leg of wild boar, roasted with chestnuts and red cabbage
sauteed mushrooms
some sort of salad
Buche de Noel
home made ice cream, haven't decided between ginger or eggnog

Deanna, could you let me know details on your broccoli/cranberry salad, please?

idee - holy cow - or should I say boar!?!?! I don't know what my family would think if I said I was feeding them wild boar...:-) I love it! And would love to hear more.

The only thing so far decided up on is beef tenderloin...we switched it up last year and served this - and have since found out how much everyone loved it. So we'll do it again.

Stacy

This is my husbands request:
Rib Roast
au gratin potatoes
simple spinach salad
broccoli, steamed or maybe roasted~here he's thinking of the boys..LOL
honey wheat rolls, tied in a knot??? LOL
Chocolate pecan pie (repeat from Thanksgiving)
Carrot Cake

We will be eating Christmas Eve I think..and then Day will be breakfast casseroles..Woodies Creme Brulee French Toast and then a potato, egg, sausage cheese...
Who knows what we'll eat on Christmas Day..Leftovers from the night before?? LOL

Oy....
Tenderloin and lots of shrimp Christmas eve...baked potato, salad and bread....
Home made sticky buns christmas morning....and juice...maybe mimosas? and coffee...
Lunch will be cheese, crackers, meat balls, cocktail wieners, shrimp, salmon, veggie platter and dip, likely cranberry chutney unless I come up with another thing to take it's place....hopefully there will be some cold leftover tenderloin to serve with horse radish sauce.
And on to turkey,stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy a simple veggie of some sort ...likely green beans or asparagus, home made dinner rolls and carrot cake for dessert....if I get it made! Otherwise just christmas cookies.
Phew! I'm tired just thinking about it!
Linda C

We're having (for 22+ people):

- tourtieres (meat pies)
- turkey
- spiral ham
- potato and sausage stuffing
- bread stuffing
- gravy
- cranberry sauce
- mashed potatoes
- string beans (frozen from the garden)
- corn niblets
- Greek salad
- chocolate chip cookies
- toffee bits cookies
- jam thumbprints
- fudge
- butter tarts
- sugar cookies
- date squares
- graham cracker chewies
- vegan chocolate cake with raspberry frosting
- assorted potato chips
- pop
- cranberry punch
- wine
- beer

LindaC, I'm tired just reading it!!!!! That's just to much!!! are you getting any help??
Same for you Khandi!!!

Same old, same old here......

Appetizers:

Spanikopita
Stuffed mushrooms
Cheeses, olives and pate

Main event:

Turkey
Ham
mashed potatoes
stuffing
gravy
broccoli and cauliflower, cheese sauce on the side
baked beans
roasted butternut squash
slaw
relish tray, dills, bread and butters, chile sauce and pickled onions
home made rolls

...and whatever desserts show up.

Pretty traditional here....

Shrimp with Champagne Beurre Blanc (recipe follows)

Autumn Harvest Salad

Prime Rib
Yorkshire Pudding
Brussel Sprouts (probably with pancetta and onion)
Brandied Steakside Mushrooms (recipe follows)
Carrots (not sure how yet)

Buche de Noel
Christmas Cookies

Champagne, a bottle of Cab and a very nice port after the kids have gone to bed. I hear Santa prefers Dow Vintage Port 1994 with his yearly cigar, so that is what I will have on hand.

********************************************************
Brandied Steakside Mushrooms
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 to 6 people
3 pounds fresh mushrooms, sliced lengthwise
8 tablespoons butter
Seasoning salt (suggested: Jane's Krazy Mixed-up salt)
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup brandy

In a large skillet, saute the sliced mushrooms in the butter until brown. Sprinkle liberally with seasoning salt. Add Worcestershire sauce and simmer until almost all sauce is absorbed by the mushrooms. Add the brandy and continue to simmer until mushrooms are tender.
Serve with steak or roast beef.
**********************************************************

MARINATED SHRIMP WITH CHAMPAGNE BEURRE BLANC
Sauce base
2 cups Champagne or other dry sparkling wine
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar or other white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Shrimp
1 cup Champagne or other dry sparkling wine
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons minced shallots
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
24 extra-large uncooked shrimp (about 2 pounds), peeled with tail left intact, deveined
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
For sauce base:
Combine Champagne, shallots, vinegar, and peppercorns in heavy medium saucepan. Boil until reduced to 1/4 cup liquid, about 20 minutes. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.)

For shrimp:
Combine Champagne, olive oil, shallots, and ground pepper in resealable plastic bag. Add shrimp to bag and seal; shake bag to coat shrimp evenly. Marinate shrimp at room temperature at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour, turning bag occasionally. Mix chives, tarragon, and parsley in small bowl.

Preheat broiler. Spray broiler pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Drain shrimp; discard plastic bag with marinade. Arrange shrimp on prepared pan in single layer. Broil shrimp until just opaque in center, about 2 minutes per side. Stand 3 shrimp, tails upright, in center of each plate.

Rewarm sauce base over medium-low heat. Whisk in butter 1 piece at a time, just allowing each to melt before adding next (do not boil or sauce will separate). Season beurre blanc to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon warm sauce around shrimp. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve.

Market tip: Champagne and sparkling wines labeled extra dry are actually slightly sweeter than those labeled brut. The latter works best for this dish.

This is the menu for the small gathering here on Christmas (5). We're going to our daughter's this weekend (Tennessee) for festivities there, and will be back here (Kansas) for Christmas with our son et.al.

Cornish Game Hens with Mustard Orange Glaze
Wild Rice with Apples
Pearl Onion, Carrot and Zucchini Saute
All the goodies I've been making for the last few weeks.

-Grainlady

We're doing Scandanavian themed this year so ...

Christmas Eve
Swedish meatballs
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Swedish pickles
Lingonberry preserves
Something green
Cookies - krumkake, rosettes, berlinkrantzers

Christmas
Smoked salmon (unless I can find gravlax)
Small boiled potatoes
White sauce with dill
Peas
Lefse
More lingonberry preserves
Kranse kaka (Norwegian celebration cake)

Oh and both nights ... aquavit!

You all are way ahead of me! So far what I am sure of is a baked bone-in ham and a potato gratin! LOL

My sisters will be each bringing a side, but we don't have all of those details finalized yet.

Small group here this year, too, only about 8 of us. Son and Dughter-in-Law will be spending the night Christmas eve and then heading off to another family gathering after breakfast Christmas day.

For Eve dinner I am making steak and lobster for Tim, me and son and vegetarian daughter-in-law has requested a quiche. Again, still pondering the sides, but probably baked potatoes and salad, a veggie and dessert.

Linda

Oh how I wish I could do beef tenderloin and seafood buttttt...

we will be in Illinois at my In-laws and that ain't gonna happen.

This is the menu so far:

Appetizers Vegetables, cheese, crackers & Dip, pickles and olives, Gulf shrimp that I will cook myself/Cocktail Sauce

Turkey and Ham
Gruyere Potatoes
Gravy
Stuffing
Grilled Vegetables  Squash, Zucchini, Tomatoes & Onions
Green Beans Southern Style or Maple Glazed Carrots
Pineapple/Cheese Casserole Dish
Deviled Eggs
Cranberry Sauce
Yeast Rolls/Butter - Cheating and stopping at The Beef House in Indiana and bringing on to Illinois
Dessert???

prairie love - why don't you make your own gravlax? I made it last year for Christmas and homemade is just sublime! You still have plenty of time!

This is the same recipe and method I used - except I didn't add the aquavit.... if you are fans (My DH doesn't care for it), then by all means it would add a great flavor. The recipe is from Saveur.

***********************************************************
Gravlax
SERVES 8 10

This satiny delicacy brings out the best in salmon.

2 tbsp. white peppercorns
1 tbsp. fennel seeds
1 tbsp. caraway seeds
2⁄3 cup kosher salt
1⁄3 cup sugar
2-lb. center-cut, skin-on salmon filet
1 cup dill sprigs, plus 1/3 cup chopped dill
1⁄4 cup aquavit (optional)
Mustard-Dill Sauce

1. In a small food processor, pulse peppercorns, fennel seeds, and caraway seeds until coarsely ground; combine with salt and sugar. Stretch plastic wrap over a plate; sprinkle with half the salt mixture. Place salmon filet on top, flesh side up. Cover with remaining salt mixture, dill sprigs, and aquavit.

2. Fold plastic wrap ends around salmon; wrap tightly with more plastic wrap. Refrigerate the fish on the plate for 4872 hours, turning the package every 12 hours and using your fingers to redistribute the herb-and-spice-infused brine that accumulates as the salt pulls moisture from the salmon. The gravlax should be firm to the touch at the thickest part when fully cured.

3. Unwrap salmon, discarding the spices, dill, and brine. Rinse the filet under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Cover a large plate with the chopped dill. Firmly press the flesh side of the gravlax into the dill to coat it evenly.

4. Place gravlax skin side down on a board. With a long, narrow-bladed knife (use a granton slicer if you have one; the divots along the blade make for smoother, more uniform slices), slice gravlax against grain, on the diagonal, into thin pieces. Serve with mustarddill sauce or on knäckebröd with minced onion. Refrigerate any remaining gravlax, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 2 weeks.

Dang you Alexa....I may have to make those steakside shrooms to go with the Beef fillet...
And I was going to make some cheese fondue....it was our Christmas Eve tradition for lots of years....and I don't think the grands have ever done it....and I know they would love standing around a pot of melted cheese with fondue forks making a big mess!!
Linda C

I don't really know, LOL. For the first time ever we're having Christmas Eve at the Town Hall and everyone is bringing a dish to pass.

I'm bringing the turkey and the ham, and dinner rolls. Everyone else is bringing a dish to pass and I don't know what the heck it'll be. (grin) Whatever, we'll eat it.

christmas is just Elery and I, I think. We're going to make cioppino with homemade bread and he and I are having an appetizer "cook off". I don't know who's going to judge, since it's only he and I eating, but it's a challenge so I can't turn it down. You know how I am!

Annie

Christmas eve will be a simple dinner of cheese and meat fondue, shrimp cocktail and salad. Chocolate lava cakes for dessert.

Christmas day has evolved in our house into a meal everyone likes; lasagne with all the trimmings, garlic bread, big salad and something yummy for desssert. We used to go all out for a big roast, but everyone liked lasagne better.
Jo

Oh Linda - you wont regret it! They are absolutely DELICIOUS! I actually use a little Montreal Steak Seasoning instead of the krazy mixed up salt that Paula recommends, but either way they are TDF!

Alexa

Have to second the steak side mushrooms they are delish! Worcestershire and brandy...how can you go wrong?

I'm surprised at how many fondue at Christmas. That's been our Christmas Eve tradition for a long time. It'll be just the two of us & we'll have both cheese & meat/chicken/seafood with several sauces. I usually get shrimp, scallops, salmon, beef filet, & chicken breasts. The sauces are usually teriyaki, spicey peanut, & BBQ. We'll also have homemade bread for the cheese fondue. I'll make a large salad bowl with lots of baby spinach & other mixed greens, roasted tomatoes, walnuts & either crab or lobster (probably lobster this year 'cause it's so cheap). I'll make a Dutch apple pie for dessert.

Christmas brunch is always stir-fry for breakfast to use up Eve's meat/seafood leftovers.

Christmas dinner is still unknown. All I know is that I'll be cooking & taking the entire meal to DS & DDIL. They are moving Dec. 27 & all of their dishes/pans, etc. will be packed. Also, she doesn't want leftovers in the frig, of course. I'm thinking of sauerbraten & all the appropriate trimmings. Since we'll be bringing them home, we love the leftovers as hot sandwiches. DS has requested white chocolate, macadamia nut bread pudding with rum sauce for dessert (Oh, I'm stuffed just thinking about it! It's soooo rich!!).

We didn't even put up a tree or our Christmas village this year. DH is still recovering from the car accident & unable to get the boxes down from the attic. So, I've just got a wreath on the door & a poinsettia on the table. Sorta nice being low-key this year although I do miss seeing our tree ornaments. Most of them are sentimental & it's fun talking about their stories as we decorate. The kids miss the village but seem to understand that Grandpa's got a large "boo boo" that has to heal.

I'm also curious about that wild boar!

/tricia

Christmas Eve will be Dutch pig in the blankets (pastry filled with beef/sausage mix) Recipe has been passed down for many generations. Also sides of salads or maybe a soup. With lots of cookies and candies. Maybe some wine.

Christmas Day will be Bruce's Prime Rib, with salad and maybe homemade rolls (I need a recipe, will start another post for some make ahead rolls). Pecan Pie, maybe some more wine! Nothing to fancy.....

Trudy, your pigs in a blanket using sausage look devine! What kind of pastry do you use? Will you share your recipe? I was planning to have ham and Polish sausage for Christmas, but would like to try something different like these pigs in a blanket. Thanks!!

Trudy, can you pass along that Dutch Pig in blanket recipe?

I can't decide what to have for Christmas Eve. Maybe cornish hens or prime rib. Christmas day will be a spiral ham. The only thing locked down is brunch. Creme brulee french toast, the italian egg bake and oven baked bacon.

Trudy, my husband is from Dutch heritage and we also would love to know what the recipe is that you use. Pretty please! Thank you. They look great.

We have cheese fondue on Christmas Eve as well.
Stacy--Wild boar is wild in name only, as it's ranch raised in the US (you actually can't sell wild game in this country).

It's like the best hammiest ham ever. We started it when my son was little and read the Asterix comic books from France, where the Gauls feast on wild boar.

On Christmas Eve we will have king crab legs, baked potatoes and salad. It will just be DS, DDIL, 2 Grands, DD and us, I think.

Christmas day will be
grilled shrimp with cocktail sauce
prime rib roast with au jus and horseradish sauce
cornbread dressing with turkey and gravy on the side
potatoes au gratin
spinach salad
cranberry salad

creamed corn
broccoli casserole or roasted brussel sprouts
deviled eggs and stuffed celery
homemade rolls
and who knows what else.
For dessert
little pecan pies
assorted cookies and candies (depending on what I get made)

chocolate meringue pie
carrot or coconut cake.
It can change year to year, but this is pretty standard for our family.
I think I will have 17 for Christmas dinner

For those of you who asked for the pig recipe.

Any questions email me. On the recipe that is handed down in our family, there are no rolling instructions. My dear grandmother taught me. Enjoy!

Dutch Pig in the Blankets

Dough:
1/2 cup butter 1 cup milk
1/2 cup lard 3 tsp. baking powder
1 Tb. sugar 1 tsp. salt
2 eggs

Filling :
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 1/2 lb. pork sausage (I have used Italian Sausage)
2 tsp. allspice...other spices as desired
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup crushed Rusk crumbs (8 rusks)

Dough: Mix ingredients, like a pie dough. Chill.
Filling: Combine all ingredients. Chill.

Divide dough and filling into equal parts (some were between 30 and 40)

Roll meat into small links approx. 3 inches long and 1/2 inch thick.
Roll dough pieces into small rectangles. Put meat link onto the dough, roll up tucking ends under and seam underneath.
Optional: Brush pigs with beaten egg.

Bake 350 degrees 25-30 min.

Pigs can be frozen unbaked, just add a little time to baking, dont put egg on when freezing.
Brush with egg when ready to bake.

Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Stacy,
The broccoli salad is:

2 heads of broccoli trimmed, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. cooked, crumbled bacon (I use more)
1/2 c. dried cranberries (you can use raisins too)

Dressing:
1 c. mayo
1/4 c. sugar (I use Splenda)
1 T. cider vinegar

Mix well with salad and chill for a couple of hours before serving.

I don't usually measure anymore...just toss it in there, it's very forgiving!

Other add-in options:
Mandarin oranges
Mushrooms
Sunflower seeds
Walnuts or pecans

Deanna

Thank you, Trudy, those sound like something Amanda would like a lot, she used to like sausage in pastry and I've been trying to duplicate some I bought from the Church when they sold them as a fundraiser. Sure enough, they don't sell them any more and I keep trying, yours looks like maybe it's the right one!

Annie

In case I am not the only one that needs to google "rusk"

From Wikipedia

A rusk is a rectangular, hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread (zwieback). It is sometimes used as a baby weaning food. In the UK, the name also refers to a food additive. See also Milk toast, the modern store-bought forms of which strongly resemble rusks with slight flavouring and sweeteners.

Some people have emailed me that I forgot flour in the dough. Your pigs would have a runny blanket without the flour. I think 1 cup of dried bread crumbs could be used for the Rusks.
3 cups flour..

Dutch Pig in the Blankets

Dough:
1/2 cup butter
1 Tb. sugar
3 cups flour
3 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Filling :
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 1/2 lb. pork sausage (I have used Italian Sausage)
2 tsp. allspice...other spices as desired
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup crushed Rusk crumbs (8 rusks)

Dough: Mix ingredients, like a pie dough. Chill.
Filling: Combine all ingredients. Chill.

Divide dough and filling into equal parts (some were between 30 and 40)

Roll meat into small links approx. 3 inches long and 1/2 inch thick.
Roll dough pieces into small rectangles. Put meat link onto the dough, roll up tucking ends under and seam underneath.
Optional: Brush pigs with beaten egg.

Bake 350 degrees 25-30 min.

Pigs can be frozen unbaked, just add a little time to baking, dont put egg on when freezing.
Brush with egg when ready to bake.

Can be served warm or at room temperature.

My coping and pasting is not co-operating with me.
Forgot the lard or you can use crisco. Also one of the recipes I have, has an egg added to the filling. I have done this before also.

Dutch Pig in the Blankets

Dough:
1/2 cup lard
1/2 cup butter
1 Tb. sugar
3 cups flour
3 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Filling :
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 1/2 lb. pork sausage (I have used Italian Sausage)
2 tsp. allspice...other spices as desired
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup crushed Rusk crumbs (8 rusks)

Dough: Mix ingredients, like a pie dough. Chill.
Filling: Combine all ingredients. Chill.

Divide dough and filling into equal parts (some were between 30 and 40)

Roll meat into small links approx. 3 inches long and 1/2 inch thick.
Roll dough pieces into small rectangles. Put meat link onto the dough, roll up tucking ends under and seam underneath.
Optional: Brush pigs with beaten egg.

Bake 350 degrees 25-30 min.

Pigs can be frozen unbaked, just add a little time to baking, dont put egg on when freezing.
Brush with egg when ready to bake.

Can be served warm or at room temperature.

My daughter in St. Louis is attempting this recipe today. She called and said the dough is soupy. I looked at the recipes again, and the one my MIL makes has 4 cups of flour.

The recipe will work either way, you will just need to add more flour as you roll out the dough to make the blankets.
I need an edit button :)

We follow DH's German tradition.
Sauerbraten
Spaetzle
Braised red cabbage
Veggie
Salad
Homemade bread
Linzertorte
Clare

BUMP!

I'm keeping it simple:

Two salsas and chips
Pot roast in red wine with potatoes and carrots
Spinach sautéed in garlic and butter
Pear and cranberry crisp with vanilla ice cream
A tray of brownies and nut bread (from a friend)
Sparking cider for the youngins
Wine for me

Ours turned out to be:

Cabbage Rolls for lunch (malna's recipe) FABULOUS

For Dinner:

Prime Rib (caliloo and deborah _ ps) FABULOUS

Stuffed Mushrooms (and tomatoes) - don't remember who, they just mentioned their ingredients and that inspired me. VERYGOOD

Made a fancy potato gratin that didn't turn out so well. It was a Tyler Florence recipe, not one from here.

And, lastly, a simple spinach salad.

Home made fruit cake (hubby's) nicely aged, and spritzed with booze. And Fantasy Fudge too, for desert.

All in all it was a delicious meal.

Tomorrow for lunch we're having cabbage rolls again with home made bread. Then left over prime rib for dinner. Yum, I'm so stuffed now I can hardly move but I'm looking forward to tomorrows left overs! :)

Since it was just the two of us (DB and me), we went out, which is our tradition on such holidays. It was difficult to find a place open (except near the beach), but many places in the Marina had brunch specials, and so we ending up going to the Warehouse Restaurant in Marina Del Rey. I had a 12 oz. (small size) prime rib au jus (medium rare) with horseradish sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans. Kevin had turkey breast with cornbread stuffing and gravy, green beans, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. We also had hot dinner rolls. There was so much food that we took half of it back with us. I saved the extremely rare part of the prime rib and will have it tonight. We had our meal at 1:00 p.m., and for dinner we had spicy chicken tamales (which Kevin bought from someone at work - made by a co-worker's mother!) with green salsa, broccoli rice, bean dip, guacamole, and tortilla chips. We follow the tamales at Christmas tradition, and these were especially good - much better than what I have bought at stores, although she was a bit heavy handed with the chilies, which is why we needed all the side dishes!

The Warehouse Restaurant was a lot of fun, and even though it is extremely close to my house (and we drive by it every time we go to Ralphs supermarket), we had never been there. They have a very nice koi pond in front with a fake dock that you can walk out onto. It was very sunny while we were there, but 30 minutes after we got home, we had another downpour of rain. I guess we had good timing.

Lars

I've certainly enjoyed reading about your holiday dinners. This year we went to SD and SIL's house on Florida's Gulf Coast.

Our big meal was on Christmas Eve, with about 15 guests but in shifts because some were working, etc. We had so much fun cooking together.

We ended up with:

Fruit, cheeses and crackers

Roast geese (which turned out incredibly moist and delicious)
An 18 lb. fresh ham with a garlic- herb crust
Roasted potatoes, rutabagas, parsnips and carrots
Onions roasted with the ham
Green beans with browned butter
Cranberry chutney

Key lime pies with toasted coconut crust
Old-fashioned marble cake
Cookies

Christmas Day was just me and my two kids (DH worked) so for dinner we had lots of buttered popcorn, coke, and tons of tears as we watched Marley and Me with a sold out theater. I've never heard so much crying in a theater in my life --- that's a real tear-jerker.

I had much fewer folks around this year than usual, and I almost took that into account....

Christmas Eve we just had cheese&crackers, cabbage rolls, caesar salad, beery cheese bread, and shortbread cookies after mass. We did the early service, since we can't do late nights like when we were kids, plus half the guests don't do church, and we didn't want them to eat everything before we got home.

For breakfast on Christmas morning, we had the "Creme Brule French Toast" recipe that was posted here. Yum Yum! That held us through to turkey time. Since my SIL is very ill and spent Christmas Eve with DB3 at emergency before being admitted, I cut down many of my sides. I totally skipped appetizers, and the dressing, opting for only mashed potatoes and gravy (my family can consume buckets of either, on any occasion), scalloped sweet potatoes, green beens provincal, and kernel corn. Desert was individual sticky toffee puds.

I'm still rationalizing all my leftovers....maybe we need a new thread... The turkey was about 3-4 times larger than we needed. Last night we had turkey-pot-pie and the vegs, tonight was turkey quesadillas. There is still lots left. We've been lunching on the holopchis, but I froze the remainders today. DH and DB2 have been replenishing the wine/beer supply. Tomorrow I may cook something entirely new!