Christmas Dinner Menu

[miagi's_mommy]

Is it too early to talk about it?

Here's the menu I know of so far and we'll be having it on Christmas Eve since my brother has to go back on Christmas.

Prime Rib (we don't like ham too much and we've been having prime rib the last 4 years or so.)

Fresh Green Beans with bacon

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy.

Homemade Yeast Rolls

And I am sure there will be more but we don't do a giant Christmas meal like we do on Thanksgiving just a few sides.

We'll probably have fudge, buckeyes, cookies and peppermint bark (homemade it's really easy) as well.

And probably cheese and crackers for snacks and chips and dip.

 

[DreamerRose]

So glad you asked. This year, I'm going to have a boneless pork roast, oven roasted potatoes, and the ubiquitous green bean casserole. Or maybe squash casserole. Haven't decided for sure on that. I'm tired of turkey and ham, so the pork sounded like a good idea. I have to watch the carbs, so there won't be any homemade yeast rolls (yum!), jello salad, or dessert. But there will be some kind of fruit salad.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

My mother is making lasagna.  Maybe 2; one with meat and one veggie.  I'm not sure what else we will have with it.  Apple pie is my step-dad's favorite so I'll probably make one or two.  (Who doesn't like leftover pie right?)  We usually do various cookies so that is plenty for dessert.  

Christmas Eve after the candlelight service someone in our church opens their house and everyone (most of the church anyway) comes over for a dessert/appetizer potluck.  My Mom is hosting that this year so I'll be making some Reuben Dip and maybe mini-meatballs. Both stay in the crock pot so it's perfect for prepping ahead of time.  As a kid I always spent Christmas Eve at my Grandmother's on my Dad's side and that was when we'd have our big dinner. It always included shrimp (and cod and other stuff) so I'm wondering if I can find a good deal on shrimp for that night too. 

In the past the Christmas Eve festivities included a gag gift exchange among the adults.  Those were a riot but I don't think they do them anymore.  It's been a few years since I've been to one since I have small kids.  When I was a teenager we'd have this kind of get together; sometimes at the spur of the moment since Mom has a large family room.  They were always quite a party!  Live music, food, my bedroom full of my friends (no guys allowed!

) and a house full of people.  And people always help clean up before they go.

 Once a lady was having such a good time she thought she went into labor.  It was a false alarm.

 

 

[AbbysMom]

I have no idea for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'm not in charge of either.

 

[Winchester]

I finally figured things out. Pretty much our standard fare and I think most of this is from last year; I think if I changed too many things around for Christmas, our son would not be amused. I would love to do prime rib, but both Rick and Graham really like the crown roast. Dinner will be at 2:00, maybe 3:00.

Crown Roast of Pork

Crock Pot Stuffing with All-Purpose Gravy

Party Potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole (This is something I came up with a few years ago. Potatoes aren't mashed, but chunked with pecans, granola, dried cherries, and a few spoonsful of maple syrup)

Sagaponek Corn Pudding (Ina Garten)

Asparagus with Leeks (Ina Garten)

Creamed Onions (an old Betty Crocker recipe loved dearly by our son)

Mandarin Orange and Pecan Salad

Garlic Parmesan Rolls

Mom's Cranberry Relish

Iced Tea and Coffee

A few bottles of Anniversary White Wine

White Coconut Cake with Lemon Filling

Peanut Butter Swirl Cheesecake (Our DIL loves peanut butter anything; Rick loves cheesecake. It works.)

Salted Caramel Chocolate Pecan Pie (Rick's mom specifically asked me to make this again....it's that good)

Assorted Christmas Cookies

Almond Brittle

Most of the recipes are very easily made the night before, so not a lot of last-minute hassles.

On Monday, I will order the crown roast from our local butcher shop. And I will order the white coconut cake....it is fabulous!

Any leftovers from the crown roast will go into the freezer and probably used as a base for pork and sauerkraut for New Year's Day.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

We will actually be home alone on Christmas Day. I plan to make us a turkey breast as we had seafood on Thanksgiving. Our meal will include mashed potatoes and gluten free gravy. I hope to get some good collards before then, cook them and put them in the freezer. It that doesn't happen we will have green lima beans from the freezer. I make a cooked cranberry relish and I am sure we will have that. I am going to make gluten free icebox fruitcake and that will be our dessert.

 

[posiepurrs]

I am not sure yet, but am thinking about doing either a spiral sliced ham (which I am not supposed to eat) or a beef roast. I will probably go with the ham. I will make a vegetarian lasagna for my daughter. We will have  au gratin potatoes, broccoli (grandaughters favorite!), and another vegetable of some sort. Also have French bread, apple pie and pumpkin pie and maybe some German Chocolate fudge that I just found the recipe for, for dessert. I make everything from scratch. Usually our Christmas dinner is a no fuss meal but since I couldn't do Thanksgiving this year I promised my kids I would put on a spread for Christmas. I have to make 2 apple pies and 2 pumpkin pies. My youngest son wants to take the extra apple home for his girlfriend and my daughter wants the pumpkin. Nate, my son has been bragging to his girlfriend about my apple pie since I have won several contests with it. Watch - I will burn it or ruin it somehow!

 

[Winchester]

I love spiral ham, but I can never do one well. It always seems to get too done for me.

Everybody's dinners sound so good. There's going to be a lot of wonderful food being eaten! Yum!

 

[Winchester]

Our dinner menu will stay the same, but we will have our Christmas dinner with the kids on Monday, Dec 26. Rick and I are both off work that day, so it works out OK. And I may request a vacation day for Tuesday, Dec 27.....just because.

So now I have to figure out what we're actually doing for Christmas! Rick's mom will still want to come down to spend some time with us and she's looking forward to something special. I'm thinking either a bit of a holiday brunch or maybe a pan of lasagna for Christmas Day. If I do lasagna, I can always prepare it on Saturday and throw it in the fridge overnight. I can do a couple loaves of sourdough bread, make a nice Caesar salad, and just have cookies for dessert.

Or brunch. Start off with some mimosas and then just make some kind of frittata with some fruit salad, make up a bunch of muffins or scones, and do some bacon or ham. Or instead of a frittata, I could throw together some overnight French toast; Rick loves French toast. Figure out how to make it a bit more festive. I don't know. I'll think of something. 

I have to admit, I'm trying to figure out which one would be easier!

 

[Kat0121]

 
I love spiral ham, but I can never do one well. It always seems to get too done for me.

Everybody's dinners sound so good. There's going to be a lot of wonderful food being eaten! Yum!

Put it in the crock pot. Seriously. I bring one to every pot luck we have at work. It's become expected. EVERYONE loves it and it comes out perfect every time. I get the Sam's Choice brown sugar one from Wal Mart. it's the one in the purple foil package. I usually make one between 9-10 pounds and it fits perfectly in the 7 quart Crock Pot. I bring the ham to work still in the package. I get it set  up in the CP at 8 AM, set the pot to high and it's done by noon. I make the glaze at about 11 and add it then. 

ETA- I have no idea what we are having. I asked DD what she wanted and got this, "I don't care". Fine. Then we are having what I want. 

I have a bone in skin on chicken breast in the freezer that I will roast (unseasoned of course) for the furkids. I made them one for Thanksgiving that I shredded on top of their supper and they loved it. It was still warm when they ate it and they inhaled it. 

 

[DreamerRose]

@Winchester  - I vote for the brunch. They are festive just in themselves. You could make a sausage and egg casserole the day before and put it in the oven the morning of. I've seen French toast casseroles, too. The Internet is full of such recipes. It sounds very Christmasy.

 

[Winchester]

Thanks, DreamerRose, I am, too. Especially with the mimosas! 

 

[betsygee]

 
I finally figured things out. Pretty much our standard fare and I think most of this is from last year; I think if I changed too many things around for Christmas, our son would not be amused. I would love to do prime rib, but both Rick and Graham really like the crown roast. Dinner will be at 2:00, maybe 3:00.

Crown Roast of Pork

Crock Pot Stuffing with All-Purpose Gravy

Party Potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole (This is something I came up with a few years ago. Potatoes aren't mashed, but chunked with pecans, granola, dried cherries, and a few spoonsful of maple syrup)

Sagaponek Corn Pudding (Ina Garten)

Asparagus with Leeks (Ina Garten)

Creamed Onions (an old Betty Crocker recipe loved dearly by our son)

Mandarin Orange and Pecan Salad

Garlic Parmesan Rolls

Mom's Cranberry Relish

Iced Tea and Coffee

A few bottles of Anniversary White Wine

White Coconut Cake with Lemon Filling

Peanut Butter Swirl Cheesecake (Our DIL loves peanut butter anything; Rick loves cheesecake. It works.)

Salted Caramel Chocolate Pecan Pie (Rick's mom specifically asked me to make this again....it's that good)

Assorted Christmas Cookies

Almond Brittle

Most of the recipes are very easily made the night before, so not a lot of last-minute hassles.

On Monday, I will order the crown roast from our local butcher shop. And I will order the white coconut cake....it is fabulous!

Any leftovers from the crown roast will go into the freezer and probably used as a base for pork and sauerkraut for New Year's Day.

Very impressive!!  

 

[betsygee]

We're going to Christmas Eve at my stepdaughter's house with her in-laws.  They always have a meat and seafood heavy menu so I generally bring a vegetarian pasta or bean dish to share.  I have no idea what we're doing Christmas Day.  We know three other couples who are also not doing anything that day, so I'm toying with doing a brunch here for all of us Christmas Orphans.  

  But we may opt to just take the day off, maybe hubby and I will go to brunch at a restaurant somewhere and let them do the cooking and clean up.  

 

[MoochNNoodles]

That's not a bad idea Betsy!  Usually whoever doesn't cook helps clean.  And it's only 6 of us for the holidays anymore; so it's not TOO bad.  But still! 

 

[Winchester]

Thanks, @betsygee  . It's pretty much our standard menu every year. 

Rick's mom told me yesterday that she doesn't want to come down on Christmas. And we understand. She is 95 and it's really getting hard for her to get around. She just fell in her bathroom again and the entire right side of her face is black. And she has stitches. We have snow and it's really cold. So she said she'd rather just come down to our house on Monday when the kids are here so she can see the grands. It's fine.

I have a feeling that this will be her last Christmas with us. I think that we'll be going into her facility next year because she won't want to come down to us at all......we live in a bi-level and so, there are steps from our front door up to the living room; it's so hard for her to get up those steps. In the summer, we can drive around to the back of the house and she just needs to come through the arbor, two steps up on the deck and then right into the kitchen. But we can't do that in the winter....too much snow and ice in the back yard. We don't do a lot of salt and such because of The Beast walking around to pee.

So....Rick and I are on our own on Christmas Day! For the first time in, heavens, I don't know how many years! Can I say that I'm kind of excited about it? 

 And yeah, we're doing brunch on Christmas. Just for the two of us. 

And I'm still making mimosas! 

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

We will be doing Christmas with our children later because of the holiday being on Sunday. I plan to cook a meal on Christmas Eve.

Turkey Breast
Gluten Free Dressing.
Mashed Potatoes
Caramelized Sweet Potatoes
Collards
Citrus Cranberry Dressing
Homemade Applesauce
Rolls

Pecan Pie
Gluten Free Ice Box Fruitcake

My brother in law will be coming to eat with us. On Sunday my husband and I will be having the leftovers. Nobody else with be eating with us.

 

[catmom marcia]

Chinese AYCE buffet.

 

[AbbysMom]

Here's what I know -

On Christmas Eve day, a friend comes by here. We wrap her gifts, eat and drink. She is bringing a bunch of different breads for dipping and some things from the Armenian deli near her. I'm making a spinach dip, a beer cheese dip, clam dip, potato skins and meatballs.

At night we are going to my brothers. I am bringing chourico and peppers and a plate of desserts. I know one niece is making chili. My brother normally gets a deli platter and a salad sandwich platter (he works for a grocery store). I'm not sure what else there will be.

On Christmas Day we go to my other brother's house. I am bringing shrimp scampi dip and a big plate of chocolate chip cookies. He plans on having a buffet with various foods. I am storing some of the desserts here for him, so I know there is a chocolate mousse cake and a Boston Cream cake.

 

[DreamerRose]

That sounds delicious!