Need ideas for Christmas dinner.

[simba928]

For the first year, ever, we are having Christmas at our house for my dad's side of the family. We don't know what to make for dinner, though. We are making stuffed shells, but what else. There will be somewhere between 8 to 12 people. We don't want anything too time consuming, though. Any ideas?

 

[Barb D]

I don't cook complicated things on Christmas. We usually do a pork roast (just throw it in a roasting pan and put it in the oven), mashed potatoes, vegetables, and a store-bought dessert.

With stuffed shells, how about french bread (or garlic bread) and salad?

I was thinking about getting a bag of spinach ravioli from Costco for vegetarian DD. That would go well with your meal, too.

 

[clh2]

When I am in need of fixing dinner for 10-15, I usually pick up a 1/2 pan of lasagna and garlic bread from a great local Italian restaurant. I would do the salad too, except my DH's family doesn't like salad.

 

[pfishgirl]

we do italian too... xmas eve-- ceasar salad, garlic bread or italian bread, meatballs, baked zita or eggplant parm.. fruit salad and cookies for dessert..

 

[mommytotwo]

You could boil lobsters and make a salad, soup, breadsticks, and dessert.

 

[macraven]

laugh if you might at me but i do not cook at Christmas.


i order domino's..................we splurge and get three topping pizzas and wings.


if you spend your time in the kitchen, you miss out on the family.

 

[Samandmom]

How about a ham?

 

[simba928]

The Ceasar salad sounds good! I wanted to make homemade pasta (make the dough from scratch, etc.), but my mom pointed out that that would be a bit much for so many people. My mom gave me the choice between lasagna and stuffed shells and since I really don't like lasagna, I obviously chose the shells. How about desserts? Any ideas/recipes for good desserts?

laugh if you might at me but i do not cook at Christmas.


i order domino's..................we splurge and get three topping pizzas and wings.


if you spend your time in the kitchen, you miss out on the family.

HAHA. We actually do the whole pizza thing every Friday night, so that really wouldn't make Christmas special. That is certainly very easy and I'm sure clean-up (my least favorite part) is a snap, though.

 

[Aurora63]

We do a beef roast cooked with vegetables and potatoes. It's great...takes a while to cook, but it's not too "labor intensive." And it's delicious.

 

[imsorry]

What about a spiral ham, roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes, shrimp cocktail, salad, cheesecake.

 

[poohtown]

Appetizers:

olive platter
cheese/ crackers
stuffed mushrooms


Dinner:

stuffed shells
meatballs w/sauce
ceaser salad
french green beans w/bacon
warm garlic bread or garlic sticks
fresh romano cheese


Dessert:

any of following:

Cannoli
cookie tray
cheesecake
bananas foster

 

[EthansMom]

Last year, we made a spiral cut ham, which was pretty easy. With the ham, we served french bread, oven roasted vegetables, salad, and pie. My SIL brought over scalloped potatoes, which went well with the ham.

I agree with the poster above who recommended serving meatballs with the stuffed shells. You could bake the meatballs the day before and then just reheat them in red sauce. Also, look for foods that don't require cooking (salad, store-bought bread) and foods that can be prepared the day before to make the day-of entertaining easier. Personally, I would serve a vegetable platter (veggies cut and dip made the day before) as an appetizer, meatballs in red sauce (prepared the day before), salad, asparagus (microwaved), stuffed shells, chocolate cake (purchased or baked the day before) and cheesecake with berry topping (purchased or made the day before or that morning).

In my opinion, part of the "art of entertaining" is not stressing out. I create my menu to be as low stess yet high value (looks good, tastes good) as possible. Don't be afraid to purchase some foods. (I certainly can't bake bread that tastes as good as bread I can buy for $2 a loaf at the store.)

For a quicker clean up, make sure to empty your dishwasher before/while dinner cooks and ask your guests to please load their own dishes.

Enjoy your party!