Christmas Eve is our big family gathering, we include a dinner for 20. We serve buffet style, but sit at dining tables. (I discovered that 20 is the perfect number: 10 at the DR, 10 in the sunroom at two folding banquet tables) We went with a simple dinner menu this year: beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes (two trays from costco, they were great, and pretty in my new red-orange Dansk pan) and a simple Chistmas salad my aunt made. Elegant! Appetizers were made/brought by others: just shrimp w/sauce, an artichoke dip with crackers, and my kids always make the classic Lipton soup dip. Dessert was the most complicated: DH made his mom's Walnut glory cake which calls for 9 count'em 9 separated eggs. But it's not called "glory" for nothing! Our Scandinavian tradition calls for rice pudding which, for the first time, came from my kitchen. It was a tad soupy, but delicious. And folks brought cookies and candy. Christmas morning DH made our traditional "Eggs McDH" and mimosas. We forgot to make the fruit medley, but that's okay. Then we went to my folks' and my brothers met us up there, for baked French toast (made with Challah, best French toast ever!) and bacon. Christmas night is our quiet intimate dinner at home of leftovers, at the dining room table with the party dinnerware. Me, I felt like the Very Hungry Caterpillar: I ate "one nice green leaf and felt much better". Literally, I had the salad with no dressing lol! Ahhh.

I don't often do multi course dinners with wine but have done several. What I have learned is: don't use china but white ware dishes Use dishwasher safe wine glasses Then: Salad plates in dishwasher with soup bowls (actually used an extra set of dishes I had for plates under the soup bowls all went into the dishwasher) Salad plates were done and clean in time to be reused for dessert, along with small forks. Have a helper to plate courses so you can load up the next load in the dishwasher *** I am very thankful that my dishwasher is VERY Quiet!*** So, I took care of dishes as we went, did a sample plate for each course as we went. Many of my friends expressed they would like to learn how to manage multi course meals so I felt comfortable pulling a few of them in to assist. You are very right about bone in meats . . I also have developed a dislike to dining with shells on shrimp (even tails in shrimp cocktail, or split lobster; I want to be able to eat anything set on my plate and not need to handle the food to remove or set aside bone or shell). The other thing I learned is not to invite people that didn't appreciate wine or food. Dinners like that take a lot of effort and to see someone push food around a plate because they have never tried it before and are not willing to even try a bite is disheartening. As for wine, if someone downs the glass in 1 long sip . . . they are a nope for the next time! BTW that wasn't a sip it was a guzzle! Also, yes the glass shouldn't be to the brim of the glass! Those friends I invite for potluck or buffet meals

1. Oh Come All Ye Faithful 2. The First Noel 3. Oh Holy Night 4. The Twelve Days of Christmas 5. Oh Christmas Tree 6. Away in a Manger 7. Deck the Halls 8. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear 9. What Child is This 10 Silver Bells or Jingle Bells 11 Oh Little Town of Bethlehem 12. Silent Night And Maternity

Lessons and Carols last night at my church was totally awesome. We all got quite emotional and teary. The church was packed to the gills, lots of folks I've never seen before. A guy sat next to me to regularly attends a new-agey church in town and he said he needed a dose of traditional music. The church is already partially set up for Christmas with lots of torches, sconces, and candelabra. Honestly, when I got up this morning it felt like the day after Christmas.