So in honor of Leti the theme this year is Mexican.

Since San Jose, California is a mecca for good Mexican food, Rick decided to make this an easy feast by purchasing many of the products.

All events start with lots of libation. He picked some Pinots, a couple of Cabs and some nice Chardonnays. Since the theme is Mexican, he created a margarita bar and of course salsa and chips help people to get started.

Rick went to the farmer's market and purchased the traditional Mexican Christmas dish--tamales.  However, there is a twist. In Oaxaca, a southern Mexican state, they spread the masa on banana leaves and cover  the chicken with mole (chocolate with twenty-seven spices).  For those who want to create their own burrito, the tortillas have been wormed in the steam tray.

Rick purchased pulled chicken from the grocery store and all he needed to do was to heat it in the microwave. He also purchased beef for fajitas and heated the strips in a pan.

Guests have their choice of accompaniments--sour cream, green onions, guacamole, cheese and a salsa.

Refried beans and rice round out the meal. Rick bought the rice from the store and the beans were from a can.

So that you don't think that Rick is totally lazy, he made the bread pudding. the flan and even though it's not Mexican, he added a little Polish Nut Strudel.  

Felice Navidad

Be sure to read the five books in The Rick Podowski and The Hefty Trio Series.