Last week and a blow-out Christmas dinner

We've had some elaborate dinners and some easy-peasy dinners of late, crowned with a pretty fancy spread last night.

Recently, I've made enchiladas stuffed with cheese, roasted squash, onions, and cabbage and topped with a New Mexican chili sauce. Another night we had pizza with onions, capers, tomato sauce, and cheese. Last weekend, I made up a whole batch of baked stuffed shells, most of which I froze. We topped the ones we ate with a homemade tomato sauce. We've also had stuffed cabbage that I'd frozen a while back. One morning last weekend, we had a miniature dim sum with steamed vegetable dumplings and sticky rice with bean paste.

Last night, we had two friends over for Christmas. One friend brought frozen hors d'oeuvres, which we heated up here -- tasty. Robert and I made spanekopita, one of my favorite dishes, and fortunately something everyone else likes too. I use the Moosewood recipe and the Moosewood Low-fat technique (use a mixture of oil and butter and spread it on every three leaves, not the traditional every single leaf).

We also served a huge salad, mashed sweet potatoes, and a cauliflower dish with peas and onions, with toasted cumin and mustard seeds. Then for dessert, we had homemade pumpkin pie (which was ok, not my best, but not too bad) and a wild Trader Joe's flan parfait cake that one friend brought.

Tonight, we're taking a salad and some leftover dessert to a friend's house and tomorrow we'll probably eat out before a contra dance. And then it's Sunday, so I'll need to think of something tasty to make, along with ideas for the coming week.