Join me, won’t you, in aggressively discussing something frivolous and distractible and wholly unrelated to The End of Life As We Know It?
First, thank you for your comments and commiseration and suggestions on my post about What to Do About All the Toys. VERY helpful, and I feel more equipped to face it as a thing to be got through rather than something I can try to control in advance.
Today, we are going Full On Holiday! Carla and I are decorating, and then she and her father and I are all going to a kids’ Christmas concert, and then tomorrow we are going Christmas shopping for our Adopt-a-Family family. Woo!
I bought some peppermint body lotion at Bath & Body Works awhile back, just because I like to smell like vaguely Christmas scented candy during the holidays. A few days ago, I decided I needed a little olfactory boost of holiday spirit and – as is my custom – I slathered my entire self in the lotion. Only to discover that it had some sort of cooling element (the mint, I’m assuming) that made my body feel like it was about to pop ice cubes out through my skin. I’m not recommending it, is what I’m saying. Unless you are uninjured but missing the cold sensation of Icy Hot or perhaps are stranded nude on a ninety-degree island. One with a Bath & Body Works store, or an internet connection.
(Today, if you must know, I went for a years-old bottle of Jingle Bellini which is faintly peachy and not in the least reminiscent of the holidays.)
(We are still talking about lotion.)
My husband and I have idly been discussing the menu for the upcoming holidays, and I am wondering something very important:
What do YOU eat on Christmas Eve? And on Christmas Day – for breakfast and dinner? And on Hanukkah, because that’s relevant too and because it’s the holiday with which I have the least food experience!
My family’s Christmas tradition, as far back as I can remember, has been to eat curried chicken and rice soup on Christmas Eve and then to eat a porterhouse spice roast for Christmas Day. My mom would make the soup, and my father and brother and I would go out delivering our homemade chocolates on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas Day, after the presents were opened, my dad would make pancakes and bacon for brunch. (I have a vague recollection of having had coffee cake some years, but you haven’t yet lived if you haven’t eaten my father’s pancakes.) For dinner, my dad made the spice roast, accompanied by his homemade Caesar salad and lemony steamed broccoli and my mom’s goat cheese and garlic mashed potatoes. YUM. There is nothing that smells like Christmas the way his spice roast does.
My husband’s family tradition was to go to their country club for Christmas Eve dinner, and then, on Christmas Day, his mom would make a beef tenderloin. A couple of times, in the years since my husband and I have been together, his mom tried to change the Christmas Eve tradition to fondue, but I think we all felt so disgusting afterwards it didn’t really take.
But this year will be the first Christmas we’ve hosted that my FATHER isn’t here to make his spice roast. Why yes, I did make my dad cook Christmas dinner the past three years IN MY HOUSE for MY GUESTS why do you ask?
So my husband and I are dithering over what to serve. Join us, won’t you?
Christmas Eve Dinner:
My parents – for whom the Christmas Eve tradition is soup – won’t be here. So… do we go out? We don’t belong to a country club, so that’s not an option. But I don’t know what I’d cook. Roast chicken?
I don’t know that the soup has sufficiently become OUR family Christmas tradition, though maybe my husband feels differently; I should probably ask him rather than rambling on to YOU. But here we are.
Christmas Day Breakfast:
My husband has made a French toast casserole for Christmas breakfast the past few years. That’s probably what we’ll do again. It’s easy to assemble, and you do it the night before and just shove it in the oven when everyone begins to open presents.
(My husband, who loves anything and anything British, tried for a couple of years to make a Christmas bread for Christmas Day… but no one else ate it.) (I tried it; it was so dense and full of things that I just couldn’t enjoy it.)
Christmas Dinner:
Christmas dinner remains a mystery! Do we try a beef tenderloin? It sounds delicious, but I’ve never attempted it. And what if it’s a big failure? (The idea of making a failed version of my mother-in-law’s traditional Christmas meal gives me the shudders.) Same goes for the spice roast; and I am even less inclined to try that, I think, because I associate it so strongly with my dad. (Although I admit to a strong leaning toward nostalgia, and would love to have it become OUR family tradition as well.)
I do not like turkey, and have already made my one turkey for the year, so that’s out. No one in my husband’s family particularly likes ham, so that’s not a good idea. A pork roast seems… less special somehow. So I guess I am leaning toward beef. But… WHAT?
Hanukkah Food:
And do I need to think about something different and special for Hanukkah? Since the first night of Hanukkah falls on Christmas Eve this year, I’m guessing I might have to switch up the soup plans for something else. Not that I have any idea WHAT. And I have zero clue how to make latkes. And zero desire for anyone else to make latkes in my kitchen. The last time my mother-in-law made latkes – which were delicious – her house was wrapped in a skein of grease and Fried Smell that was very unappetizing. Can you BAKE latkes?
All this talk about food is now making me think about what else I’m to feed our guests while they’re here. My in laws will be here for eight days. My sister and niece will be here for an unspecified amount of time.
Desserty Things:
I tend to forget about dessert, but I suppose that’s important too. Usually, my father and I make chocolates. But… this year I am not going to do so. I will miss it, but I just can’t handle the stress of hosting all these people and also trying to make artisan chocolates in my kitchen. No thank you.
My husband and I are watching The Great American Baking Competition and one of the challenges was all about cookies and bars. So he has been delightedly scrolling through Christmas bar and cookie recipes.
I think I’d be happy with these faux-Twix bars, which are easy and delicious. But I’m wondering a) what kind of holiday sweets YOU make and b) what you serve for dessert on Christmas/Hanukkah/etc.
Meals Surrounding Christmas:
Breakfast will be… I don’t know. Yogurt? I guess I’ll get some eggs and bacon and milk just in case… I don’t really do breakfast. My child does, of course, but it’s usually frozen pancakes or waffles or cereal or toast and yogurt. I have lots of THOSE THINGS on hand.
Lunches are not my forte, so I suppose I will do what I always do when we have guests: Get a bunch of cold cuts and fancy cheese and crackers and olives and encourage people to help themselves. There will be bread and PB&J and grilled cheese ingredients. (Side note: I am terrible about estimating what we need, and inevitably wind up with WAY too much food. Bleh. I am not looking forward to that part of things, the part where I throw away a bunch of perfectly good food [and money]. And idea how to get more appropriate amounts – without having to go to the grocery store every day?)
Dinners, I can do. I have already purchased the ingredients for this mushroom and spinach lasagna. I’m making one for a friend, and I thought I might as well make TWO and freeze one to eat while my in laws are here. I’ve made it before and it is, as the website implies, damn delicious. So that’s one night taken care of.
Another night is my father-in-law’s birthday, and we’ll go out. So we’re down to needing meals for six days – two of which I addressed at length above.
I’ll probably do boeuf bourgignon one night – or, maybe, instead, I’ll do a coq au vin (which is really the same thing, but with chicken instead).
And maybe tacos another night, since Carla LOVES tacos. Bonus: they are super easy. Double bonus: They are my favorite.
Aaaannnndddd…. Maybe this pork loin with wine and herb gravy? I’ve done it once before, and it was easy and pretty tasty. Maybe with a salad and some… roasted potatoes?
That leaves one more night. I think we will go out. Two nights out in the course of an eight-day visit doesn’t seem excessive, does it? I hope not, because I may have just blacked out a little thinking about all the dishes I will be doing. Or! I passed a local restaurant the other day that had a sign out front with two irresistible words: ORDER PIZZA. Maybe that’s what we’ll do!
What do YOU like to serve when you have company? Extra points for easy.
My dad always made a prime rib on Christmas Eve so that is what we do now. My sister or I host Christmas Eve and they come over. I will also make these amazing sweet potatoes http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sweet-potato-puree-with-goat-cheese-and-truffle-oil-102971, these green beans because my kids call them awesome beans and eat multiple helpings http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/snappy-green-beans, regular garlic mashed potatoes, salad, and something for dessert-Christmas cookies or maybe pie.
I LOVE goat cheese, but sadly my in laws do not, so I will have to file away your sweet potato recipe for future. The beans sound good and super simple. YUM!
I can give you some ideas (really! I’ll look at my pinterest board!) but…EIGHT DAYS? Is my sympathy enough? Because that’s a lot. A lot a lot.
Further, that is not only a lot to be hosting guests, but a lot to BE guests. Your in-laws may be nothing like me, but I shudder at the though of being in someone’s house for eight days straight. (No matter how much I love them and am comfortable in their presence.) I’d err heavily on the ‘help yourself’ side for breakfast and lunch because that’s what I myself would like. Maybe your in-laws are different? Does your husband know? I personally appreciate it when my mother-in-law stocks yogurt and makes a big pot of coffee every morning.
Yes! Ideas would be welcome!
My parents are kind of in the same line of thinking — they stay for five days tops, which always feels a little too short. But they usually stay in a hotel. My in laws are splitting their time between our house and a hotel — and my sister and niece will be at a hotel too, although THAT makes me a little nervous about Christmas Morning Logistics. Whatever. It will all work out! We will survive! I will buy much gin!
Fun post! I am in the SAME BOAT with having guests for lots of days and needing to have menu plans. I have done soup on Christmas Eve, too (loaded potato), though it wasn’t my parents’ tradition. I think it has become one for my kids, though, which pleases me. Last year I made a big lasagna on Christmas Day (also not interested in roasting another turkey), because I have a huge Lenox Holiday-patterned casserole dish that won’t ever get used otherwise, so I’ll do that again this year, with salad and garlic bread. Easy. My sister wants to have our Mom’s traditional dressing sometime, so that means a turkey breast (also easy) and dressing another night. For Christmas breakfast I sometimes make crepes. They’re not too hard, but they’re time-intensive. Maybe a make-ahead french toast casserole would be better.
For daily breakfasts I make banana bread and have that available, as well as English muffins (and the kids’ normal breakfasts for them). I’m sure I never offer enough fruit. My sister is a very healthy eater and I’m concerned I absolutely won’t have the right things for her — it’s her first time at my house for Christmas.
We’ll definitely go out more than once, and definitely order pizza as well.
My mom also likes to have Pinterest-y drinks. Sigh. I don’t have much extra mental capacity for that but I’ll have to think of one or two for Happy Hours, I guess. Oh, and our holiday dessert is Cherries Jubilee over ice cream, but that’s just one night! Maybe a chocolate pie? Lots to do!!
Longest comment ever, sorry, but I also have had that happen with Peppermint lotion (or body wash)! Big mistake!
I love this – your comment is exactly how I think!
Sounds like you have a LOT to do. I am pre-exhausted for the both of us. But. Wonderful Holiday Memories, right?
I love our Christmas Eve tradition, and it could totally work for you here. We have an appetizer party, so everyone gets to pick a favorite and then we also have cookies/fudge, and as a kid I loved how snacky/fun it was, and as an adult I love it too. You could definitely serve latkes. Smitten Kitchen has several latke recipes, and I found this recipe for oven-baked latkes, which are definitely a THING. https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/oven-baked-potato-latkes/14441/?utm_term=.9a26a8f9343f
For Christmas day, I think we always ate ham growing up, but I don’t care for ham, so in the past we’ve done beef tenderloin or a crown roast, and I really like those. I prefer not to spend a lot of time in the kitchen Christmas morning, so I like to make a coffee cake or a casserole that I can prep the night before. My mom always made something similar to a Dutch Baby growing up, and now we do that on Christmas Eve morning.
I think having yogurt, granola, muffins, etc. on hand will make breakfasts easy.
Good luck! 8 days is a long time to host family!
I LOVE THE APPETIZER PARTY IDEA OMG. (And WOO! Oven baked latkes!)
I live for entertaining and hosting guests!! If it were me i’d do the following: have bacon, eggs, milk, grits (live in the deep south) on hand for breakfast along with english muffins, canadian bacon, toast and jellies and fruit. I’d make a breakfast casserole early in the stay that could be eaten for a couple of days. Sausage balls can be made in advance and frozen for use later. Also, pigs in a blanket and cinnamon rolls ….
Having salad and sammie making things around for lunches/late night snacking as well as chips, cheese and crackers is great. I would also make a pork roast or the pioneer woman’s spicy dr. pepper pork early in the visit that could be used leftover for sammies, tacos, pizzas.
Our tradition is seafood gumbo on Christmas Eve, and Prime Rib on Christmas day. My mom and I started our annual candy making this weekend and we’ll have tons of pralines, peanut butter balls, toffee for sweets and depending on mood/requests will make a pie or pound cake.
making a couple of entrees in advance (as you already have) will make things easier and you can throw in a salad and side as they re-heat. I make an easy chicken pot pie (in butter/oil sweat onion, celery, carrots, until tender, sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of flour over and make a blond roux, add a cup of chicken stock and a cup of whole milk and bring to a boil. add shredded rotisserie chicken, english peas, mushrooms, salt, pepper, thyme and pour into a round casserole dish. Top with a premade pie crust, cut a few vent holes, egg wash and bake until the crust is golden brown. This is always a hit with a salad!
Think leftovers! either straight leftovers or using that left over prime rib for sammies on good rolls with horseradish sauce; using the extra pork or chicken for tacos/pizza; turning leftover veggies into a soup with chicken or beef!
Good luck and try to enjoy yourself and the spirit of the season!
You make that chicken pot pie sound so simple! And I bet it makes a fancy impression. Thanks!
It is really really easy!!! I take it to friends with new babies and get rave reviews!!
I don’t know about oven-baked latkes. BUT, I did see some frozen pre-formed (pre-cooked?) latkes at Trader Joe’s yesterday and I know my grandma, latke-queen, has made those when she hasn’t felt life frying latkes and she approves them.
MY MILK BOUGHT THOSE EXACT LATKES FOR ME TO MAKE. They were pretty good! Nowhere near as good as home made, of course, but GOOD. And satisfied that latke need. AND SO EASY.