Sometimes I can be a bit of a rebel. Not when it comes to clothes, or hair color or tattoos, but when planning a holiday meal. I love a good turkey as much as the next person -- but I also love to experiment with new foods when cooking for friends or family. And since this year, thanksgiving was just going to be a few of us, I thought it would be the perfect time to try cooking paella. My mom was in town for the holiday and she informed me that paella had a tradition in our family I was unaware of. Seems my aunt used to prepare it for a Christmas Eve dinner when I was a baby. So apparently rebellion runs in the family.
There is something decidedly festive about a dish with 4 types of seafood/meat and a good measure of saffron. I even managed to find authentic paella rice from Valencia. The preparation and cooking only took a few hours, as opposed to all day, so we were able to take a nice walk through St. Edward State Park and enjoy the last few golden leaves on the trees. Then we came home and tucked ourselves into a steaming plate of rice, chorizo, shrimp, chicken and mussels. Dessert was Molten Chocolate Cakes with vanilla gelato and raspberries. Now that beats pumpkin pie every time.
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