Dinner

Dinner

From Page 10

The centerpiece was, every year, without fail, a gigantic Epeme — worked in silver with many branches holding eight or more little dishes. These dishes were filled with a variety of after dinner delights: sugared almonds, spiced walnuts, Belgium chocolates, creamy mints, grapes, etc.

Running down the length of the table, with the Epeme central to the design, were a series of individual bud vases, each containing a sprig of holly and a perfect ruby red rose. It was then, and still remains, one of the most elegant table settings I’ve ever seen.

Grandfather was the king of his domain, and Christmas dinner was always a tribute to his favorite foods. An hour before the sit-down dinner, family and friends congregated to toast Christmas with a sip of Schnapps (whiskey) and to enjoy homemade pates, sausages, cheese and dark, crusty rolls. The sit-down dinner commenced with a prayer and another toast. The soup course was always a scrumptious seafood chowder laden with homegrown root vegetables, mussels, crabmeat and shrimp.

For the main course, there were always two succulent entrees; crispy, golden-skinned goose stuffed with a savory bread and prune stuffing, and, Grandfather’s most favorite meat of all, a magnificent Beef Wellington. What a lordly presentation it was. A rare-done Delmonico roast with a pate de foie gras topping, oozing juices and topped with a feather-light puff pastry.

A pyramid of vegetables, salads and condiments accompanied the beef and goose. All the ladies contributed Christmas breads to the menu: , Grandmother’s Austrian Almond Crescent, Aunt Gertrude’s German Stollen, my mother’s Italian Pannetone and Aunt Hennjr’s Cloverleaf Potato Rolls.

For me, and the rest of the children, the piece de resistance of the Christmas dinner was the eye-boggling Christkindl Cake (the Christ/Child). In Austria, the children receive their gifts