Survived Christmas Eve

6 years ago

So I barely survived another Christmas Eve dinner. For many years I have done a multi-course dinner for a group of friends. This year there were 12 of us. Over the years I have expanded the dinner to 8-9 courses with wine pairings and each year I learn a little more. I know very little about wines other than I drink what I like. Most of the wines we had never tried before which is part of the adventure for the evening. The meal started at 6:30 and ended around 10:15 PM. Everything went according to schedule which made it less stressful.

Things I learned this year:

· I am getting too old to prepare a multi-course meal with the help of a 3 year old. LOL

· Never change the menu once the wines have been decided…oops.

· Any dish with a bone-in component should be 86’d.

· Sure could have used 2 dishwashers to deal with the aftermath avalanche of dishes. OMG my counters looked like the invasion of the wine glasses!

All in all, it was a lovely evening. Some courses were better than others but the conversations were lively and filled with laughter. We have done 8-9 courses for the several years but this year the consensus was next year to cut back to 6 or 7. The vote was to eliminate the poultry and cheese courses. It is a collaborative work in progress…

Here’s the menu with a few of my comments.

French Canadian Onion Soup (Voted best dish of the night. It has been requested for next Christmas Eve dinner.)

Hopler 2018 Gruner Veltliner, Austria (This was the wrong wine pairing for this dish. I had another soup planned and then changed it but forgot to change the wine. the wine was nice, the soup was amazing but together YUCK!)

Boston Bibb Lettuce, Dried Apples, Smoked Cheddar and Pumpkin Seeds with Creamy Cranberry Dressing (The consensus was this combination of ingredients worked very well together.)

Terrazas de Los Andes 2016 Reserva Torrontés, Argentina

Seafood Chops Thermidor (Half of a Maine lobster tail wrapped around a seared sea scallop with Thermidor sauce. The seafood lovers were thrilled.)

Dom Ferret 2017 Pouilly-Fuisse, France (This tied with two other wines for the favorite wine of the night.)

Linguini with Lemon Pesto Della Campagna (My favorite dish)

Cecchi Litorale 2017 Vermentino, Italy (Voted best wine paring of the night.)

Cornish Hen with Calvados and Apples (Voted least favorite dish of the night. Hens were perfectly cooked but the dish was too rich and the bone-in hen pieces were a pain to eat. The best part of this dish is the leftover Calvados. I love a nice snifter of Calvados on a cold evening.)

Talbot 2017 Kali-Hart Pinot Noir, Monterey Central Coast, California (This was a nice Pinot Noir.)

Intermezzo – Orange Sorbet

Herb Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Roasted Wild Mushrooms, Baked Stuffed Potatoes, Roasted Baby Carrots, and Baby Peas with Crispy Prosciutto

Duckorn 2016 Paraduxx Proprietary Red, Napa Valley, California (This tied with two other wines for the favorite wine of the night. This is one of my favorite reds.)

Assorted Cheeses with Fresh Figs and Green Grapes

Kim Crawford 2018 Signature Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand (Our go to wine for many occasions.)

Baron De Ley 2012 Reserva, Rioja, Spain (This was lovely with the stronger cheeses.)

Dessert a Mes Amis (Bare Chocolate Cake supplied by a friend.)

Santa Margherita Prosecco Valdobbiadene, Italy (This tied with two other wines for the favorite wine of the night.)

Featured Answer

plllog

6 years ago

Yum. Hic. Impressive! Hic. I'm tired just thinking about the timing. Kudos!

Did the three year old eat with you? If so, what was his/her favorite dish?

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Comments (14)

lisaam
6 years ago
That's an impressive menu and wine list. I'm not sure I would have survived thru the final course but I like the offerings.

Check into rental china and glassware--at .50 to $1 per piece it would lighten your load.
moosemac thanked lisaam
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westsider40
6 years ago
Holy moly. Lotta lotta work!
moosemac thanked westsider40
moosemac
Original Author
6 years ago
pillog,

The 3 year old survived through 7 courses. His favorite was the pasta. He skipped the soup and had croutons with cheese. He ate some salad ingredients but no lettuce. Loved the hen because he likes chicken (no sauce). He ate the lobster but not the scallop. Orange sorbet was not his favorite though he tried it. He skipped the meat and mushrooms but ate the peas, carrots and potato. All in all he was a good little boy through out.

lisaam - Thank you for the idea about rental dishes. Can I return them dirty?

westisider40 - It was a lot of work and I needed two days to recover. LOL Of course it didn't help that we have a three year old in the house so Christmas itself was hectic.
bpath
6 years ago
If the dirty dishes were overwhelming, you needed an after-dinner drink!

Consider hiring someone, a local college student maybe, to wash dishes, especially glasses, (quietly) throughout the evening. It makes a world of difference.
lisaam
6 years ago
Yes, that's the beauty of renting. Just scrape and stack the dirties into their crate. Set them in the garage or out of your way til the next day and send them back.
plllog
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Wow! Your youngster did great! At our family feasts, the kids eat a few scraps of this or that and ask to be excused.

I agree with Bpath. I get in Kitchen Aids (rather than extra KitchenAids) to wash dishes and all that when I have sit down meals, but that might be hard to do on Christmas Eve. I've done it the night before Easter a few times, but feel obliged to pay extra and kick them out by a certain hour. I always end up with a ton of stemware and serving pieces because the company is still there. I couldn't do it without the help, even so!

If you don't want to go that far, or to buying a few dishwasher, might I suggest a folding tea cart or two? Extra rolling shelving that you can put in corners that aren't used while there's company. Mine even has a cloth, full length cover, so you can truly hide what's in it. Of course, you musn't forget to fish out the dirty dishes before they go icky, but you can stash the stacks or serving pieces, then wheel them into the cleanup zone when you're ready for them. I wouldn't put stems in, unless they had a holder, but mine is very secure with locking castors and didn't cost much.

To add to Lisa's comments, since I need to rent tables and chairs, I get the cloths, too, in a new color each time, so my table looks fresh with the same old linens.

I feel like I should comment more on the food! But that all sounds scrumptious and impeccable, and I really don't have much to say, beyond, "Brava!".
colleenoz
6 years ago
I get the bone-in hen issue. I never order bone-in poultry at restaurants because I don't want to be picking away at it with a knife and fork trying to get all the meat off the bones.
annie1992
6 years ago
Moosemac, everything sounds delicious, especially that lobster/scallop combination, I'm one of those seafood lovers.

Your 3 year old visitor did very well indeed, I'm impressed with him.

Merry Christmas, now take a break, I'm sure you have all the dishes washed by now. (pretty sure, at least, LOL)

Annie
Islay Corbel
6 years ago
All I can say is BRAVO!

Actually, we had a lovely meal in a Michelin starred restaurant where we had a surprise combination....a chocolate dessert and a Banyuls wine. A delicious marriage. Perhaps you already know it, but it was a revelation to us.
Jilly
6 years ago
Wow! Sounds wonderful.

<Wondering how I can finagle an invite for next year> :D
Susan Tencza
6 years ago
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
moosemac
Original Author
6 years ago
Islay Corbel, I've never heard of Banyuls wine. Thank you for the suggestion, I will research it for next year.

Jinx, Love to have you join us! It's a chaotic with out 3 year old grandson and daughter living with us plus a crazy Shar-pei rescue dog. Our friends are all easy going and we laugh a lot. Good friends, good food and good libations, what more can we ask for?

Bpath, I used to do a signature cocktail before dinner and signature coffee after dinner but it got to be too much spiritual fermenti as folks have to drive. We save the signature cocktails and coffee for NYE.
graywings123
6 years ago
It all sounds delicious! I'm now fixated on the French Canadian onion soup. Please tell me more.

Survived Christmas Eve

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