Christmas Day Española

My friend Laurel has spent 2008 trying to perfect the culinary craft of making Tortilla de España. Well, it may have taken her a whole year, but as you can see from the photo above, practice certainly did make perfect.

And, to show off her hard-earned Spanish cooking skills, she decided to take it up a notch inviting a gaggle of guests to her Inwood home for a Christmas array of tapas. From her flavorful Pan con Tomate to garlicky good Champiñones al Ajillo to Sherry-doused Gambas con Pimiento...

...it was like I was transported back to Barcelona.

Christmas Eve in Italy. Christmas Day in Spain. It does make me wonder where I'll end up for New Year's Eve.