Holiday Menus: what's on yours?

[Deana]

this year I am hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas day dinner at my house. I am really excited, and I need to get my act together!!

Here are my thoughts (I don't have recipes for hardly anything yet, just getting my ideas in place):

Christmas Eve
my sis and her FI will be flying in that day, and my mom won't be able to be at our house 'til close to 7pm (has to work) so I plan on lots of appitizers and a lighter, later dinner.

Apps -
cheese ball/log
hot crab dip
one more app - maybe bruchetta or an antipasto try
hot cider, sparkling water, wine (kinda goes without saying in my family, lol)

Dinner -
shrimp scampi type dish
a veg
ceasar salad
wonderful loaf of crusty bread

dessert -
chocolate torte with warm rasberry sauce (family tradition)
Christmas cookies plus truffles or fudge
coffee (flavored)

Christmas Day
for the morning (we don't do a sit down breakfast)
coffee cake, an egg casserole, fruit (just all of it out to munch on)

apps -
I will probably make it easy and do a cheese board and a store bought dip or two
yeah, wine and all that ;)

dinner -
beef tenderloin
a rice/squash dish
a sweet potato casserole (not a gooey marshmellowy one though)
ceasar salad or wedge salad
cloverleaf rolls
wine: chateneuf de pape (family tradition)

dessert -
either pecan pie with ice cream or whipping cream
OR
a yule roll
cookies, fudge, etc whatever is leftover!!
coffee

[Csara]

omg, can I come???

[Deana]

sure C! :)

[Csara]

hehe, thanks!

Are you doing Thanksgiving dinner this year too? Thanksgiving is usually my holiday - I've been doing it every year for about 7 years now, but we are leaving early the next morning for Italy so this year we are going out with the whole family. It will be a lot easier....just hope the food is as good. ;)

[CC21]

That menu sounds delicious!

I have an awesome spincach-artichoke dip recipe if you need another appetizer. It's really easy too.

[meliz]

mmmmm... man oh man, I am a starvin marvin now and its not even 3pm!

J-- please post that dip recipe!

And D, when you perfect your shrimp dish, that would be awesome too...

I have gotten so lazy in my old age. I swear. We have a product line called President's Choice and every holiday they release all kinds of new (delish) products-- I find myself buying more and more of these, and cooking less and less. If you can get these in the States, I highly recommend! Here is their site: President's Choice - Holiday Insider's Report (http://www.presidentschoice.ca/FoodAndRecipes/HIREN.aspx)

Sigh. Ya'll are my inspiration!

[Deana]

J - I would love a tried and true spinach/choke dip. Thanks!!

C - I am not cooking for Thanksgiving. However, the day before T-day is Ella's b-day, so my mom and I will be cooking up a storm for her 1st birthday party!

Meliz - I'll have to check out the president's choice line!!

[Deana]

well, I'm still set for Christmas day food but...

Christmas Eve menu is a mess. I was going to do shrimp scampi, then crab cakes, then chicken marsala... but I really need to do something that's relatively easy and that I can possibly do the night before.

So now I think I am going to do a baked ziti and meatballs in the crock pot. It is so much easier but so NOT fancy.

Any thoughts on how to dress it up or what I can add to make it fancy? I AM going to use my china, I don't care if it's basically spagetti and meatballs, lol. I am going to do a ceasar salad and a nice bread too.

Is that totally rediculous for Christmas Eve dinner? It is dh and me, my mom, sister and her fi and my two kids.

[yonksgirl]

You could put zuccini (sp?) in your ziti, you could even do shrimp and put some garlic in there!

If you still wanted to do crab cakes you could make them the night before and put them in the fridge over night. They fry up alot better that way!

[Deana]

ok, I need some input please.

Christmas day we are doing an antipasti tray and a cheeseball for apps.

Then dinner:
beef tender
rice/squash dish
sweet potato casserole
clover leaf rolls

***do I need to do a lettuce wedge/blue cheese salad???

[Sexy Strawberry]

On Christmas Eve we will have suckling pig... still nto sure with what. As for the appetizers... we always have seafood, but still don't know what ;)
To drink, cyder!
And the dessert... in Spain we have traditional Spanish X-mas sweets, so that's what we will have.

Christmas Day... we will have cod.

[Csara]

Hey D! Doesn't seem like you need the salad as far as the amount of food. You have plenty of food, but if you wanted to maybe throw in a simple green veggie like green beans or broccoli, it would be easier for you than the salad and there would be a nice healthy green in there. ;)