Christmas Dinner
 

What are you making for Christmas dinner? My mom is one of the best holiday cooks God ever made but with some health issues I told her I'd make dinner this year. Doing a prime rib and of course mashed potatoes. Looking for other sides ideas.

What are you making this year?

Typical Christmas dinner when the extended family gets together:

Prime rib
Small ham on the side
Mashed or roasted potatoes
Roasted sweet potato and yam casserole
Green beans tossed with roasted garlic
Some fresh-baked rustic bread
A chop salad
Warm applesauce for the ham
Horseradish for the prime rib
Variety of pies for dessert

Nothing too fancy...

Seems like carrots and creamed corn always make it to the serving dishes and I'll 2nd the green beans. You might have some rolls so you have something to use the butter knife that was in the place settings of grandma's sterling. Oh, and that little plate up there above the forks too.

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We're doing the Costco spiral cut ham.. Easy and doesn't take a lot of attention so more time to spend socializing.

With the Prime Rib, maybe Yorkshire pudding or pop overs? I've got 2 of these pans, they work great!

https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-AMB-6POP-Cup-Popover-Pan/dp/B09557PWKM/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1ZU4HSAD59HVA&keywords=pop+over+pa ns&qid=1702652738&sprefix=pop+over+pans%2Caps%2C16 6&sr=8-5

Our traditional Christmas dinner is always cracked crab, with a couple sides.

Chanukah dinner is usually steak or lamb, some veggies and latkes. Lots of latkes. In fact, everything else is just a side dish for the latkes. :)

That said.... my green beans are always popular even with the kids.

Mess o' green beans, tips snipped as desired.

Wash 'em and leave 'em damp, then season a bit heavy - I use salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and just a bit of crushed red pepper flakes.

Hot pan, few table spoons of oil, toss in the green beans. Carefully add "some" water (about 1/4 cup) and cover and let sorta steam up in there for a while - how long depends on how cooked you like your green beans. Remove cover after cooked enough from steaming (add water in small amounts as needed to continue the steam) and let the water evap off, leaving 'em to sear and sizzle a bit in the oil until they are cooked enough to your taste. Nice way to finish this part is toss 'em on a grill that you've been cooking the steak or lamb chops on...

Alternative method is to just season and steam 'em in a basket, then toss on grill to finish...

Oh, and yes, Christmas dinner for the wife's side of things.... Basically a re-do of our thanksgiving meal, though we used to do a pig roast every so often (still have the magical pig roasting box in my garage)

In fact... @Shaun... just go big and do a pig roast. This is the magical box we - have - a 70-90lb pig will use 2 bags of charcoal and take 18 hours or so... https://lacajachina.com/roasters/original-roasters/model-2-100-lbs-roaster/

No idea the big plate is called a Charger. 67 years old.

Conducted a survey of Diane, my dentist's receptionist, and she knew that so i stopped.

Marinated filet mignon per my sister.

It's just me, so... :p

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I'm a traditionalist, so much the same as usual I suppose.

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Scandinavian style:

Roast Goose
Mashed Potatoes
To die for GRAVY
Red Cabbage
Dinner Rolls
Aquavit Schnapps and Abelskivlers
Cup of Coffee
Kids are going crazy by now
Sing around the tree
draw straws and open presents one at a time

Surely not.

That is an excellent idea Craig, just ordered one, thanks!

Steve, I've been wanting to roast a pig in my Cerakote oven for years. Just set it at 230ºF in the morning for perfectly roasted pig in the afternoon. Someday.

I like the roast goose idea, a local supermarket has them, a little pricey so not an everyday thing, but always have a duck in the freezer.

I’m probably just going to be making a phone call!

Since Shaun’s Christmas dinner invitation must have gotten “lost” in the mail, I think I might just order a pizza and cheese bread the day before and have left overs on Christmas.

And clean pig grease out for the next 3 months.

It's true, but please don't feel sorry for me. I find Christmas alone to be peaceful.

My birthday and Thanksgiving are what I find difficult. Thanksgiving, because it's about family which I don't have. My birthday, because it reminds me that time is fleeting and there's so much I'll never do.

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Me too.

But I'm lucky. My Samoan friend Henry very kindly takes in orphans for Christmas dinner.

So I'll do my traditional, but times it by ten. Last year the palagi was rather a success having brought a big pile of scallops which he skilfully shallow fried and served with a squeeze of lime. Plus large amounts of alcohol. Henry and I are very discerning pinot noir drinkers. Only Central Otago pinot and over a bottle each.

Bit early but consider yourself invited up to Gainesville or Alachua/High Springs for turkey day 2024

Nothing wrong with a burrito for Xmas dinner. It was just me last year, but I made a prime rib for my niece and her family, and one for my ex. She takes care of her bedridden mom and elderly stepdad, so I always try to do something to make Xmas a little easier for her. Just the gf and me this year, so I'll cook some steaks, rice and make a salad.

I don't know if I'll ever be in the mood to celebrate Christmas again. Xmas day 2021 was the last time I spoke to my sister. She was in the hospital eating lunch and talking to me. I asked her if she wanted to open her present from our brother. She said she was too tired. Later that night, her condition took a turn for the worse and she was gone by the 28th. Mom passed 6 weeks later.

I'm on call so no idea if I would get dinner made. I've made reservations at a great restaurant for Christmas Dinner. If I work through, at least my family can eat a great meal.

The charger can be use as a base plate for courses to come or removed before the first course. It just depends on the level of formality. The point being that you would not sit at a table without a complete table setting as you would normally do in a restaurant.

So it is not the dinner plate per se. It could be slightly larger and it could be silver instead of china. More of a banquet thing.

We put the dinner plate on the table (no charger) and serve buffet style except for a few things passed at the table such as rolls and accoutrements. So guests pick up their plate and head to the chuck wagon.

Depending on whether you offer a prayer, a blessing or a toast, a good time for that is when folks are seated at the table before removing the plate to serve oneself.

We do the buffet because I found that passing everything around amounted to the food getting cold before you were finished with serving. And everyone doesn't have to wait for the last to be served before eating.

My wife and I are the only ones with any manners anyway. The rest are boors.

it is so strange that they serve hot water with lemon in a bowl instead of a mug. It makes it hard to drink.

By the end of the meal I thought it's the thinnest soup I've ever had. Good soup - subtle flavours of chicken and ham, just thin.

This is a great explanation.

No food on the Charger, it is decorative.

Cheers

A charger is a little formal for paper plates.

We do a traditional turkey, plus mash potatoes, stuffing (cooked in a crock pot) roasted carrots, beans or asparagus. Gravy and cranberry sauce. Charcuterie to start while we sip some drinks....

We have done Ham and Prime Rib in the past, but we do Prime rib multiple times during the year with guests over.

Cheers

In Hawaii, it is much less formal. If you are celebrating at a house, you may be indoors, or you might be in the garage. For most of these gatherings, paper plates is de rigeur.

Well, it begins in a few minutes. 8 solid hours of slicing, dicing, stuffing, baking, cooking, and more than I can write about. People will show up at 4 and mostly get in the way. Dinner at 5 but that's variable. Just a goal. But they will be gone at 8 and clean up begins, a lot which is deferred to tomorrow after the leftovers are put away.

Another 8 hour day. And I'm tired of the routine. Off I go.

I just sat down at my sister's last night and brought a bottle of spirits. Not formal but not bad. That zuccini was almost as good as the filet.

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Christmas dinner on Peacock Hill
 

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Christmas Buffet
Honey glazed ham
Roasted chicken
Mashed potatoes and gravy (chicken and beef)
Baked beans (with & without bacon)
Green beans with baby onions
Green Jello with fruit
Deviled eggs
Breads & rolls
Pickles & olives
Cookies, cakes, pie and candy
Cheese and crackers
All day Christmas day after 12:30
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A tip for all of you. If you for some odd reason end up at my house, skip the side dishes.

We went to my wife's brother's place for Thanksgiving. I attempted a green bean casserole. Ended up dumping too much pepper in it. I blame the container I was getting it from, it had great big holes in it, not small ones like a pepper shaker.

For tonight's meal they're coming to our place. The wife is making a beef tenderloin, garlic green beans, and they're bringing cheesy potatoes. I wanted a scalloped corn dish. Failed on the first try, didn't soften the butter, so I nuked the whole thing and the egg started to cook. Dumped that out and started over. On the second try I heated the butter too much, it started to brown. Maybe I ruined it, maybe not. I guess we'll find out in a couple of hours. My starting over is going to delay the tenderloin going into the oven by at least 15 minutes. I guess we won't be eating on time, but we seldom do. At least there's no egg shells in the mix.

Merry Christmas all.

Yep, on a short break and getting out of the kitchen. Since I don't eat meat the turkey smell is offensive to me anyway, but who gets to carve it? Yeah, me.

Christmas Eve Prime Ribhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1703550003.jpg

Christmas dinner was a big hit with my mom and instead of her getting out containers for me to take back leftovers, she was eagerly asking what she could keep, the correct answer being all of it of course.

Bone-in prime rib with a fresh thyme, rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil rub after searing. Perfect rare throughout. Made a bordelaise from the crockpot consomé leftover from birria taco beef shanks and a decent cabernet, a 2019 Auctioneer. Excellent wine. I got it knowing it would make a better sauce and I'll have 3/4 of a bottle to finish myself, wise choice. Bone marrow is god's gift to cooks around the world, made for a rich beef stock with little fuss.

Gruyere potatoes, an elegant spin on au gratin, peel and slice 1mm crossways like you are making potato chips, just don't cut all the way through. Fan with your palm. Heavy cream, garlic, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Baking, cover potatoes with cream mixture, gently peel back each layer with a paring knife so cream can coat, bake for an hour. Shredded quality Gruyere under the broiler to brown. These things are addictive like nothing else on the planet. What makes them special it's not all about the cheese like a classic gratin, but the potato and cream with hint of garlic and nutmeg really shines, only tinted with a little cheese, or none at all.

Balsamic vinegar air fried Brussels sprouts. These are pure candy.

Orange tarragon carrots

Creamed spinach

2019 Browne Cabernet, a nice Columbia Valley wine that punches above its weight to Napa characteristics. Just a damn good and satisfying $30 bottle of wine that goes great with steaks.

Mom got some cannoli for desert.

It was just she and I as her husband was in the hospital after a bad fall last Saturday. We went to see him after dinner and he's getting better but still out of it from all of the drugs they've got him on for an infection that set in. It was an overall great day!

I didn't get to make the popovers which would have been a good addition but just too many moving parts and didn't want my Mom to have to do anything other and chat with me in the kitchen.

Lovely day. Hope all of yours was too!

My wife has done roast goose several times for either Christmas or Thanksgiving. On top of having the tasty goose, you also get an ample supply of goose fat which is fantastic to use the rest of the year for your various fat needs! And yes, goose tends to be pretty pricey.

We were supposed to go to dinner but had to cancel because we're both sick. I wound up having sausage with penne, and my wife made a chicken stir fry. On the plus side we're feeling better and heading to Arizona on Friday

If I had known how much a 4 rib bone-in prime rib was going to be, I would have bought 3 frozen geese and called it a day. :)

I ended up cutting 2 2lb ribeyes off the roast that I'll grill this summer over wood. My mom will feast on the leftover prime rib for weeks.

We had a Dr Seuss Christmas Dinner. Roast Beast!!


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