I know....it's early. But I have to order the crown roast and the coconut cake today, so I was working on my menu last night. The kids called and said they would be here on Dec 26th.
I'm going to do a lunch on Christmas around 1:00 or so and I think that will be our meal. And then do Christmas dinner on Saturday. I like the idea of a bit of relaxing on Christmas Day. There will be 7 of us, I think, for our lunch. Haven't decided what I'm going to make, other than some kind of quiche, a warm fruit salad, and mimosas. That's as far as I got. I know that Rick's mother is coming on both days.
I think there will be either 11 or 13 of us for our Christmas dinner on Saturday (and I'm really hoping it doesn't snow!):
Crown Roast of Pork with warm Old Farmhouse Chutney
Crock Pot Stuffing and Gravy
Potato Casserole with Bacon and Caramelized Onion (kind of like scalloped potatoes, but without all the cream and cheese)
Sweet Potato Casserole (chunked sweets with dried apricots and cherries, a bit of maple syrup, and a sprinkling of pecans)
Dried Corn
Asparagus with Leeks
Creamed Onions
Apple and Dried Cherry Salad
Freezer Cabbage
Cranberry Relish (and a can of Ocean Spray jellied sauce because that's what Rick likes)
Iced Tea and Coffee
A few bottles of cranberry wine from our local winery
White Coconut Cake
Peanut Butter Swirl Cheesecake
Assorted Christmas Cookies
Almond Brittle
Our Christmas dinner really never changes much at all. I started making the potato casserole a few years ago (because I do mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving and wanted something different for Christmas and the casserole turned out to be a real hit with the family). Same with serving dried corn instead of the corn pudding that I make at Thanksgiving; Rick loves dried corn, so that gives him something he really likes. Our son loves creamed onions and our DIL loves the asparagus. I like the sweet potatoes because they're not loaded down with brown sugar and butter; the original recipe calls for mashing the sweet potatoes, but we like them better in chunks with the dried fruit (I may try it with chunks of butternut squash this year; it's not like we don't have a ton of squash from the garden!).
The coconut cake is a standing tradition for my sister, brother and me. It's what to serve for Christmas dinner! However, Rick nor our DIL will touch coconut and they're both die-hard peanut butter fans, so I'm going with the peanut butter cheesecake this year for them. The cheesecake recipe is from Junior's Cheesecakes cookbook and uses a spongecake crust instead of the old graham cracker crust; I did a black cherry cheesecake last year and also tried a strawberry swirl cheesecake from the same book and everybody thought they were just wonderful. The grands love all kinds of cookies, although Caleb's favorite is peanut butter and Sarah's favorite is chocolate crinkles....I will have them on hand as well. Like their grandmother, they do not like cheesecake.
What about you? What do you usually serve on Christmas? Is it a traditional dinner or do you like to mix it up a bit and serve something different from year to year?
I'm going to do a lunch on Christmas around 1:00 or so and I think that will be our meal. And then do Christmas dinner on Saturday. I like the idea of a bit of relaxing on Christmas Day. There will be 7 of us, I think, for our lunch. Haven't decided what I'm going to make, other than some kind of quiche, a warm fruit salad, and mimosas. That's as far as I got. I know that Rick's mother is coming on both days.
I think there will be either 11 or 13 of us for our Christmas dinner on Saturday (and I'm really hoping it doesn't snow!):
Crown Roast of Pork with warm Old Farmhouse Chutney
Crock Pot Stuffing and Gravy
Potato Casserole with Bacon and Caramelized Onion (kind of like scalloped potatoes, but without all the cream and cheese)
Sweet Potato Casserole (chunked sweets with dried apricots and cherries, a bit of maple syrup, and a sprinkling of pecans)
Dried Corn
Asparagus with Leeks
Creamed Onions
Apple and Dried Cherry Salad
Freezer Cabbage
Cranberry Relish (and a can of Ocean Spray jellied sauce because that's what Rick likes)
Iced Tea and Coffee
A few bottles of cranberry wine from our local winery
White Coconut Cake
Peanut Butter Swirl Cheesecake
Assorted Christmas Cookies
Almond Brittle
Our Christmas dinner really never changes much at all. I started making the potato casserole a few years ago (because I do mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving and wanted something different for Christmas and the casserole turned out to be a real hit with the family). Same with serving dried corn instead of the corn pudding that I make at Thanksgiving; Rick loves dried corn, so that gives him something he really likes. Our son loves creamed onions and our DIL loves the asparagus. I like the sweet potatoes because they're not loaded down with brown sugar and butter; the original recipe calls for mashing the sweet potatoes, but we like them better in chunks with the dried fruit (I may try it with chunks of butternut squash this year; it's not like we don't have a ton of squash from the garden!).
The coconut cake is a standing tradition for my sister, brother and me. It's what to serve for Christmas dinner! However, Rick nor our DIL will touch coconut and they're both die-hard peanut butter fans, so I'm going with the peanut butter cheesecake this year for them. The cheesecake recipe is from Junior's Cheesecakes cookbook and uses a spongecake crust instead of the old graham cracker crust; I did a black cherry cheesecake last year and also tried a strawberry swirl cheesecake from the same book and everybody thought they were just wonderful. The grands love all kinds of cookies, although Caleb's favorite is peanut butter and Sarah's favorite is chocolate crinkles....I will have them on hand as well. Like their grandmother, they do not like cheesecake.
What about you? What do you usually serve on Christmas? Is it a traditional dinner or do you like to mix it up a bit and serve something different from year to year?