What's on the menu for Christmas Eve and Christmas day meals?

[NRaleighLiberal]

Like Thanksgiving, it will be just my wife and I (and our 3 dogs and 2 cats) - no visits allowed from our girls and their families, or vice versa.

Christmas eve will be our traditional beef stew with popovers and a nice red

Christmas day - breakfast is pumpkin pancakes (I make them VERY spicy), dinner will be baked cod with broccoli, roasted potatoes and carrots vichy...pecan pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert, with a prosecco (maybe mimosa for AM gift opening time).

Yes, even at nearly 65 we are both still kids at heart!



Hoping you are all staying as safe and well as possible as we approach the end of this most bizarre year!

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Iced cinnamon rolls, stocking treats, pot roast cooked with

onions, carrots, and portobello mushrooms, served with roasted new potatoes and a warmed boule. Gingerbread and whipped cream for dessert.

[NoMoreRepugs]

2. Pushing hard for beef tenderloin but I may get outvoted.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. Undecided at this point

To accommodate everyone’s schedule, we celebrated Christmas yesterday. I hope the leftovers are gone before the actual day arrives.

[lpbk2713]

4. This will be the first holiday season in memory I won't bake a ham.

Baked ham has always been a regular at holiday gatherings. I am uncomfortable
with what I have been hearing and reading about conditions at at pork packing
plants. This year we will try salmon instead. I'm sure the Pilgrims ate fish, so it
should still be a traditional dinner.

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. we've evolved from turkey to roast tenderoin to roast cod

over our 40 years of marriage. Cod is certainly the quickest to cook and least messy to clean up!

[Ohiogal]

7. I think stuffed salmon

Is a lovely Christmas entree. We’ve had it in years past.

This year it will be a repeat of Thanksgiving dinner except I am cooking a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey. Dessert will be peppermint stick ice cream with hot fudge sauce.

Christmas Eve will be lasagna.

(I have 4 hungry adult men to feed ). Lol

[58Sunliner]

6. Smoked salmon for Christmas eve, sausage, waffles for breakfast.

Ham, roasted potatoes, pie, bubbly, and chocolate truffles. And don't forget the hot cocoa with rum.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

8. At my house.....

Christmas Eve dinner consists of....
Spaghetti alliode....White Spaghetti with Black Italian or Greek Oives, Garlic sauted in EV Olive Oil, warmed Alabacore Tuna, Romano cheese on top.
Browned Cod in Italian Breadcrumbs, and a dash of flour, baked to a crispy golden brown
Shrimps with homemade cocktail sauce
Herrings in Cream and Wine sauces
Minnestrone Soup made the Italian way from scratch
Caesar Salad with Cardini's dressing, seasoned croutons , Olives, Romano cheese
Non mean Relish Anti-Pasta

Later, snacks of various cheeses crackers, desserts
Wines, Egg Nog with Butterscotch Schnapps added

Christmas Day Dinner consists of.....
Prime Rib Roast
Greene Beanie Cassarole (the way I make it)
Small potatoes made with Grey Poupon mustard, garlic, Italian seasoning, EV olive oil
Mashed Sweet potatoes, topped with Cinnamon, Nutmeg, a d some Brown sugar warmed in the oven for 5minutes at 350°
Salad
Assorted relishes
Dessert
Assorted wines and other beverages

[NightWatcher]

9. Lumpia and Pancit, our Filipino friends made some for Thanksgiving and everyone wanted more

So she made a 2nd huge batch and it sold out amongst friends in an hour.

So that's the plan for the 24th. No idea what's on the 25th. I'm just glad I might be off work.

[haele]

10. Xmas morning belgian waffles with huckleberry syrup.

Lunch is nibbles and maybe soup and toast if really hungry.
Dinner will be citrus brined and roast duck; "yankee dressing" -
cubed butter-roasted and herbed french loaf with onions, celery, almonds, currents, and cranberries; mashed root veggies (rose potatoes, rutabaga, carrots, turnips, parsnips boiled with a crushed garlic clove and mashed with butter and sour cream spiced with white pepper and fennel seed), with brussels sprouts sauteed in butter ( to caramelize) with pine nuts and a balsamic vinegar reduction.

Afterwards all the leftover homemade cookies that didn't get sent out or delivered over the week - sugar cookies and small gingerbread men frosted by the girls ala Jackson Polleck, pfeffernuse with the secret family spice mixture modified from a bavarian recipe appropriated between the two World Wars on a holiday trip (thanks Great-aunt Alma!) , and rice krispies treats.

Haele

[gademocrat7]

11. Christmas Eve we will have scallops, salmon, brown rice

green beans, Romaine salad, Italian Christmas cookies. Christmas Day Honey baked ham, pineapple casserole, roasted baby potatoes and carrots, Waldorf salad, mini yeast rolls, chocolate pie, chocolate hazelnut Panettone.

[Wicked Blue]

12. Solstice Eve, tonight

will be potato pancakes, noodle kugel, a green salad; cranberry Jello salad for dessert. We're not Jewish but we love those dishes.

Xmas eve will be sauerkraut, roasted potatoes, pork for meat-eating daughter, salmon for the two of us. And a green salad. Cookies and left over Jello salad for dessert.

Xmas Day will be our traditional English tea with little sandwiches and cookies.

Cranberry Jello salad

Make two small packages or one large package of black cherry Jello, using cranberry juice for 1/4 of the liquid.
Let it chill until barely set.
Add a can of whole cranberry sauce and a drained can of mandarin slices packed in juice.
Fold in a couple of cups of whipped unsweetened cream made with a drop of almond extract. The cups should be of whipped cream, not the unwhipped liquid.

Mix it up with an electric beater, but not too much. There should be pieces of cranberry and mandarin still visible. Pour into a serving bowl and chill well.

I invented this to replace an ethnic dessert that never came out well for me.

[spinbaby]

13. I haven't decided

I have a couple of nice steaks in the freezer, so may sous vide them.

[MissB]

14. No ideas for Christmas Eve dinner. We don't treat that meal differently than any other.

We’ve never had traditions around Christmas Eve dinner.

Christmas Day breakfast will be cinnamon rolls and sausage.

For dinner this year we are getting a meal from a local restaurant. Sides are precooked; prime rib is not. Dessert comes with.

So pretty easy holiday meals.

[Chipper Chat]

15. I will be working at a hotel on Christmas day

So my lunch will be gardettosu rye chips and a coke.

[bamagal62]

16. We've always gone to an

Indian restaurant on Christmas Eve. I started that tradition so I didn’t have to cook! And, now my family won’t have it any other way. I guess we’ll do takeout or delivery this year. Christmas morning will be French toast. This year we are ordering Christmas dinner from a local restaurant to help support our neighborhood restaurants. I ordered ham and duck and some sides. (I was tired of repeating thanksgiving.) I will cook my most delicious scalloped potatoes!

[LiberalLoner]

17. For DH and me, prime rib, mashed potatoes, asparagus, homemade rolls

And some pecan pie with ice cream. For Xmas morning, homemade cinnamon rolls. I will make the dough the day before. And leftovers from Xmas eve meal for dinner.

[MANative]

18. Christmas Eve is rolled sole filets

with a butter cracker and shrimp stuffing, hollandaise, steamed broccoli and baked potatoes. White wine, probably pinot grigio. Dessert is pecan pie.

Christmas morning is crepes, lunch is appetizers (chicken wings, charcuterie, etc) and dinner is baked stuffed shrimp with green beans almondine and saffron rice. Champagne for cocktails. Dessert is a chocolate trifle.

[BComplex]

19. Beef Stroganoff on hot buttered noodles, traditional Green Bean Casserole, wine,

and lemon bundt cake for dessert.

Not a health food occasion.

[MyMission]

20. Sounds like a lovely tradition

I don't technically celebrate Christmas, I'm Jewish, but have often joined friends for some parts of the holiday. The Jewish tradition, for those who aren't strictly kosher, is to have Chinese food because they are open for Christmas. Lol It's a day off work for me, and I sleep in if I can manage. But I do have some special foods.

An Italian friend used to cook 7 fishes, and I really enjoyed that. Of course there was also pasta and antipasto and veggies. I think that shaped my preferences. Another time and place I had a friend who was Sexton at her church and she prepared a traditional turkey with everything meal, which I attended and helped with for many years, served inside the decorated church; it was lovely. I fall back on fish and veggies, maybe pasta when planning holiday meals for myself. Is fish something you traditionally have at Christmas?

I tend to pick up some special foods I consider an indulgence, whether financially or health wise. A nice piece of fish, a wedge of brie, and other cheeses, nuts, asparagus, a handmade pasta dish prepared at West first, a favorite local restaurant that only does take out, and a whole pie or cake I might share after the holidays. Sometimes I get a pizza for Christmas Eve. I always work, it's retail, but bosses let us go by 3 or 4. I'm the last employee to leave because I'm not rushing to be with family. They stay open for the last minute shoppers, wait for their daughter to arrive.

I look forward to the sweets and treats that abound during this time, in moderation. A friend gave me a box of handmade chocolates from Vans, a local chocolate shop. I really monitor my sugar and carb intake, due to blood sugar issues, but during this season I indulge a bit more.

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas, neighbor!. Have you driven down main Street at night?
Very pretty with all the lights and decorations.

[NRaleighLiberal]

21. Hello to you, neighbor!

thanks for sharing your plans! Yes, we walked down the other night (and were surprised to see some restaurants packed with no masks or distance - esp Mezzaluna!).

Felt very seasonal...our main addiction, though, is the Stollen from Underground Baking....best we've had (everything they make is outstanding). We are addicted to their bread, croissants.....babka, brioche. Planning to use their ordering system now that the Saturday market is shut down.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

22. Same as every other meal.

It's just me and the cat, so dinner will be whatever is lying around the kitchen that isn't a hassle to make.

[Shrike47]

23. We will have tamales on Christmas Eve, a tradition. Prime rib on Christmas with cheesey things.

My husband loves cheese but foregoes it due to cholesterol, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I am amazed so many people eat fish for this holiday.

[yellerpup]

24. We're having a small, boned lamb roast

on Christmas Eve. Sides are roasted carrots, mashed potatoes and lamb jus, sweet and sour red cabbage, Brussels sprouts with bacon. I am not making a dessert this year since we received a couple basket full of sweet treats. I did make Butter Toffee
with chocolate, and candied orange peel, so that's enough sweets for our future!

We've invited a couple we've been friends with for 40 years, and due to her physical and mental state (debilitated, Alzheimers, dementia) she and her saint of a husband quarantine as rigorously as we do. They have no family nearby and Robert would have no break at all from his caretaking if they didn't have us.

The idea is to send them home another good meal of leftovers for Christmas Day. Also taking a plate to a neighbor and having Christmas dinner the next day ourselves from leftovers. Merry Christmas!

[Thyla]

25. We just made our list/menus

For a family of four.

Christmas Eve will be an apero, basically a bunch of finger food and snacks rolled out over the night.
Everyone chose a few things they want each, kids want things like crisps, chicken fingers, little franks etc. Also home made feta triangles, fresh baguette with brie and coloumier and a nice red to go with. Then some home made biscuits and a vienetta for desert.

Christmas Day brunch is crêpes with a range of sweet and savory toppings, my favourite is to put some ham and a slice of brie on the crêpe while it is cooking to melt it.

Christmas dinner is a new one for us but hey ho, it will be a curry night.
Start with papadoms with two dipping sauces, probably a spicy onion tomato one and a mint raita thing.
Then 2 main curry dishes, a butter chicken and a Goan spicy coconut chicken. Served with homemade garlic naan.
This will be a lot of work as it will all be made from scratch, no jars of sauce just spices and good recipes. I'll have to start the day before to marinade a chicken tandoori tikka which will eventually be the basis of the butter chicken.

[lillypaddle]

26. My usual

shrimp cocktail, ham, potato salad, sliced tomatoes, and assorted cheeses and dips/crackers. Chocolate silk pie for dessert (not homemade) and iced tea, since my son and his wife quit drinking recently. They, along with my granddaughter will come over to open presents. We'll all be masked and socially distanced, even to eat - breaking out the tv trays! I will be running the central unit fan to get some air circulating. I think we'll be fine.

Merry Christmas, y'all and happy Hanukkah!

[Autumn]

27. It's just us, no company. Virtual visit with the grand kids.

Eggs in Purgatory for breakfast, fruit and cheese for lunch. Ribeye and baked potato for dinner.

[AwakeAtLast]

28. French Toast Casserole for breakfast

You make it the night before and bake it in the morning. It's heavenly!

Mom & Dad's Anniversary is Christmas Eve, so we always go to a Chinese restaurant. They follow very strict rules for COVID, and we are not in a high infection area (plus Dad has already had it and recovered).

Christmas Day - Ham with brown sugar/mustard glaze, my grandmother's macaroni and cheese recipe, and a big pot of green beans. Maybe a cheese ball or crackers and dip. Hawaiian rolls because my daughter asked for them. A pie from a church fundraiser. Very simple this year.

I may feel like making chex mix, we will see.

Enjoy your holiday!