fête

All is ready before the annual holiday party at 'the tenement.' You will note many new wine glasses, every single one of which was used and miraculously not broken - I even found one in the bathroom the following day! But the drink that won the evening was cololito - two versions of which arrived thanks to Puerto Rican guests who took the trouble to mix some southern happiness for the rest of us. The kasha holiday salad was a miserable failure - tip for holiday entertainers, don't try new recipes at the last minute. The caponatina on the other hand was a raging success. Not in this photo - the vegetarian paella, Cuban black beans and herb-roasted root vegetable medley.