The Saturday before Christmas I sat down and wrote out my shopping list. I am a firm believer in lists. They keep me on track and ensure that I get 99% of what I need in one trip. (Be honest, do you ever get everything that first trip) Shopping was the easy part and my total came in under what I had expected thanks to some deal hunting and that I was buying lots of items but in small increments.
I then sat down and worked out the timeline of how I am going to ensure that everything is cooked properly and warm when it hits the table. This is when I realized that dinner was going to take 3 hours and my family was not going to handle that well. I pulled out Course #5 (sad because I purchased some great metal chopsticks for that course) and removed the games. I will be running around but I am still excited for the dinner.
I had to work the morning of Christmas Eve – which meant that I had to enlist the help of my family for some of the prep cook and defrosting.
I set the table on Sunday because a good table is the perfect way to start the meal.
You can see the short video below with the explanation of how and why I put everything together.
I know the flatware is not in its normal order but it works in the order of the courses that are being served.
This year I wanted to take some stress of the holidays off my mom and offered to make Christmas Dinner. We have a few immutable traditions that cannot be changed but dinner is something we can have fun with.
Planning
This year I decided that I wanted to do something different for Christmas Dinner and the best way to make that happen was to offer to cook it myself. With a fluid total of 8 – 10 people it would not be a large meal but I wanted to make it special while shaking up the normal dinner fare.
I landed on the idea of a “Tasting Party”. I have a great set of mini dishes that will work perfectly.
My first step was deciding on the menu. I wrote a list of everything that I wanted to make and then broke them down into categories. You can see my notes and the final menu below.
I settled on 5 courses at first but Pinterest lulled me into adding a 6th course.
Course #1 – Danish Christmas Rice. This is a tradition that cannot be changed. I would not live through Christmas Eve if I tried.
Course #2 – Seafood Course
Shrimp Cocktails
Smoked Salmon Roses
Shrimp Rosemary Skewers
Smoked Oyster Crostini
Course #3 – Cheese and Pasta
Mini Baked Brie Bites with Crackers
Crescent Pizza Rolls
Mac n Cheese Bites
Caprese Pasta Shells
Baked Ravioli Bites
Course #4 – Meat and Veggies
Pork Chop Bites with Red Cabbage
Pork Chop Bite with Calvados Apples
Mini Beef Wellingtons with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Baked Veggie Medley
Course #5 – Asian Flare
Eggrolls
Potstickers
Asian Meatball with Rice
Seaweed Salad
Course #6 – Taste of the South
Chicken and Waffles
Cornbread and Chili
Pretzel Bites and Queso
Chicken Wings with Two Dipping Sauces
This was ambitious but I knew that I was only making 8 – 10 of everything and I believed could pull it off. I knew I needed more time between courses and something to amuse the other dinners while I prepped the next course (because I want to eat at the table as well). I settled on putting together some games and prizes that people could play in between. This idea was scrapped when it became only 8 people.
