And you think you're busy this week.

Lynette Colosimo of Villa Hills spent most of Saturday buying fish. Today, she is "up to her elbows'' in flour and bread crumbs, coating calamari and other seafood. She set her dinner table a week ago, and she won't stop cooking until about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday - after her appetizers and before her main courses are served.

On Christmas Eve, Ms. Colosimo will treat 26 guests to an incredible buffet at her home - antipasto, fried baccala (dried salt cod), Broiled Sea Scallops "Amalia'' (named for her mother-in-law), tilapia and assorted vegetables. It's a meatless meal based on the Italian tradition of La Vigilia di Natale ("vigil before Christmas''). It's been a tradition in the Colosimo home for 12 years. It was all Ms. Colosimo's idea, and she's Southern - not Italian.

"At my family's house on Christmas Eve, we had a big country ham, corn bread dressing, fresh vegetables, chocolate pie and pound cake,'' she says.

Ms. Colosimo's husband, Angelo, is third-generation Italian-American. The couple met in 1988 in her hometown of Durham, N.C., where he was a medical resident at Duke University. They dated for nearly three years, visiting his family in Yonkers, N.Y., often, which is where Ms. Colosimo learned to eat and cook Italian.

"His father, Joseph, taught me to cook without a book,'' she says. "And I finally proved myself to his grandmothers.''

Lynette Colosimo makes Mozzarella Marinata in the kitchen of her Villa Hills home. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

Ms. Colosimo started the La Vigilia tradition at her home in 1990, the first year she was married. The next year, the couple moved to Northern Kentucky, and Dr. Colosimo is now director of sports medicine and team physician for the University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Bengals.

The guest list for the celebration includes friends and acquaintances (UC football coach Rick Minter washed dishes one year), especially those with no family in town. Being Italian is not a prerequisite.

"I love doing this,'' Ms. Colosimo says. "We all need to shift our focus back to the home. We need to embrace the spirit of hospitality.''

Ms. Colosimo, who has four children ages 4 to 11 and works part-time in a direct sales business, prepares just about everything from scratch for the big meal, except the bread (her favorite is La Rosa's salt braid). She grows and cans the pickled eggplant and peppers on the menu. She tediously wraps lemon wedges in cheesecloth and individually molds the butter for bread. She bakes the sweet, anise-flavored pizzelles.

Remarkably, she has had few cooking disasters. Well, except for the eel (fresh eel is also part of the tradition) she forgot in the oven three years ago.

"We just passed it around and laughed about it,'' she says.

If you're hosting guests for the holidays this week, Ms. Colosimo has friendly, experienced advice - even if you're not hosting an Italian seafood buffet for 26.

First, don't worry about having a perfect house. Everyone knows you live there. Next, you don't have to be a gourmet cook. Just do what you do well.

"People don't care what you put on the table,'' she says. "They want to see you.''

And finally, she suggests, just relax.

" I still need to work on that,'' she admits.

Mozzarella Marinata

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/4 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella (about 2 balls) drained and patted dry

11/4 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

1 large bay leaf

Extra-virgin olive oil

Sterilized 12-ounce jar with lid

Mix together in a shallow bowl: oregano, salt, pepper flakes, and ground pepper. Roll each mozzarella ball in the dry mixture, patting the herbs and spices until cheese is covered evenly.

Place mozzarella balls into the sterilized jar. Add peppercorns and bay leaf. Fill the jar with olive oil, carefully pouring in against the side of the jar so as not to "wash" the spices off of the cheese.

Cap the jar and let it marinate at room temperature for two days. After marinating, store cheese in refrigerator for up to a week.

To serve, allow cheese to return to room temperature. Slice and serve with bruschetta, antipasto, fresh tomatoes and basil.

Variations:

Add 1 large garlic clove, cut in half, and/or 1/4 cup diced sweet red or yellow bell peppers to jar before marinating mozzarella.