<p>At our home…remember that Mr. Ellebud isn’t Jewish…we have a party on Christmas Eve. Honeybaked ham and turkey…two homemade lasagnes (one vegetarian), wine and champagne…little plates from flatbread to shrimp…and shrimp…wine…salads…wine…</p>
<p>Christmas day…prime rib and homemade yorkshire pudding…wine…lots of desserts…wine. Guest list difference in that it is a formal dinner…with the good silver and china.</p>
<p>Christmas eve is something called Hay and Straw (pasta) and star-shaped cookies in paper bags that we take to church (for eating in the car on the long drive home)</p>
<p>Christmas day we have quiche, bacon, oranges, and set out a huge platter of munchies which we eat all day. No actual meal. This idea born with our oldest, a late Dec baby who made any real attempt to cook futile, and hence a tradition was born</p>
<p>Cashew nut roast looks good.</p>
<p>[Cashew</a> nut roast recipe - All recipes UK](<a href=“Allrecipes | Recipes, How-Tos, Videos and More”>Allrecipes | Recipes, How-Tos, Videos and More)</p>
<p>UK/US conversion.</p>
<p>[Conversion</a> Calculators | DianasDesserts.com](<a href=“Conversion Calculators | DianasDesserts.com”>Conversion Calculators | DianasDesserts.com)</p>
<ul>
<li>FYI a courgette is a zucchini</li>
</ul>
<p>I’m cheating a little this year. For the pat few years my mom has been sweet enough to order a prime rib from QVC or Kansas City beef or somewhere. All but one year it was really good. I just don’t feel like worrying about what time to put it in and when it will be done, but not overdone, then I hate the mess of all the leftover fat etc. It tastes great, but I want as little work as possible for the main course. Plus, if some people are late then they get to eat it cold or whatever.</p>
<p>I ordered 2 boneless turkey breasts from heavenlyham. One normal roasted and the other smoked. They are good served hot or cold, but I haven’t made a decision yet on whether I will warm it or not. I will need to get some rolls for those that prefer a sandwich.</p>
<p>Hubby like to have baked ziti because it is a hearty side and is good in case someone doesn’t like the meat. Also, in case people have big appetites and the turkey runs low.</p>
<p>S2 indicated that he doesn’t care if it;s turkey or beef, but are we having mashed potatoes? I will assign the potatoes to my brother. He has been responsible to bring a big bowl of them for several years.</p>
<p>I will “cook” frozen corn, stove top stuffing and maybe glazed carrots. Hubby will make the ziti (unless I do). We will have cake and cookies of course, they are my favorite food groups!</p>
<p>We will also have whatever is left over from grandmom’s. She has been ordering chicken francese and making chicken parm. Not sure what her plan is this year.</p>
<p>Our son is cooking. I don’t know the whole menu, but I do know he is making a vegetable ravioli.</p>
<p>We will have Christmas eve and we will have a variety of appetizers, rather than a sit down meal. Included will be some finger food desserts.</p>
<p>For Christmas morning, we will have an egg and sausage strata.</p>
<p>Our kids love turkey dinners…and the only time they get it is Thanksgiving and Christmas. So we will have a smoked turkey dinner at Christmas, but the side dishes will be a bit different from Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>H makes albondigas soup, brother brings chile relleno casserole and enchiladas. All kinds of munchy things the family has come to expect (little smokies in bbq sauce, rumaki, grilled shrimp/shrimp coctail…) Dessert is all the cookies and fudge everyone brings. </p>
<p>I would love to see the Mexican theme carried through all the food choices of the day, but there are some traditions - those darned little smokies - that just cannot be abandoned without causing angst.</p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>What about something like a Pork tenderloin? It’s not Turkey or Chicken, but still considered white meat (?) I think…</p>
<p>Maybe you could have a small platter of seafood for whomever eats it? Like chilled Shrimp Cocktail…
I love Vegetarian dishes…they could be a main course or a side…someone suggested soups…great idea: Lentil soup or any bean soup will have protein and could be considered a main dish or side dish…or to have at the beginning of the meal as a first course…</p>
<p>Last year we had lasagna. meatballs, salad, garlic bread etc. So easy and delicious. Everything could be done in advance.</p>
<p>Christmas eve is always tamales. Pork with red chile, chicken with green chile, and calabacitas and cheese with green chile. </p>
<p>Christmas Day will probably be a spiral sliced ham since I have one in the freezer, with scalloped potatoes, salad, roasted brussel sprouts.</p>
<p>Christmas eve, we will have a casual dinner out somewhere, then midnight mass. Christmas morning a pancake breakfast. In the Afternoon time will be a large variety of appetizers for grazing and drinks. Very casual with just hubby and daughter. Dinner will be a Lasagna, salad, garlic bread and wine, then a trip to my sisters to spend time with her and my nephew.</p>
<p>Growing up Catholic I celebrated many Christmases. Outgrowing the mythology and married to an Indian without a Christmas tradition I kept up many secular traditions when son was young. </p>
<p>Special food or a big meal was never part of my family tradition except for a stolen (a pastry found locally and only at this time of year). Presents were opened Christmas eve as a child- after an ordinary supper and a car ride (somehow Santa always arrived and my mother always took forever while we sat in the cold car…). Christmas morning was Mass followed by breakfast. The rest of the day was playing with presents or visiting relatives where the standard company meal was served (decades later I can recite the items, they never varied- homemade kielbasa and the rest store bought). Of course there were many varieties of cookies to fill up on.</p>
<p>As an adult there never was an emphasis on food, just ordinary meals. I never got the concept of a special meal for this holiday- Thanksgiving is the eating holiday.</p>
<p>WayoutWest, what I’d give for really good tamales! (Arizonan, transplanted)</p>
<p>Big dinner here, lots of guests. We have our traditions. Squash lasagna, salad, various vegetable dishes. I like brisket for a crowd, as it is prepare in advance, though left to my own devices, would not have meat beyond seafood.</p>
<p>I make gingersnaps, a Danish butter cookie (vanilllekranse), roasted pecans, and peppermint bark. I have a Honeybaked ham and various cheeses and crudit</p>
<p>Christmas Eve is quite casual, who knows what? I’m not sure who’ll be there this year. Christmas Morning, though? Enormous breakfast, very luxurious, loaded with calories and luxury. Mimosas, French Toast Casserole or pancakes, haven’t decided, bacon (the thick-cut stuff), fruit salad, maybe homemade croissants, maybe bacon biscuits… </p>
<p>After breakfast and present-opening? Maybe a nap, a movie, and dinner at a Chinese restaurant.</p>
<p>Usually we do turkey or ham. This year we considered prime rib from Costco but opted for Lamb Shoulder roast instead.</p>
<p>We rarely eat beef. Can count on one hand the amount of times each year. So we have a prime rib for Christmas. I very much look forward to it as I do love beef. I just have to make sure H keeps it rare. He is the cook in our family, but if truth be told, isn’t a great cook. But I do appreciate that he cooks.</p>
<p>I’ve got it all wrong. I did prime rib for Thanksgiving, so I’ll be doing the whole turkey and stuffing out on the grill for Christmas, with the traditional side of Julia Child’s creamed onions.</p>
<p>We have a lobster on Christmas Eve tradition, so we’ll probably keep that going, although I may flip it up a little and do Thai curry lobster.</p>
<p>^:)</p>
<p>Xmas dinner is a big meal for us. I’d like to make it fancy. Our xmas eve is casual. I am leaning toward beef wellington using fillet mignon. It will be fancy and less meaty visually. I love making prok tenderloin. I have a great recipe for it. We do that every few months.</p>
<p>We’re having a Chinese banquet at a seafood restaurant for Christmas dinner this year. My Italian relatives by marriage have shared wonderful Christmas lasagna dinners with us.</p>
<p>If I were going to have a big roast, I love a goose at Christmas. You end up with lots of wonderful fat for roasting potatoes, etc. The carcass makes incredibly delicious stock for borscht, too.</p>