Xmas this year was a wonderful, buoyant family gathering, a fattening food fest, a cold cocktail competition, and a terrific week-long break from the city.

My mother's Xmas tree is one of the great wonders of the man-made world. It's insanely bedecked with lights and ornaments (prominently featuring a gorgeous styrofoam angel ornament made by yours truly sometime circa 1975).

Stephanie and I got into Wilmington two days before everyone else, and those two days were spent laughing and catching up with Mom and Dad. Our second night we ate at Circa 1922, where our waitress proudly proclaimed our cocktails to be the "coldest ever" (they weren't even close to über-cold drinks I myself make...). We had a wonderful dinner of tapas and wine, cocktails and laughter.

And then the Armstrong-Berkson-Bruegman contingent arrived, and the party really began. One of my favorite activities of Xmasing with the Berksons is getting Stephanie B. drunk--it's a fun, funny, rip-roarin' thing to behold! Alas, this year's Steph-tipping was cancelled due to expectant nausea. It's okay though, as I did enough drinking for me AND my step-niece.

As usual, we planned a very "small" Xmas--really budget-conscious gift-giving this year. Yeah right. The more we say that, the more we spend. Not that I'm complaining. I stayed on budget on some gifts, and went wildly over budget on others. But as they say, everything in moderation, especially moderation. And, of course, I was on the receiving end of so much of that overspending.

But let's just talk about John Cassavetes for a second. My sister and brother-in-law bought me the Cassavetes box set of Shadows, Faces, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, A Woman Under the Influence, and Opening Night. I've already devoured two of the films, all of the special features on those two disks, and the entire 68-page booklet filled with Cassavetes's writings and other articles.

Anyway, Xmas Eve was a huge affair at my parents' place. My Aunt Irene's family was with us, as well as my mother's cousin Elena and her husband Dale.

The Xmas Eve feast is a tradition in our family: cocktails, then a champagne toast, then spaghetti with a tomato/fish gravy, then baked fish, sauteed shrimp, and the amazing frites--fried dough pockets filled with egg & cheese or tomato & onion fillings (read more about the origins of this meal here).

On Christmas day all fifteen of us gathered again at Aunt Irene's for ham and lasagna. The amazing lasagna was Grandma LoBasso's recipe, and it was so delicious that I almost changed my plans for my New Year's party from making the meat gravy to making the lasagna. But I'm no Julia Child, and I'm certainly no Mary LoBasso, so without the guidance of someone in my family to help me prepare such a dish, I'll stick with the one food item I am properly trained to make.

Christmas Day was very relaxed and a lot of fun. Everyone simply sat around and ate copious amounts of food, polished off a few bottles of wine, and enjoyed good conversation.

More pictures of the Wilmington holiday can be found in the photos section.

Hope yours was as good as mine--but I doubt that's possible!

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