Do you have a big meal on Christmas Eve and or Day? Do you have a traditional meal you serve every year.
I am very traditional at Thanksgiving but not so much at Christmas as far as meals.
(We DO have cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning though which has been tradition for many years!)
We are having a big dinner on Christmas Day and so far I have planned on a pork roast with cranberries.........and a Texas Sheet cake! I have to fill in the side dishes!!!
I am looking for ideas and inspiration!
What are YOU serving?
We have a tradition in our family that I love! The kids make a menu ahead of time for what they want on Christmas morning, then I buy all the ingredients, and they do all the cooking on Christmas morning. It's so nice, it gives the grown ups a chance to get dressed and visit, then after breakfast the kids get dressed and the grownups clean up the kitchen, then we open presents.
This year for Christmas we'll be at my parents and I know we're having turkey and ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, scalloped potatoes, veggie tray, cranberry/raspberry jello, rolls, green bean casserole, dressing and 3 berry pie and pumpkin pie for desserts.
Carol
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Im so glad someone asked this question. Im planning on having my family over to our house for Christmas dinner but I have no idea what I am going to cook just yet. Over the years we have done the traditional dinners and some odd dinners too. This year, however, Im looking for ideas that wont keep me in the kitchen all day cooking. I dont have a very big apartment and I would like to enjoy our company instead of everyone piling into my kitchen while I cook. Im hoping to get some ideas here.
Carol, How in the world do you keep the kids contained enough to eat breakfast before opening presents? I love the idea of having breakfast and waking up before jumping into the presents. That would make for much better looking pictures too!! LOL!!
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Ajrsmom - I guess because the kids have already gone through their stockings they're willing to wait to open presents. Oh, I love Christmas morning!
Carol
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Hi,
We have a regular meal for Christmas eve. I set out Cinnamon rolls to rise before I go to bed. We all get to open a package that has PJ's for us on Christmas Eve. (That way we all look great in the morning pictures). Our kids have to stay upstairs and yell down to wake us up. We get up, get ourselves together, set up the vidio camera and turn on the oven. Then the kids come down. We open a few presents, put the rolls in and open the rest of the presents until the cinnamon rolls are done. After we eat we can open the rest of the gifts. DH then leaves to pick up my step-daughter and I start cooking. We have a big traditional meal after he gets home. Ham, mashed pot.& gravy, corn, rolls, and dessert. We spend the day at home and have our family get togethers on different days. This year our extended family is going to go Caroling before Christmas! I am so excited!
Since I go to church Christmas morning NO ONE opens gifts till I get back and change out of church clothes. Last year Gina decided she wanted everyone in their nite clothes so I put back on a gown as did Judy and our friend who was here as well as the boys that is Adam as IMP had on regular clothes. Gina takes pix of all of us opening our gifts and Adam takes of her.
Then after all the openings I head back to the kitchen (my fave room) and check on things there. This year we will be having a ham (cooked with orange juice & any lemon lime soda I have here) have been doing the ham this way for over 16 yrs now since had it at first loves home his neice made it that way. It was gooooood and this ole gal does not normally like ham but do that way. I bought a turkey breast the other day to cook also one or the other will be done in my new GE Roaster Gina gave me early for Christmas. I think it will be the turkey breast and will add some veggies maybe the dressing in there with it. BIG roaster.
Will also have cranberry sauce, green bean casserole (which I have never done before) mashed potatoes cooked with chicken broth, sweet potatoes not sure how yet. Probably a fruit salad, rolls, pumkin pie, a cream pie, assorted cookies, red cabbage, rutabaga's cooked with carrots and who knows maybe something else, for sure will NOT be cooking next couple days.
Both Adam and IMP are getting bikes so hope it is nice out for them to ride. Well on to other mails. Oh for the record my throat still hurts and food taste bland still. God bless
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1 32-ounce bag of frozen southern style hashbrown potatoes (aka frozen shredded potatoes)
1 lb. of bacon cut into pieces, fried & drained
1/2 c. diced onions
1 green pepper diced
3/4 lb. cheddar cheese diced
1 dozen eggs
1 c. milk
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Layer the frozen potatoes, bacon, onions, green pepper and cheese in the crock pot in two
or three layers. Finish up with cheese. Beat the eggs, milk, mustard, salt & pepper
together. Pour over whole mixture, Cook on low for ten to twelve hours.
PERSONAL NOTES:
* I use the store brand potatoes which are much cheaper, and the taste is just as yummy
* I personally do not add the onion & green pepper as my kiddos would not eat it if I did.
I would assume adding onions & peppers gives it sort of western omlet taste, but I don't
know.
* I have substituted ham, sausage, grilled turkey and grilled chicken (at different times) for
the bacon. My DH, DS12 & DS6 like it with any kind of meat. Any meat works just fine. I
personally do not eat red meat, so I make a smaller version for myself in my "lil dipper"
crockpot which contains no meat at all. Still yummy.
* Dry mustard - I have no idea what purpose this ingredient serves. If you don't have it on
hand I really don't think it would make that much difference.
Dessert:
Chocolate Mousse Cake (My birthday cake)
Fried Apple Pies
Pumpkin Cake Roll
Snacks:
About 12 dozen or more of assorted cookies
Most of the stuff I can make a couple of days ahead and then just reheat it when that meal comes up. I like to make a bunch of different food for the Holidays and now my mom and I are going to open up our new house to include a nice size party once a month for everyone who wants to come. This does not take a lot of money like some people think. I buy different ingredients that I find when shopping and buy them. When I come across a recipe thai I like most of the time I have everything on hand.
Every Christmas Eve we go to the Christmas Eve service at church and then we come home and have pizza. That tradition started the first year DH and I were married. The only extra money we had was enough to go out to Pizza Hut. There were no presents that year, but we still had fun anyway!
We open one present on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas morning we open the rest. After that we also have cinnamon rolls (that seems to be the popular breakfast item!) and then we either leave for my Mom and Dad's or we go to MIL's.
At MIL's we have a roast (crock-pot the night before) and add to it some rolls and some extra veggies. There is so much snacky food that we don't usually have a huge meal.
At Mom and Dad's we have a meat and cheese platter and have chips with snacky foods. We started doing that about 15 years ago. That way no one is stuck in the kitchen cooking, cleaning, or straightening up.
We are having both Christmas Eve (with my husbands family) and Christmas Day (with my family) this year.
For the main course on Christmas Eve I'm going easy - Stuffed Shells (that I can prep the day before). My sister-in-law is bringing an Antipasto Salad, Shrimp platter, Garlic Bread & a dessert. I going to have other appetizers, but haven't figured them out .... any suggestions??
Christmas Day will be pretty traditional (my family doesn't understand when I want to do something different). We'll have ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce, fruit salad, relish tray, deviled eggs and my grandmother will make sweet potatoes. I am trying to come up with another veggie - maybe just a veggie tray ...
I haven't given alot of thought to Christmas morning, yet. My hubby is supposed to be off this Christmas, so he'll probably make a big breakfast with sausage gravy, biscuits and eggs for us.
That would make for much better looking pictures too!! LOL!! 
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is supposed to be off this Christmas, so he'll probably make a big breakfast with sausage gravy, biscuits and eggs for us.
