What is going o be on your Christmas menu?

[Modemouth]

Things are going to be a little different here this year. DS anf FDIL will be coming down from WY Christmas Eve for dinner here. DS has requested standing rib I need some new ideas for side dishes. What are you having?

Christmas Day dinner is going to be all seafood for DD, DH, and me. :clap: Shrimp cocktail, crab legs, sea bass, and maybe some oyster stew. I will make a salad of some kind and of course dessert.

I am gettting tired of the same ol' thing. I am still full from Thanksgiving! :shock:

[Puddy]

Same as thanksgiving here

Turkey
Dressing
Gravy
Baked Potatoes (for my Dad and DS)
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Corn
Peas
String Beans
Salad
Apple Pie
Cheese Cake
Wine
Soda
Coffee/Tea

I think that is it

[plath]

All I have to make is an appetizer I think. We usually eat at MILs. I think I'm going to make Spinach Artichoke Dip.

[katpo]

On the 18th with my parents, we will have a semi-normal holiday with either turkey or ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, etc.

On the 25th with the ILs though, that's a different story. MIL buys all of her food at Neimans thru her personal shopper so that she can get "points" to use later. While I appreciate her being a ... um, thrifty? shopper, she's spending hundreds on this meal that nobody likes much anyway, especially the kids. For instance: pecan praline ham and bacon wrapped quail stuffed with lobster and shrimp. Those are two of the things we had last year. Blech.

[Cardy]

How about stuffed crab shells? I don't have the recipe and my mom lost hers, but she made these awesome tasting stuffed crab shells once year. They had cream cheese in them, I think some kind of cheese, maybe parmesan? or ricotta?, and crab. She mixed all the ingredients and stuffed it into those giant macaroni shells.

You know what goes well with seafood? Those cheese buscuits from Red Lobster.

How about a pear salad? I see a lot more unusual salads in the upscale restaurants now than I ever have before. Most of them now serve some sort of pear salad (pears on fancy lettuce) and they usually have pecans, raisins, carrots, or dried cranberries on them. Most of the places that serve those salads have a creamy, slightly sweet, dressing on them. Of course they would never tell me what type of a dressing it is other than "house" but I'm sure you can find something to compliment such a salad at allrecipes.com

Then for desert, how about mousse? After all, who can resist that?

[Cardy]

Here's the stuffed crab shell recipe that I think my mom used. Do yourself a favor and don't look at the calories in them. :yep: http://appetizer.allrecipes.com/az/AmazingCrabShells.asp

Here's a typical pear salad: http://salad.allrecipes.com/az/71834.asp & http://salad.allrecipes.com/az/PrSldwithRspbrryCrm.asp

[katpo]

Do yourself a favor and don't look at the calories in them. :yep:
:roflmao2:

I agree with Cardy -- you should make the cheese biscuits for your seafood feast! And the pear salad sounds really good.

When I was little, my sis and I had that Imperial Sugar My First Cookbook (remember those) and we used to make that turtle salad with pears and cheese and I think it had pecans for the feet. Yummy!

[Modemouth]

Pear salad sounds good. My Mom often made pear salad with grated cheese and nuts for everyday meals.

The stuffed shells...wow! :tyspin:

[Bit]

I got the ingredients to make the stuffed shells. I had to ask the stock guy what Neufchatel (or however you spell it) is... turns out it's cream cheese with all the good fat taken out.. LOL. Learn something new everyday.

So we're having one dinner tomorrow.

Spiral Sliced Ham with cloves/cherries/pinapple
Green Bean Casserole
Stuffed Crab Shells
Baked Beans
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Rolls

Texas Sheet Cake
Apple Pie
Cherry Pie

Tea & Lemonade.

[zippimom]

We celebrate on christmas eve. The zippikids work on christmas day so the coworkers with little kids can be home. We go to Mass at 6 PM then out to eat Italian. We have cocktails and chrismas cookies at home while opening our presents.

[ggambler]

My best new appetizer/side dish are risotto balls :yep: Oh gosh these are so good. I'm addicted to the Food Network so most of my new stuff comes from there LOL!

Typically, I'll make the risotto for me and DH and the left overs (about 2 cups) is what's used to make the balls. Delish though no matter how you do it ;)

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
2 large eggs, beaten to blend
2 cups Risotto with Mushrooms and Peas, recipe follows, cooled
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 1/2 cups dried Italian-style bread crumbs
2 ounces mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Salt

Pour enough oil in a heavy large saucepan to reach the depth of 3 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat to 350 degrees F.
Stir the eggs, risotto, Parmesan, and 1/2 cup of the bread crumbs in a large bowl to combine. Place the remaining breadcrumbs in a medium bowl. Using about 2 tablespoons of the risotto mixture for each, form the risotto mixture into 1 3/4-inch-diameter balls. Insert 1 cube of mozzarella into the center of each ball. Roll the balls in the bread crumbs to coat.

Working in batches, add the rice balls to the hot ail and cook until brown and heated through, turning them as necessary, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the rice balls to paper towels to drain. Season with salt. Let rest 2 minutes. Serve hot.


Mushroom Risotto with Peas:
8 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
1/2-ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups finely chopped onions
10 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or short-grain white rice
2/3 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, optional

Bring the broth to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Add the porcini mushrooms. Set aside until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Keep the broth warm over very low heat.
Melt the butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the white mushrooms and garlic. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the porcini mushrooms to a cutting board. Finely chop the mushrooms and add to the saucepan. Saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and let it toast for a few minutes. Add the wine; cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of hot broth; simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook until the rice is just tender and the mixture is creamy, adding more broth by cupfuls and stirring often, about 28 minutes (the rice will absorb 6 to 8 cups of broth). Stir in the peas. Mix in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour

There's a crab cake recipe too that is supposed to be good but I haven't tried it yet:

12 ounces Dungeness crabmeat, cooked
5 ounces fresh sourdough bread crumbs
1 egg white
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon sambal
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 lemon, juiced
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 bunch arugula, washed and trimmed
Brown Butter-Tomao Vinaigrette, recipe follows

In a mixing bowl, combine the crab meat with the bread crumbs. Add the egg white, mayonnaise, sambal, chives, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the ingredients gently but thoroughly, taking care not to mash the crabmeat. Shape the mixture into 4 uniform patties; they should be moist and just hold together.
Coat a skillet with vegetable oil and place over medium heat. Fry the crab cakes until browned, about 4 minutes each side. Serve immediately on a bed of arugula with Brown Butter-Tomato Vinaigrette.


Brown Butter-Tomato Vinaigrette:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 shallot, minced
2 bay leaves
4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 orange, juiced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon sherry
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. When foam subsides, add the shallot and bay leaves. Cook for 1 minute to soften the shallots. Add the remaining butter and continue to cook until the butter begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, orange juice, chives, and sherry. Cook for 2 more minutes just to break down the tomatoes. Whisk in the olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and serve warm with Crab Cakes.

Have fun!

[zippimom]

Oh no My auntie Rose came from Scotland and is staying with my Mum and my brother is arriving christmas night. He doesn't even know that he is coming. His ticket is in his stocking as a christmas surprise. No restuarants are open I have to make dinner. zippiboy is having spagetti were going to have a spiral ham with mode's fruit sauce, baked sweet potatoes, corn. shrimp cocktail, humas. pasta salad for christmas night and a lot of booze.

[Modemouth]

I have been cooking/baking all evening. I just mopped the floor as I left the ktchen.

Tomorrow evening we are having...

Standing Rib roast
Mashed Potatos/gravy
candied sweet potatos
candied tomatos...new recipe from the board
sesame broccoli
pear walnut salad

I tried to make a ginger ale fruit cocktail salad but it doesn't seem to be jelling so I put it outside under the grill lid to freeze! It might be delicious that way.

rolls

For goodies while we open presents later in the evening...

peanut brittle
I messed up the first batch of fudge so I have to try again tomorrow.
asst. cookies
cranberry crystalized ginger bread

[Kim]

:cryhard: Mike is working :cryhard: kids going to inlaws. I will be home alone oh wait that means no cooking or cleaning :yep:

[katpo]

and a lot of booze...
:yep:

We had a fairly normal meal tonight. MIL made a spring mix salad with dark cherry vinaigrette dressing, prime rib, mashed potatoes, candied butternut squash, asparagus spears, rolls, and boysenberry pie. Oh she also made a pinto bean cake ... which was actually good. I'll post a recipe for that and also a pork 'n bean cake. You'd be surprised!

[Mrs.B]

I made a prime rib, baked potato for my daughter, broccoli with cheese and fruit salad. My daughter made herself a huge sundae for dessert.