How to Plan a Christmas Dinner

[Negin]

I've never prepared a Christmas meal before and now our son is asking for one. I've been thinking the same thing, that it would be nice to something. We don't really celebrate Christmas, since we have our own holidays and traditions.

 

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! :)

[Chris in VA]

Well, any kind of fancy would do--

Ham and Turkey are traditional to some--in my family, a Crown Roast is traditional, but it's pork and some don't like that.

 

I think it's fun to do Christmas Crackers, putting one at each place. You can get them at stores like World Market.

 

Decorations abound on Pinterest, if you want to decorate the table. 

[Night Elf]

The tradition in our family is to cook several favorites. Everyone gets to choose one thing. One year we had ham, chicken tenders, and spaghetti. It makes for a silly lunch/dinner, but it's fun!

[trinchick]

We host a couple of Christmas dinners over the holidays. 

 

For my extended family we'll have:

Stuffed shells in marinara

Salad

Good Italian bread

 

For DH's family we'll have:

Spiral ham

Mashed potatoes

Asparagus

Vegetable casserole

Crescent rolls and butter

 

On Christmas day, when it's just our immediate family we'll have:

Chinese take-out!!!!

[Word Nerd]

Last year we were at home for Christmas instead of traveling, and we had a spiral ham, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and dinner rolls. And pie, of course! It was pretty easy to prepare. This year my parents and grandma will be joining us too, so I might try something more festive. I like the Christmas crackers idea.

[zoobie]

We usually do a more casual meal, but I roasted a beef tenderloin last year. It was so good and so simple! Ida Garden/Barefoot Contessa recipe, and the hunk of beast was from Costco. Spinach gratin and roasted baby potatoes on the side. Yum.

[In The Great White North]

Christmas Day is usually a repeat of Thanksgiving.  

[school17777]

I would do a meal where you can make stuff the day before so you are not spending your day in the kitchen.  In addition to the suggestions already made, I like to make lasagna as it's easy to make ahead.

[Jean in Newcastle]

For us it is a time for special Christmas dishes from Dh's country of origin - so pancit, lumpia, a pig's head, squid, chocolate meat (actually a blood pudding). . .   All your Christmas favorites!  

[Alice]

I think Christmas is much more varied than Thanksgiving. There are always exceptions, but for the most part traditional Thanksgiving meals are fairly consistent from family to family. Turkey, some kind of stuffing/dressing, potatoes, couple of veggies sides (here is where it varies depending on regions), pies of various kinds. Christmas meals seem to be much more about individual family traditions. 

 

Our own traditions..we have a big Christmas Eve dinner with dh’s family. It varies from year to year but is usually fairly similar to Thanksgiving but not turkey. Sometimes a roast, sometimes prime rib. Similar sides but not necessarily exactly the same as Tgiving. Then Christmas morning we have a breakfast casserole (egg and sausage) and fruit while we open presents. The past 4 years or so dh and I then go to a movie in the afternoon while grandparents play with the kids. :) Then we come home and have a spiral ham with fairly simple sides. I used to do a more elaborate meal but it became clear that everyone really just wants to play all day with their presents and sit around reading and playing games and snacking. No one really wanted the big formal meal. I like the ham and it’s the one time of year we have it so I do it then as you don’t even have to cook it and then we can have lots of yummy post-Christmas leftovers. 

[Alice]

For us it is a time for special Christmas dishes from Dh's country of origin - so pancit, lumpia, a pig's head, squid, chocolate meat (actually a blood pudding). . .   All your Christmas favorites!  

 

We used to do “Mongolian hot pot†with dh’s family or it was typically Chinese dishes. But all the older nieces and nephews have rebeled and always request “non-Chinese foodâ€. Once dh’s father passed away a few years ago we stopped doing the Chinese Christmas foods. I think I probably miss them the most. :) 

[Jean in Newcastle]

We used to do “Mongolian hot pot†with dh’s family or it was typically Chinese dishes. But all the older nieces and nephews have rebeled and always request “non-Chinese foodâ€. Once dh’s father passed away a few years ago we stopped doing the Chinese Christmas foods. I think I probably miss them the most. :)

This year the cousins all requested pizza!  But we're thinking of doing a lumpia (Filipino egg roll) making party instead.  Traditional Filipino food but with a twist.  

[Jaz]

This year the cousins all requested pizza!  But we're thinking of doing a lumpia (Filipino egg roll) making party instead.  Traditional Filipino food but with a twist.

My mom and my dd make Lumpia every Christmas. My mom learned how from a Filipino friend. We eat it for a bunch of meals. Yummy!

[Alice]

This year the cousins all requested pizza!  But we're thinking of doing a lumpia (Filipino egg roll) making party instead.  Traditional Filipino food but with a twist.  

 

I had a Filipino friend in college whose Mom would always send him back to school with pans and pans of lumpia. We would all find excuses to “drop by†and say hi for the first few days after break. :) So yummy. 

[MrsMommy]

Last year, I picked a theme...an English Christmas dinner. It was a lot of fun, and I got to make several new things that I otherwise never would have tried.

 

That inspired me, so I'm making several new things again this year. The theme isn't as structured, but it will be just as fancy. I love planning holiday meals!

[Negin]

Thank you all so much. Love your suggestions and have been looking at allrecipes.com and on Pinterest. I would love to do Christmas crackers, but they're not sold here anymore. The really classy store that had them closed down. I'll most likely do a ham or turkey, mashed potatoes & one or two other sides, mince pies and some other yummy dessert. Can't wait!

[Starr]

Thank you all so much. Love your suggestions and have been looking at allrecipes.com and on Pinterest. I would love to do Christmas crackers, but they're not sold here anymore. The really classy store that had them closed down. I'll most likely do a ham or turkey, mashed potatoes & one or two other sides, mince pies and some other yummy dessert. Can't wait!

 

 

You can make your own Christmas crackers. They won't *pop* unless you yell "pop" lol but are still fun. Cover a paper tube with tissue or wrapping paper after stuffing with a few fun things and tie the ends. . Dollar stores are good for this. Or little party game favors, candy, little flashlight etc. Have fun!

[Alessandra]

Well, first you should decide if you are doing a midday meal or an evening meal. I prefer evening, because I can enjoy myself and relax in the morning, then do some cooking during down time in the afternoon. My ds also like it, because they eat quite a bit of candy in the morning, lol. Evening also makes the holiday longer, so you don't have a post present letdown. 

 

Imo, a lot that is special about the Christmas meal is not just the food but the decoration and atmosphere. Set the table with Christmas colors, do table decorations in a holiday/winter theme. It could be natural -- bowl of fruit with a red pomegranate on top, some ribbons. (I had the feeling you live in a warmer climate, so am not suggesting holly -- I like holly from the garden with inexpensive red carnations as a centerpiece.) Or you could put shiny ornaments in a glass bowl. Ties ribbons around the napkins, use candles if it's evening. Oh, and crackers (the party favor kind, not the edible kind) if you can get them. I print out my menu on card stock, nice script with a little Xmas tree image on top; everyone gets a menu.

 

For the main course, do something that is special for you. My go-to menu is a standing rib roast, because it is expensive enough that we don't often have it. It's easy to cook too. My mother once did a roast suckling pig. It came to the table with its head on and an apple in its mouth. I remember it was moved to the sideboard because no one could look at it. Never again. A traditional English meal is roast goose. I have done this -- delicious, one of my all time favorites, but it is far from easy to cook (lots of fats that has to be poured off as the bird roasts) and it is expensive (a large goose actually has very few servings).

 

I would keep side dishes to a minimum. For comparison, I do 8 side dishes for Thanksgiving and only 2 for Christmas. There are lots of traditional desserts for Christmas. If it were my first year, I would probably think about buying something -- a Christmas cake is more traditional than pies. The French have bûche de Noel, Germans have stollen, Italians have panettone, English have mince pies or fruitcake or trifle, and so on. Gosh, I almost forget English plum pudding! You can also add various sweets and candies to the table. Turkish delight, dried fruits, sugared almonds, chocolate truffles, and marzipan would be more Christmassy than M&Ms or Reese's peanut butter cups, kwim.

 

Oh, and put on some Christmas music while you eat. If you are religious, you can do whatever is appropriate for your family.

[Negin]

Thank you all so much for the very helpful tips. Really do appreciate it and am taking notes. 

 

You can make your own Christmas crackers. They won't *pop* unless you yell "pop" lol but are still fun. Cover a paper tube with tissue or wrapping paper after stuffing with a few fun things and tie the ends. . Dollar stores are good for this. Or little party game favors, candy, little flashlight etc. Have fun!

I now remember making them as a kid. Thank you for the reminder. Oh, and of course, I always love your avatar.  :grouphug:

[Negin]

You can make your own Christmas crackers. 

I found some really nice ones at the grocery store and I thought of you. :)