What's on your menu for Christmas?

Toots: I make my big meal on Christmas Eve. I'm thinking this year, I'll throw out all the old traditional dishes (turkey, ham, etc.), although I am still contemplating that brining thing. I'd really like to make a big standing rib roast with some new side dishes. Can't wait to hear what everyone says. Food Channel has had some interesting ideas too.

I was thinking leg of lamb on the grill.
But I am not sure. I too do the big meal on Christmas Eve. In the past we've done roast beef and Yorkshire pudding; I have had one success and one flop with the Yorkshire pudding--perhaps I should try again? Hmm.
Just found out we might have my brother in law and his girlfriend which would be fun.
The kid asked if we could have sherry trifle for dessert so I will probably make that. I use the recipe from Silver Palate.
I usually cook latkes for Hanukkah. The house stinks for days but they taste so good. Alas, my cuisinart is *still* in storage and I refuse to grate the potatoes by hand.

oh, yummmmm!!! standing rib roast, leg of lamb... that's what I'm talking about!!! I want to do something really good like that. don't know how though.

Pomegranate Juice Sparkling Cocktails
Oysters with Bloody Mary Sorbet Topping
Chicken Liver Pate with Cornichons on Baguette
Cheese Straws

Roasted Turducken with Mushroom Sauce
Roasted Tenderloin of Beef with Two Sauces:
Horseradish and Bernaise
Roasted Potatoes
Haricots Vert with Roasted Walnut Halves

Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon

Buche de Noel with Meringue Mushrooms
Chocolate Wafer/Ginger Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches

Demitasse of Rich Hot Chocolate
Schramsberg Sparkling Wine
Espresso

Pomegranate Juice Sparkling Cocktails
Oysters with Bloody Mary Sorbet Topping
Chicken Liver Pate with Cornichons on Baguette
Cheese Straws

Roasted Turducken with Mushroom Sauce
Roasted Tenderloin of Beef with Two Sauces:
Horseradish and Bernaise
Roasted Potatoes
Haricots Vert with Roasted Walnut Halves

Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon

Buche de Noel with Meringue Mushrooms
Chocolate Wafer/Ginger Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches

Demitasse of Rich Hot Chocolate
Schramsberg Sparkling Wine
Espresso

what time?

The Turducken is back!!!! :clap_1:

Oddly enough, our Christmas routine will not be changing alot, even though we moved 600+ miles away. We always spent Christmas Eve dinner with my mother's side, and we will this year too since my aunt and uncle live in Sandestin, and my mom and brother will be down here.

Christmas Day was always Dad's side, and my parents had the Christmas Day lunch. After Dad died, it bounced between mom's house and our house. This year, I'm having either lunch or dinner ( pros and cons to each, so I am weighing them).

But the menu never changes- and the leftovers are the best!

Beef tenderloin (grilled) with small buns and Henry Bain sauce
Cheese Grits
peel and eat shrimp (they will be SO much better here!!)
salad
undetermined dessert

I would like to make something yummy for Christmas morning this year!

For Christmas Day it's just the 3 of us so I always do a beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, regular mashed potatoes with au jus, ambrosia, Caesar salad, fresh green beans, sliced cucumbers w/ dill & sour cream, tiramisu for dessert.

For breakfast I am going to try Allifunn's sausage and egg casserole this year instead of crepes.

djarg, I found a beautiful Turducken Roast in the Norm Thompson catalog and decided to add it as a second entree. Decently priced, I might add. Watched Paula Dean put one together one day and it turned my stomach! But I always try to have something unusual on the table.

Went to a holiday party here where the dessert was chocolate hot-and-cold. She served this beautiful sinfully rich demitasse of dark hot chocolate in a tiny cup topped with cream, along with the tiny ice cream sandwich---to die for! Here's how the chocolate was made: Make a simple syrup of sugar and water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and add lots of very high quality cocoa mix (Vahlrona, Angelina's, or Scharffenburger). Whisk until the cocoa is blended well into the simple syrup. This is your basic cocoa mix. Add a little bit of heavy cream at the end and heat. Then put a teaspoon of barely whipped cream to float on top of the chocolate. You can also dust this with cocoa and cinammon.

As for desserts for Christmas, I like that cake on the cover of the latest Western Magazine. It is an angel food cake iced with whipped cream, with bits of candy canes crushed into the whipped cream frosting. Very festive. I also like red velvet cakes and Publix makes a tasty one on special order. Butter is barking for some peanut brittle, so I had better sign off and make sure it's out of his reach!

For Christmas Day it's just the 3 of us so I always do a beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, regular mashed potatoes with au jus, ambrosia, Caesar salad, fresh green beans, sliced cucumbers w/ dill & sour cream, tiramisu for dessert.

For breakfast I am going to try Allifunn's sausage and egg casserole this year instead of crepes.

I'm dying here. JR, that sounds wonderful. We made a casserole last year and it was good. Very easy and tasty!

Homemade Italian Cappelletti (Little Hats) served in a chicken broth with homemade pasta, rice and carrots. The recipe has been passed down a few generations in my father's family.

Homemade Italian Cappelletti (Little Hats) served in a chicken broth with homemade pasta, rice and carrots. The recipe has been passed down a few generations in my father's family.

Would you pass it to us please???

For Christmas Day it's just the 3 of us so I always do a beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, regular mashed potatoes with au jus, ambrosia, Caesar salad, fresh green beans, sliced cucumbers w/ dill & sour cream, tiramisu for dessert.

For breakfast I am going to try Allifunn's sausage and egg casserole this year instead of crepes.

great menu JR!!! can't ever have enough wonderful potatoes!!!

care to share your twice baked recipe?

I love ambrosa...may add that to our menu. We have a baked country ham and shrimp. Lots of side dishes....with 18 people eating, everyone has a "must have" favorite. Coconut and Red Velvet cakes are a must as well.

All right, I'm starving now. So hungry I could eat a standing rib roast raw!

Gosh you know I havent even thought about it and this is the year that I must. This is the first time since being married (13 years) that it is just me, Mr. IBD and little iBD. no other family!
I guess I gotta cook.
maybe fried turkey
dressing
corn casserole
green beans
pound cake
not sure what else, how much can 3 people eat????

Rapunzey bread:clap_1:

Everyone knows what I have on Xmas Eve from the D and K thread , but in case you missed the story, we have the Feast of the Seven Fishes.
Usually it's baked clams, Fried Calamari, Flounder, King Crab Legs, Lobster Tails, Cod Fish (which is served cold in a salad, and then also added to a separate pot of pasta sauce) Shrimp scampi, and I also get a monk fish (since this is the closest thing to lobster that I can eat because I think I am allergic to shellfish now ) This is served with homemade pasta sauce red and vodka sauce.
Dessert is usually homemade biscotti, cannolli's and a mix of Italian Pastries with expresso. I usually make fresh butter cookies in the morning on Xmas Eve as well as fresh egg nog called Coquito which was passed by father who was born in Puerto Rico. I will post the recipe when I get a chance. It's basically egg nog with coconut milk added to it and lots of cinnamon.
It is a very nice dessert drink.

For Xmas, in the morning, I make banana pancakes with Pineapple syrup and Ghiradella hot cocoa, eggs and bacon.

Late afternoon, we usually have a ham, fresh made escalloped potatoes, asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto and wrapped and baked in a light pastry dough and glazed carrots.
Dessert: Creme brulee and a varied blend of different flavored cheesecakes

Mango, that menu makes this southern girl want to go to your house for Christmas, it all sounds wonderful. Does your mom cook all this food?

We pretty much have the same menu as Thanksgiving. BUT, since I now have Christmas Eve at my house, you all are giving me some ideas for changing things up a bit. :scratch: After all, we go to my mother's on Christmas day and have a traditional southern meal.

Mango, that menu makes this southern girl want to go to your house for Christmas, it all sounds wonderful. Does your mom cook all this food?

:funn: :rofl: My mother retired from cooking many years ago. She feels its her due now to come and eat. She does help occasionally with clean up and she does make the baccala (cod fish) She had 3 daughters and a son and so she feels it's our job now to carry on traditions and make our own.
It sounds like a lot, but fish cooks so quickly. This is really an easy meal. This year Xmas Eve is at my sisters house a few minutes away and her in-laws are staying with her. Her MIL is straight off the boat Italian, so there will be may woman in the kitchen, except for my mother.

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:funn: :rofl: My mother retired from cooking many years ago. She feels its her due now to come and eat. She does help occasionally with clean up and she does make the baccala (cod fish) She has 3 daughters and a son.
It sounds like a lot, but fish cooks so quickly. This is really an easy meal. This year Xmas Eve is at my sisters house a few minutes away and her in-laws are staying with her. Her MIL is straight off the boat Italian, so there will be may woman in the kitchen, except for my mother.

Many women in the kitchen is not always a good thing, of course that means I can usually sneak out.
My MIL has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. She has always been a great cook and especially a great baker but cooking is the one area where Alzheimers has robbed her. I don't know if it is the steps in cooking or the timing or just the plain stress of it, but she just can't do it anymore. Mr. dbuck has no sisters, so guess who gets the job now?

...this reminds me. I think I still have some Thanksgiving cranberry leftovers in the back fridge!!!!

...this reminds me. I think I still have some Thanksgiving cranberry leftovers in the back fridge!!!!

lol
We have a few, too, Miss Kitty.

I love reading what everyone's having. Have had a lot of success with tenderloin, and meat always seems so Christmasy, but I love Mango's Feast of the Seven Fishes--have heard of this Italian tradition but never experienced it.

Pomegranate juice is very trendy these days--and very festive at this time of year. My grandmother used to make that demitasse chocolate; it is elegant.

Sometimes I've made the Splendid Raspberry Spinach salad from Silver Palate, with starfruit, raspberries and various greens, but Caesar salad is what my guys like.

Gosh you know I havent even thought about it and this is the year that I must. This is the first time since being married (13 years) that it is just me, Mr. IBD and little iBD. no other family!
I guess I gotta cook.
maybe fried turkey
dressing
corn casserole
green beans
pound cake
not sure what else, how much can 3 people eat????

What? Where's the rest of the crew/family this year????