Kat’s christening went very well. It was a beautiful day, and the ceremony was mercifully short. She only lost it once, but like my aunt says, she was just “shouting the devil out”. She looked so pretty in her dress and was a very good guest of honor.
Although everyone thought that I had too much food, there really wasn’t too much left at the end of the day. Here’s what we had, and who was nice enough to make it.
Appetizers
Taco Dip – Christine made this. This dip is really good when made with the soy crumbles, and a great vegetarian dish. She couldn’t find the crumbles and was nice enough to make it with ground turkey, even though she doesn’t eat meat. This dip is always a big hit.
White Bean Dip – Bonus dip from Christine! I love, love, love white bean dip. This one was delicious. We served it with pita chips.
Shrimp Dip – I made this. It’s a borrowed recipe, but I love it. My mother-in-law also loves it, so I really made it for her. She actually took the leftovers back to NY.
Cheese spread – My Aunt Ellen’s famous cheese spread! It’s made of nothing but processed ingredients, but it is so delicious that you don’t care.
Chicken Wings – My mom’s cousin Ellen makes such delicious wings, that this was a no brainer. Unfortunately, she couldn’t make it to the christening, but since she is one of the nicest people in the world, she still made them. She only uses drumsticks, which is how it should be.
Crabbies – OK, I referred to these in my previous post. My cousin Karen makes these delicious appetizers. We only see her at Christmas and so we only get them then. These treats are bite size, buttery, crispy with just the right amount of cheese and crab taste. Several other family members have tried to make these with little success. I am the last to be added to that list. I don’t know if she is holding back a key ingredient to throw us off the trail, but mine really didn’t taste anything like hers. There are a couple of things that I think I got wrong. Although the recipe calls for canned crab meat, I think she actually uses the fake “crab meat” found in the seafood section. The recipe also says to use margarine. I only had butter. I actually think you need to use margarine to get the butter flavor. Does that make any sense? Anyhoo, mine tasted more cheesy and crabby than Karen’s and they weren’t as crunchy. The guests who have never had the crabbies thought the were good, but my family knew better.
Wow, this is going to be a long post. Bear with me!
Main Dishes
Meatballs and sausage – My Aunt Mary made these. Everything this woman makes turns out wonderful and her meatballs are no exception.
Stuffed cabbage – Aunt Ellen made these. Everyone loves them. I’m not a big fan, but it’s not all about me now is it?
Eggplant Parmesan – I made this, but I totally cheated. I bought these at C*stco, threw on some sauce (I did make the sauce) and cheese, and Voila! Eggplant parm. It was really good.
Baked Ziti – I have a great recipe for this that I found on Food Network.com. I used the recipe for the basic marinara sauce all of the time. I like this version because it doesn’t have ricotta cheese in it.
Desserts
Still with me? I’m almost done. Listing out everything does make it seem like there was a lot of food, no? Well, that doesn’t stop everyone from eating most of the desserts.
Cake – My mom made the cake – white with white frosting and a pretty pink cross. Delicious and simple.
Cookies – Beth made her famous cake cookies. These deserve a post of their own. Suffice it to say that there are never left over cake cookies and they are usually half gone by the time we put the desserts out. Aunt Ellen made her equally famous Reese’s PBC stuffed chocolate chip cookies. Erika added a new cookie to the mix that were a big hit. They were a sugar cookie filled cool whip with caramel. My mother-in-law loved these cookies, and she’s not normally a dessert person. My friend Jack made ginger snaps and these were a huge hit. I don’t know how he manages to make them both crispy and chewy, but he pulls it off. My mom and aunt were in heaven with these.
Ricotta Pie – I did it! I made the pie. I did not end up using the recipe I posted previously because my mom had a great recipe. My crust came out really good and the filling was sweet, but not overly done. I think people liked it. There was a bit leftover, so I just had to have it for breakfast the next day. Nice and healthy.
All in all, it was a lovely day with friends and family. Andreas and I love to host gatherings and to feed people and we do it well.

Thanks for coming to my Christening!