Ho-Ho-Ho Christmas plans

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CWS4322

Chef Extraordinaire
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Not Christmas, but post-Christmas. We are hosting an open-house smorgasbord. To do this right, we have to go around the table 5 times...

The first round is the strong fish table (herring, smoked fish). So I have that covered. The next round is lobster/shrimp, gravlax, potato-beet-herring salad, cucumber salad, tomato aspic, etc., the third round is cold cuts, cheese, etc. The fourth round is the hot table. My friend who is a vegetarian is bringing vegetarian meatballs, we will have Janssen's Temptation, vegetarian cabbage rolls, and all the other fixings. The final round around the table is the dessert table with the 7 cookies.

Beverages are when people arrive they will get a cup of glogg. I'm doing the food--people have to bring their own beverages if they want something besides tea or coffee. I can't afford to feed people and provide booze. What are you doing for Christmas?
 
Nothing that ambitious, CW! Sounds like a wonderful time, but just reading about it (and knowing how much work you'll be putting into it) tuckered me out.

Weather permitting, we'll be back home in OH to spend the holidays with our kids. Our daughter knows we'll show up sometime around the 20th or so. We'll probably reprise Christmas Eve Mass at the area cathedral. We all enjoyed that last year, including seeing "Santa" at the service!

On Christmas Day, IF Loverly's friend's sister is hosting a family dinner, we'll be invited. If not, I'll be cooking dinner for at least the four of us, stragglers welcomed to join. I'll make what I used to make at home: eye of round roast, sauteed mushrooms with bread crumbs and lemon (tastes better than it sounds), two or three veggies, and mashed potatoes with copious amounts of gravy. Have to have potatoes and gravy per our daughter. We'll comply, since we're staying there. :LOL:

The celebrating will continue on to their birthday on the 29th. Last year we went to a nice sushi place that is run by a friend of our son. New Year's is undecided, but sometime after that we'll be headed back to MA.
 
We'll be going to my best friend's house in SC where my mom is staying. They are planning a prime rib dinner. I'll be making a couple of coconut cream pies (a must have for that family) and some assorted cookies. Looking forward to it!
 
We don't celebrate Christmas per se, but we will be having a family gathering at our house. So far, I know the main course will be a standing Rib Roast, but that's about all I know at this time.

Oh, and there will be lots of wine. I'm bottling 22 gallons of Pinot Noir tomorrow. :)
 
Family, friends, and sleep. Lots and lots of sleep.

I know what you mean. One year I told my sister I was going to my daughter's house. And I told my daughter I was going to my sister's house. And I had a nice peaceful day. Tried it again the next year and almost got away with it again. Except my sister called my daughter. The jig was up. :angel:
 
Mr. K~Couple and I will be spending our time quietly at home this year for a change.
No traveling, no big parties, simple is the key word here.
We'll have some Honey Baked Ham, potatoes of some
sort or another and a veg.
NO, I said NOOOO Seven Fishes this year, thank goodness!
His family insists upon making this and we are both allergic
to most of what they make, but that doesn't matter
in a house full of Italians
(there's 25 of us now and that doesn't include my relatives), HA!
My SIL would usually make a pizza for the two of us,
:)
 
This is the first year since 2002 that we're hosting, but not on Christmas. That will just be a quiet evening. We might make a turkey, or not. I might pull the crown lamb roast out of the freezer...or not. I would prefer to spend Christmas at the farm, but that depends on weather. I don't want to get snowed in there and if we have beastly cold weather, I don't trust that the heater for the girls' water will actually keep the water from freezing.
 
:LOL: Steve...!

I posted on another thread about Christmas dinner, but will post here too because they seem to be intermingling. :LOL: I have a small family here, and some need to attend other in-law family gatherings during the day. I usually roast a ham the day before and set that out along with some buffet goodies late Christmas morning. Whatever family members want to come by at whatever time, works well for us. Often it's kind of a revolving door throughout the day. :)
 
Only one day off for me, so nothing too big. I don't even have any meal plans. Maybe just sleep as long as possible. We are heading out tomorrow for our Christmas shopping for each other and have three things to get for my office mates.
 
My plans are to stay home Christmas Eve and most of the next day. Then I will go to my daughter's to eat somewhere around three or so. Open presents and wait for all the grandkids to pile in. Then home to bed. :angel:
 
Christmas will be a quiet day at home.

I just need to stuff a couple of envelopes with Christmas cheer and pickup a small bottle of Myer's dark rum for the eggnog.

Christmas dinner will be ham, kielbasa, cauliflower with cheese and cabbage salad. I still need to settle on a low carb treat for dessert.
 
Seven (or worst yet Feast of the Twelve Fishes, oh my) Fishes ...

:yuk:

Myself being married to an Italian ...

CAN'T
DO
IT
ANY
MORE

:sick:

A nice ham dinner, a quiet night (no yelling, no flailing hands all about as they speak, sometimes more ... WAY too much drama for me )

My SIL, his four sisters and their spouses, their adult kids, like you said, all those hands flailing through the air. I swear someone is going to get knocked out one of these years. And all yelling louder than the one next to them so they can be heard. I come home with a headache each time. :angel:
 
But wait ...
if I could do the Seven Fishes they way that we like it,
would it still be within the "tradition" of the American-Italians?
Howzabout 7 different kinds of Poke?
MMM

My daughter makes a Marinara Sauce with all the fishes in there. Clams, scallops, Haddock, Cod, squid, and I forget the other two. Oh, stuffed oysters and quahogs. Those are baked. :angel:
 
My daughter makes a Marinara Sauce with all the fishes in there. Clams, scallops, Haddock, Cod, squid, and I forget the other two. Oh, stuffed oysters and quahogs. Those are baked. :angel:

See here's the thing Addie, we could eat the Haddock and Cod and that's it!
SO!
Why can't I make what we like?
One year, I think it was 2012, yeah that was it, we went to Mr.&Mrs. DF's home in Prescott and we had our own American-Italian 7 Fishes, I have some photos somewhere ... we had all lived in Hawaii before and so we made our version (btw, I'm the only non-Italian in the whole lot of them) with Poke and all kinds of goodies...
December 2012 073.JPG
December 2012 082.JPG
December 2012 091.jpg
December 2012 070.JPG
December 2012 059.jpg

We had a blast!
 
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