The Coffee House

[Frank F.]

Love the little angel, Gary.

Wow. This thread moves faster than I can follow

 

[SquarePeg]

@SharonCat: my suggestion would be to add a *first,* like a soup that could be made a few days in advance. A nice seasonal soup would be something like a butternut squash soup. My recipe calls for 2 small/med butternut squash and 1 large baking potato - all peeled and cut in chunks. Throw in diced yellow onion, carrots and celery, garlic and cook down in 4-5 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth. Once it's all tender (only 30 minutes or so), you ladle it into your blender and blend it to this lovely smooth consistency (a few ladles at a time, of course). You can then freeze or refrigerate and have it ready on the big day. Heat it up and once in bowls, drizzle olive oil over the top. It's quite amazing.

In your part of the country, a good seafood bisque might go over better. They're a bit more labor-intensive, but delicious and can still be done in advance. Also, salad, rolls, and I agree with the roasted green veggie ideas.

Every thing you've outlined sounds delicious so far! What time should I be there??

Thanks all for the recipes! We have found our winners with the butternut squash soup and the roasted green beans. Butternut squash is my mom's favorite, I can make it ahead of time which is key and I can heat and serve it hot from a crock pot freeing up my stovetop and oven for the other items. Green beans are one of my favs and not labor intensive so that decides it. I really like to concentrate on getting the tenderloin just right and I've found that the best way to do that is not have to worry about anything else - I need to be able to cook it all ahead of time or just pop it in the oven and forget it except for the beef and the red wine sauce.

With such a big crowd I've found it works best to do a sort of half buffet/half formal meal. Passing platters and bowls around a table of 25+ is too chaotic and crazy (we've tried). I set up a buffet table with all of the side dishes using some heated buffet servers to keep everything hot and once the beef tenderloin is ready, everyone helps themselves from the buffet and takes a seat at three long tables pushed together. Luckily I have an open floor plan that lets us all sit together.

What do you all do for your holiday meal? Is your big celebration Christmas Eve or Day? Do you cook or go to a relatives home or eat out? Do you have a big crowd or a quiet family dinner? Do you serve something different every year?

@Frank F. I like that shot of the boy in the wagon. Nice colors and great expression on his face.

 

[terri]

Thanks all for the recipes! We have found our winners with the butternut squash soup and the roasted green beans.

That's terrific! What do we win??

Our dinner is going to be very small this year - and we seem to always do it on Christmas Day, not Eve. In past years, we've gone to my sister in law's house, and it's supremely casual - she has been known to cook in her jammies. I never wore anything fancy and still managed to feel overdressed!

Totally agree about cooking up certain dishes in advance so you can focus on the main event. Glad the soup seems a winner - I haven't made it yet this season but just talking about it makes me want it!

 

[snowbear]

Mom-in-law is a traditionalist - early dinner on Christmas day, like Thanksgiving but a ham instead of turkey; opening presents afterwards. It used to include the nieces & nephews that are in the area, but as they've grown and have their own families, they are hit or miss (not to mention which ones aren't talking to which other ones).

When I was growing up, we didn't do a formal dinner. We would have a meat tray & veggies, maybe a pie or two, and dad's eggnog (commercial eggnog, poured over a gallon of eggnog ice cream, bourbon available for adults that wanted it.) Some of the aunts, uncles, and cousins would come by to visit us during the day, and we'd go visit the others in the evening. Most of (mom's) family lived fairly close together so it wasn't hard to do.

With the health issues MIL is having, we'll probably have a semi-formal dinner for her (we'll do the cooking). If not, then we will definitely have something home as son #1 is supposed to be moving to Oklahoma the following week (I'm slated to help him drive the moving truck out.)

 

[snowbear]

When I was at the Police Department, I worked every Christmas. Not a big deal, as it was part of the job and you got used to it. One year, mom and dad got together and brought a deli tray, desserts, and drinks out to the center and had Christmas for the Police and Fire shifts working that day. The PD supervisor had one of the troops go to a florist and bring back a HUGE poinsettia for them. It was one of the best holidays I ever had.

 

[Frank F.]

@SquarePeg this magic lens really makes everything fall into place. The vignette and the eveness and the 1.4 aperture and the bokeh. A very bright window to let reality jump into my recording chip.

 

[Designer]

Mom-in-law is a traditionalist - early dinner on Christmas day, like Thanksgiving but a ham instead of turkey;

Our family tradition is turkey for Thanksgiving, beef for Christmas, and ham for Easter.

 

[SquarePeg]

Mom-in-law is a traditionalist - early dinner on Christmas day, like Thanksgiving but a ham instead of turkey;

Our family tradition is turkey for Thanksgiving, beef for Christmas, and ham for Easter.

That's pretty much how we do it. Although lately we have been eating out on Easter.

 

[NancyMoranG]

Sharon, good luck, sounds like a lot of work but all worth it. Someday, this will be one of the family stories of 'remember when we had Christmas at Aunt Sharon's..and we....'

 

[robbins.photo]

Sharon, good luck, sounds like a lot of work but all worth it. Someday, this will be one of the family stories of 'remember when we had Christmas at Aunt Sharon's..and we....'

And then the cops showed up, and they...

 

[SquarePeg]

This is one of the songs that helped me get through some really mindless crap at work today:

Sharon, good luck, sounds like a lot of work but all worth it. Someday, this will be one of the family stories of 'remember when we had Christmas at Aunt Sharon's..and we....'

And then the cops showed up, and they...

stayed for dessert...

 

[SquarePeg]

That's funny because last year my cousin brought 2 of her state trooper friends to dinner since they were working that night and didn't have time to go home to NY for the holidays.

 

[robbins.photo]

That's funny because last year my cousin brought 2 of her state trooper friends to dinner since they were working that night and didn't have time to go home to NY for the holidays.

Lol.. well one of my Uncles was fond of saying it's not an official Robbins family gathering till SWAT arrives..

 

[JonA_CT]

We don't have a yearly tradition, especially now that my wife's parents have moved to TX. We went to Chicago to visit her sister last Christmas. I think this year we will just be seeing my folks. We usually do dinner with my older brother and his family on Christmas Eve, and then just us and my parents on Christmas Day. Christmas Eve is almost always seafood -- my mom makes a mean Seafood Newburg and a mean Shrimp Creole. I'm not sure what's on the docket this year. Christmas day is usually a Rib Roast cooked outside over charcoal with roasted potatoes.

 

[minicoop1985]

We always go to my in-laws for Christmas day itself. We always get lottery tickets from them.