Has anyone done their Christmas menu yet?

[EFerrari]

Left to myself, I'd do another turkey. But maybe the troops would enjoy ham or lamb more.

[Denninmi]

1. Nope.

Can I just pick up Chinese and call it good?

[EFerrari]

3. Whatever works is good!

:)

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. Yup....

Christmas eve

home made crab cakes
some sort of potato
brussels sprouts or another veggie
asst of Christmas cookies

(keeping it quick and light)

Christmas day

Roasted cod
brocolli
roasted rosemary potatoes
carrots vichy

chocolate charlotte, raspberry coulis, whipped cream for dessert

unusual - but we love both!

[grasswire]

5. tell me about roasted cod

What kind of cut? Or a whole fish? Or what?

[NRaleighLiberal]

7. Filets...see below

Whole Foods has the very best we can get in the Raleigh area. We cut them into 4-5 oz servings.

preheat oven to 525 (yes, that's the right temp!).

Spray a baking sheet with Pam

Dip the cod filets into milk, then dredge in bread crumbs (we use the italian seasoned). Arrange on the baking sheet.

Melt 2 tbsp butter - drizzle the melted butter over the filets.

Bake at 525 for 12 minutes.

We just love the sweet flavor and flaky texture - if you have really good fresh Cod, this recipe can't be beat - crisp on the outside, still moist on the inside. The thicker filets work best - if it is the thinner tail piece, we fold it in half, so that the thickness of all of the pieces is very similar.

[grasswire]

25. I tried this, and it was delicious.

Thanks! It wasn't crispy on top, but that was probably because it still was a tiny bit frozen when I bought it and had some ice crystals in it. But it was really good.

[EFerrari]

8. Yum, crab cakes.

I wanna go to your house. :)

[Arkansas Granny]

4. Pretty much. We have the same basics every year, but we change up

some of the side dishes. We always have ham, but instead of mashed potatoes, this year we are going to do some rosemary augratin potatoes. We've served them with other dinners and have never had leftovers. There will be sweet potatoes, corn pudding and homemade rolls, but the big draw for the family, is the dessert table.

[EFerrari]

9. What is corn pudding?

We have corn at nearly every meal in some form but I'm not familiar with that incarnation.

[grasswire]

15. if you are in D.C. you ought to be able to get good corn pudding

It isn't that different from spoonbread.

Although come to think of it the most delicious corn pudding I've had was in San Antonio, as a side dish.

[Arkansas Granny]

17. It's a casserole dish we found online. Here's a link.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,188,153171-231207,00.html

The flavor goes well with ham.

[hedgehog]

23. Rosemary augratin potatoes -- you are now my god!

[Lucinda]

6. I think it's just going to be the two of us this year, so we may make

Chinese or Mexican food. But ya never know. :)

[EFerrari]

10. I don't know how many we'll be yet. Maybe four or five

Since there are no little kids here, I insist on a big holiday meal on Christmas Day. Saves on cooking the week in between Christmas and New Years, too.

[elleng]

11. No. Thinking about Chanukah, but have to be sure some family can make it, first.

The 'industrial revolution' has wreaked havoc w such. Damn.

[EFerrari]

14. I say "Christmas" out of habit but the truth is, my brother and his wife

have always had blended holdays and my niece Rachel's birthday is the 24th. I hope I get to see the girls this year but they are busy teens now. We call them "the comets". :)

[pinto]

12. Not a clue. My sister & brother-in-law put that together. I'm thinking of a tapas style, small plate

meal for all at my place on the Thursday before (1st day of winter). Low key with a walk downtown to Farmers' Market for desserts...that's about my scope for hosting a group. I'm good at that.

I hear talk that it'll be leg of lamb at my sister's...would be a neat change from the usual standard.

:hi:

[EFerrari]

13. I love tapas but have never made them.

My son took me out for some the last time we were in DC and we nearly closed the kitchen down. :)

[pengillian101]

16. Lutefisk and lefse,,,

alongside with a gift of prime venison steak.

[grasswire]

22. do you make your own lefse? n/t

[Lugnut]

18. My daughter is cooking again this year.

She has decided to do a pork roast. I've been volunteered to make garlic mashed potatoes and home made applesauce as well as dessert. I think cherry cheesecake is the way to go.

[EFerrari]

19. Why couldn't I get one of those? But no, I had to have boys.

Tee shirt wearing, skateboard riding, milk carton drinking boys. lol

[Denninmi]

20. Hey, guys can cook. Really.

You just have to motivate us properly. In their teen years, one really good way of doing that is to simply let them starve and force them to do for themselves.

[EFerrari]

21. Their dad cooked. The youngest one does a little bit.

Iirc, during their teens, the always bottomless hunger used to eat serial dinners in the neighborhood. Packs of young men on our block meant someone was serving dinner somewhere. lol

[Lugnut]

24. I got lucky.

She loves to cook and is very good at it. Her older brother never tackles complete dinners but he's not too shabby at making his specialties. They're both in their 40s and skateboards are a thing of the past so that might have something to do with it.

[pipoman]

26. I am a supervisory chef

at a nursing home associated with the 'open to the public' restaurant I manage. My role at the nursing facility is to hire/train cooks, develop recipes, and manage quality control...not much actual cooking. My wife is not employed in food service. We volunteer to cook Thanksgiving and Christmas day allowing the hourly cooks to have the holiday off and saving the organization (nonprofit) having to pay holiday pay.

Our residents like traditional, home cooking food...I posted the menu yesterday. We are serving pot roast cooked with baby carrots, onion, and new potatoes. Smoked turkey (I have 2 smokers at the restaurant), broccoli rice casserole, ham cooked green beans, mashed potatoes with roast beef gravy, home made dinner rolls, and homemade pecan pie or black forest cheesecake. I will also make 6 compound salads for the salad bar. I am thinking a cranberry salad, creamy pasta salad, redhot/applesauce/jello salad, and 3 others.

Any ideas for holiday salads I should serve?

Happy Holidays foodies..:hi:

[Irishonly]

27. Not a clue

I am slow this year. I just got two batches of cookies done and getting ready to do Prancers Brittle. I was ham but I think Prime Rib is winning now. At the rate I am going it may be salad. LOL