There were just two of us for Christmas, but I decided to make a special dinner anyway and roasted a small (9 pound) turkey. I added four potatoes to the roasting pan 1 hour before it was done, and I pressure cooked some green beans with mushrooms and onion. While the turkey was cooking, I made a broth from the very large turkey neck, the wing tips, some dried mushrooms, parsnip, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaf, fresh thyme (from my yard), and lemon rind. I made a velouté sauce with the stock and some fresh mushrooms, and I served the sauce with all of the other dishes, especially the green beans, which were my favorite part of the meal. It was a very simple meal, but we were also working on finishing our new front door.

On Christmas day, this hibiscus flower opened, and it is usually pink

I love your Santa cookie, Annie! The belt looks a bit like nori, but I cannot imagine that you would put that on a cookie. The rest looks great as well, and I'm sure I would have had a much better time at your place!

For dessert, we had chocolate chocolate chip cookies with home-made French vanilla ice cream.

Smoked salmon, foie gras, rib of beef on BBQ, roast tatoes, parsnips, Brussels sprouts with chestnuts, cauliflower cheese then cheese and salad then chocolate log. Ooooof! And too much wine! LOL

I don't do sit-down meals for Christmas, we just graze all day. Antipasta platter with cheeses, Italian sausages, olives, various pickles, dates, grapes, nuts. Stuffed mushrooms, guacamole and chips. Ham, smoked turkey breasts, Pork pies, pasta salad, rolls. Finally, pumpkin and pecan pies. We had Prosecco (my first taste of the stuff, not bad) and I made eggnog punch for the kiddies.

It was just 2 of us for Christmas Day and my husband made a standing rib roast for 2. or 3. Grandson had to work. He didn't look in the refrigerator to see his dinner when he came home that night. I loved the idea of the prime rib but when it was finished cooking I could only eat half of mine. Next year my husband said to me if its just us I'm thinking of a bologna sandwich or grilled cheese. lol Our son and his fiance brought us some leftovers yesterday from a party they had for her family. They had cooked a ham but it was horrible to us. Bur we graciously accepted it. How do you mess up a ham? We wondered. We ate a cheese ball we had but never opened. lol Yummy.

We had tacos. My kids are in from Portland, and we've been making the rounds in Oklahoma and here visiting family and friends, so we kept it simple. Tamales and tacos on Christmas eve were a tradition in my family growing up, and I carried it on with my family, minus the tamales. I would have done tamales, but there just wasn't an opportunity to make them or buy them this year, and it's hard to find vegetarian tamales. Everyone felt that a taco dinner was a perfect Christmas dinner.

Sally

We had the big family deal on Christmas Eve. One SIL made the pre-dinner nibblies (very much needed as MIL has a new stove with two ovens, and they heated up the wrong one for the turkey so dinner was later than planned), the other SIL was in charge of the turkey and vegetables (it's always carrots, brussels sprouts and roasted potatoes) and I did a whole leg of ham in the barbecue, wrapped it, covered it with towels and dropped it into the Esky and it was still nice and hot when we came to eat it. I also made a lemon cheese cake and a chocolate Yule log which was a chocolate Swiss roll filled with whipped white chocolate ganache (one SIL dislikes cream) and covered with dark chocolate ganache grooved to make it look like a log.

Sadly DH's nearly 90 yo uncle was unable to join us, being in hospital after having a fall on Monday night and not being found for nearly 24 hours. He is very stubborn and insists on living alone and won't have one of those alert pendants so he couldn't call for help- but he's having one now. I suggested it years ago as we had one for my late stepdad for the same reason- he had a tendency to fall and struggled to get up. (Interestingly they both have the same name). But when I suggested it DH's uncle merely gave me a knowing look like he was way too clever to have an alarm- hope he now realises that it's cleverer to have the alarm than not.

Christmas Day was just DH and me, very low key. By the time I got myself organised to pop the turkey in the barbecue and it was cooked, dinner was about 10pm. But that was OK because we had plenty of ham to snack on all day.

DD and new SIL arrived for a couple of days this evening so I did potatoes Normandie and roasted sweet potatoes in the barbecue and also gently reheated some ham and some turkey in there as well, which we enjoyed with leftover dessert.

It's been quite hot here, over 100F, so being able to use the barbecue like an outdoor over has been brilliant :-)

Dad and I had 2 big meals in two days. Christmas eve was a friends house were she served a crown roast of pork, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls. I brought the thin green beans, home made apple sauce and a beautiful cake from a local bakery. We got sent home with plenty of leftovers, including the "Atomic" cake (layers of dark chocolate cake, cheese cake, yellow cake, strawberries, chocolate cake all covers with whipped cream and a ganache.).

Christmas Day was just the two of us, so I did a 2 bone standing rib, creamed spinach and a twice baked potato casserole. The sides were made the day before, so only the roast needed tending. Dessert was the leftover cake.

I am happy for all the leftovers as on Friday I awoke to a sore throat and nasty cough, as did Dad. BBC America is running a 5 day Dr. Who marathon, so I have been on the couch, Dad keeps snoozing and Emma is happy with the toys SantaPaws brought her.

Mmm - looks like a lot of wonderful feasts were had!

We had a buffet. My mother is still the hostess w/ the mostest, but she's 85 now & uses a walker & decided to take things easier this year, since it was an open house. We had chicken wings from Publix, oven fries, both sweet & white, some kind of squash puree, roasted asparagus, assorted salads. I made a carrot/apple/raisin & roasted beets w/ lime & Mom made her always-gobbled-up cranberry/pecan green salad. A friend from Dominica brought homemade ginger beer. We always eat relatively late (between 5:30/6:30p.m.) so most people showup having already feasted earlier in the day.

Then there was a side table of cookies, candy & a cake I made for the first time that was soooo easy & good I'm gonna do it New Year's Day as well: cranberry-orange poke cake w/ whipped cream topping. It was a yellow sheet cake (mine was from scratch, made w/ all butter, but you can use a mix & white cake would be even prettier) baked, cooled, then poked all over & topped w/ a can of jellied cranberry sauce plus the grated peel & juice of an orange melted on the stove to liquify, then poured & spread over the cake, chilled & spread before serving w/ stiffly whipped & lightly sweetened cream. Everybody raved about that, despite that fact that I screwed up the cake recipe & left out some of the butter & mixed it in the wrong order - I'll get it right next time = )

Traditional here, at least for us. Turkey, ham, sweet potato gratin , mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green beans with bacon, cauliflower, cheese sauce, baked beans, dinner rolls, pickles, trifle, pecan pie.......

Got smart this year......instead of having a holiday dinner party for our friends I had a leftover Boxing Day brunch!!! Everyone loved it! So easy, and so cheap !!!!

Sounds like everyone ate well over Christmas.

Annie, love the grumpy reindeer.

We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner - Tourtiere.

And an untraditional, for us, Christmas dinner.

We started with Matt's favourite appetizer

La Gougere.

Our main was

Served with a home-made bernaise sauce.

For dessert, I made an old favourite. English Trifle. I've had this recipe for almost 40 years. Baked the cake and made the custard early Christmas Eve day and assembled the trifle Christmas Eve. This gives the layers of cake sprinkled with sherry, the custard, fresh raspberries and blackberries all a chance to meld.

Looks great! All of it.

We had honey baked ham, sweet potatoes, spinach salad (cranberries, bosc pear, toasted pecans) with hot bacon dressing, deviled eggs, rolls, and pie. Pretty boring, and over quickly. As I drove off I thought, why did I bother to make anything and drive all the way there? I think none of us was in the spirit this year :( Very grinch like!

I hope everyone had great holiday and has a happy New Years!

Christmas Eve was rib roast and Christmas was turkey breast- roasted and deep fried.

Lot of great sides including roasted brussels, riced potatoes, stuffing, green beans, glazed carrots.

Almost forgot- Christmas apps were amazing! Crab cakes, mini lobster quesadillas, shaved filet mignon crostini and mini sliders. It was hard to resist lest dinner be spoiled!

Looks and sounds like the holidays were celebrated with some very special meals.

Instead of a sit-down Christmas dinner, we have two open houses on Christmas Day, as we have for decades. Brunch is from 9-1 and a soup, salad, and bread supper is from 6 onward through the evening. Most of the menu can be made in advance so on Christmas, we just pop things in the oven or microwave or do a little bit of assembly.

Brunch menu was fresh-squeezed orange-tangerine juice, our traditional fruit cup, Durgin Park baked ham, candied bacon, sausage breakfast casserole, spinach and mushroom quiche, roasted Rosemary potatoes, Moroccan carrot salad, miniature bagels and muffins, a large selection of holiday cookies, and beverages.

Supper was four kinds of soup, three different salads, and freshly baked breads and rolls (supplied by a friend who doesn't celebrate Christmas and enjoys spending the day baking) with an assortment of flavored butters, and desserts brought by guests, including a luscious ricotta cheesecake.

It was a relaxing and enjoyable day with lots of good food and good people.

We had a honey baked ham, buttered cider sauce, peach and mincemeat garnish, steamed snow pea pods, roast fingerling potatoes, pumpkin bread, orange cranberry bread, cheesecake pie, champagne and wine with birthday cake. It was also grandson's 9th birthday, so we have birthday cake for him in addition to a tastier dessert my sister brings.

Fun family Annie!

I need to try ann_t's meat tort. I say that every year but it is on my list.

We had some failures. Christmas day was dysfunctional family day. No one told me family was waiting...when we walked in and trying to settle after a long drive...yikes. I was hounded trying to un-pack...did not know so many people were there. And a sit down dinner was waiting. I had prepped so many sides but this and that niece and nephew had to eat by 5 and sister wanted all to be perfect...they started digging into my cheese and treat platters before i could pee. Horrible meal. I gave up and had a glass of wine.

I had 6 cheeses and olives and ghost pepper salami and salmon charcuterie all prepped to platter but they dove into the containers before i could plate them...savages. My homemade flatbread was still in the truck yet to be unloaded. : )

(thought it was to be a quiet evening with my parents)...prep and eat around 7.

My mother, now 86, tried to make a traditional turkey meal but it was so unnecessary. She cooks blonde. (not hair). Just safe and under done. The turkey was started 5am like the ye-olden days, Dressing bland and not baked fully, gravy white and floury. Sweet potatoes boiled in water to death. She stressed knowing i was on my way not knowing family showed up and waiting...(my sister that does not cook and expected miracles).

The turkey sat 3 hours covered. How do they not know safe temp as i have taught them for years!? .

I had all the fixings prepped to go into the oven but they were done well after all the family left. (did not know the extra family were even to be there). Family that does not cook and thinks those of us that do should provide for all. Grrr.

"Almost forgot- Christmas apps were amazing! Crab cakes, mini lobster quesadillas, shaved filet mignon crostini and mini sliders." Yum!

We had better successes the following days. : )

The best oyster stew ever. Finally perfected that one. Then oyster fritters for breakfast this morning...

For Christmas, we had a rib roast, roasted rosemary potatoes, corn, green beans almondine, rolls, crudite, "24 hr" salad (mom's), asian chicken salad (cousin's), marionberry and lemon meringue pie (mom's) and a chocolate truffle torte (sister). Apps included stuffed mushrooms, guacamole, cookies, fruit and a whole lot of charcuterie, chocolate, chips, and other purchased goodies. Christmas Eve was a small crowd, and I made breaded chicken and penne with pesto di Trapani.

The oddest thing for me was cooking the vast majority of the meal on unfamiliar equipment. I know some people say that you should be able to cook with anything -- but I tell you, turning out the chicken with a warped saute pan was an extra challenge that made me appreciate my own kitchen.

Hey Gooster, I sympathise about the unfamiliar equipment. SIL and I both take our own knives if we're cooking at MIL's, and any other particular things w'll need, such as serving plates etc. MIL has "stay-sharp" knives that don't and it drove me nuts until I started taking my own.

Poor Sleevendog! Perhaps next year you should do all the food and meet your mother at a secret location to enjoy it in peace. Or else lock your stuff in the car until you are ready to deal with it. That would have irked the carp out of me. Your sister's family sound very annoying. Glad Boxing Day was better :-)

Well that sucks. Get well to whomever is in the hospital! (((mustangs)))

That does suck. The best wishes for recovery and good foods once back home. : (

Cathy, you have mail.

Sister always has 30 - 40 in-laws on Christmas Eve. Although it started out as potluck, it has ended up with DSis doing almost everything. She's just a better cook than her in-laws (and safer, too!). Her house is halfway between me and DM, so she also gets stuck with us (about 10 or so) on Christmas Day. I tried to take the strain off and brought almost everything for Christmas Day.

We decided to "simplify," but I'm not sure how simple it was. We had tenderloin sliders, veggie tray with dip, boiled shrimp and various sweets, In the midst of trying to get everything ready to serve, DSon and DD decided to make cheese straws. They were delish, but it just added to the kitchen chaos. I prepared blue cheese mushrooms and totally forgot to take them out of the fridge and bake them. We had them about 9 p.m while playing board games. I think we had something else, but right now I can't remember what. It's a blur.

Was it simpler? Yes, probably. Everyone gathered around the island while we cooked. Things were served as they were ready, without the stress of trying to make everything come out together. But it also seemed a little frayed, unorganized, not quite as satisfying as having the entire family sitting down to dinner together.