Christmas Menu

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I mentioned in my menu post that I host Christmas Eve dinner for my brothers and their families and my (widowed) mother. It's a long-standing tradition at this point and I think everyone enjoys themselves. The other day my 12-year-old son said "thanks for having such a great party on Christmas Eve, mom." It's funny. I certainly never thought of it as a party, as I certainly never thought it was "me" doing it. But I guess the kids look at who did the work and recognize it was their old mom. Someone notices after all. Nice.

Christmas Day will, for the most part, be spent at home, quietly. We begin our day with Mass in the morning and then come home and unwrap gifts and eat brunch. I know many families attend Mass on Christmas Eve so that they can have a relaxing Christmas morning, but I enjoy attending Mass in the morning and putting gifts off until after Mass. Our parish has only one Mass on Christmas Day, at 10 a.m., so the teens can sleep a little bit late and the younger children don't have to wait too long for their gifts. We'll have appetizers with Doug's parents at our house in the afternoon, and a big dinner -- maybe my mom will come. It's the day my family spends with their "other sides" and we don't see Doug's brothers until the weekend.

My menu is below. I think I've kept it simple enough that I won't be in the kitchen too long on Christmas. I will make the Buche de Noel the day before, as well as the Cinnamon Bun Bread and Cream Cheese Danish, and the dinner rolls for Christmas Day on Tuesday. I'm finishing up my baking today and tomorrow, so cookies will be ready by the end of Tuesday.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Chicken Parmesan
Baked Ziti
(sans meat because my niece is a vegetarian)
Salad
Bread
Cookie trays


Christmas Day

Brunch:
Cinnamon Bun Bread
Ham and Egg Cups
Cream Cheese Danish (see below)

Appetizers:
Shrimp cocktail
Bacon wrapped breadsticks
Baked Cheese Spread

Dinner:
Standing rib roast
Au Gratin potatoes
Green beans with sauteed mushrooms
Soft white rolls
Buche de Noel




With colored sugar for Christmas morning -- if you don't want Christmas colors, you can sprinkle with regular table sugar or coarse white sugar.



Cream Cheese Danish
(my mom's recipe -- she's the Queen of crescent roll dough)

2 (8 oz) cream cheese
¾ cup sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 t. lemon juice
2 pkg. crescent rolls (8 count)

Blend cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice.
Spread out each package of crescent rolls on a cookie sheet (two cookies sheets).
Pinch seams together.
Spread half of cream cheese mixture down center of each.
Fold ends over and pinch to prevent leaks.
Sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 25 minutes at 350.
Refrigerate 2 to 3 hours before cutting.
Cut in half lengthwise and then crosswise in 1 to 2-inch pieces.

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