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My husband loves a good spicey Bloody Mary. I am going to surprise him with a pitcher of these as he watches football!

I grew up and now live in "fly-over country", as the media call us. While I spent nearly 20 years away living in San Diego and Atlanta, we do holidays very traditional. While your menu sounds lovely, what a disappointment it would be in my family. For Christmas dinner "musts" on the table include: a ham from Heavenly Hams, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (using french style greene beans), Rhodes Texas-style rolls, devil eggs, cranberry jelly (from the can, sliced), cannied sweet potatoes/yams. I know this might not be a very sophisticated menu, but there's nothing like tradition. We have our dinner on Christmas Eve and then eat left overs on Christmas day. We love making sandwiches from the rolls and ham. We get the honey mustard from Heavenly Ham for the sandwiches. This year my hubby and I went to a Christmas dinner at a friends house. They had grilled tenderloin, champagne risotto, corn souffle and I brought the green bean casserole. Everything was yummy, but it sure didn't feel like a Christmas dinner. ;o)

I lived in San Diego for 10 years and there are SO many GREAT places to eat!! Not sure where you are, but many of these places have several locations:

RUBIO's Fish Tacos - THEY put Fish Tacos on the MAP! Oh my, great tacos. Whenever I'm anywhere where there's a Rubios, I'm there!! Better than Wahoo's who is a new comer to fish tacos. The two guys who started Rubio's began the fish taco craze in California. Don't knock 'em until you try 'em.

Pick Up Stix - a SoCal fast food chinese place that is FAB-U-lous. It's been voted #1 for years and years!

In and Out Burger - always fresh, family owned. You will become addicted to their burgers!

Sammy Wood-fired Pizzas - wow, great salads and pizzas. Awesome.

Pat & Oscar's - great breadsticks, wings and salads!! Yummy!

Seau's - fabulous sports restaurant in Mission Valley. I have friends who swear they have the best calamari in town.

Prego's in Mission Valley - OMG, great food! Just the best.

Jake's n Del Mar - a nicer resaurant with fabulous food!

Sally's on the Bay near the Grand Hyatt downtown San Diego, always great food.

Claim Jumpers in either Carlsbad or La Mesa is a great family restaurant. The portions are huge, the food just plain good. Kinda reminds me of Cracker Barrel restaurants.

George's at the Cove in La Jolla is wonderful. In nice weather, sit atop the roof. Go at lunch on a Sunday.

For special occasions, a MUST is the brunch at the Hotel Del on Coronado. It's $65/per person, but you have NEVER seen anything like it. Amazing food, amazing amounts of food, amazingly good. Yum, yum!

There are more, but this will get you started!