Christmas Menu

Here's an overview of what I served on Christmas Eve and Day.

Christmas Eve:

This night I was hosting 14 people at our house.  I didn't want to deal with making a big meal, heating up the house with the oven, dealing with dirty dishes, etc. so I decided on a heavy appetizer style dinner.  This worked out perfectly and there was plenty of food.  I also ditched the idea of real plates and silverware.  We got nice red paper plates and plastic silverware (that looked like real silverware) from the dollar store.  Cute napkins from the dollar store, as well as some festive serving trays.  We did use real wine glasses to drink out of.  The paper plates and plastic silverware saved a bunch of time and stress and made clean up a breeze.

I did manage to get a couple quick photos of this as people started eating.

• Deviled eggs
• Buffalo chicken dip from Publix with tortilla chips (served warm)
• Veggie tray with Dill Dip (baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumber)
• BBQ Keilbasa
• Chicken Wings (four different flavors - these came from my local Winn Dixie and were delicious!)
• Various cookies and brownies
• BYOB (Pro Tip: If you're hosting people at your house and they ask what can they bring, tell them!  In my case, I knew my audience well and told everyone to bring alcohol.  That's a huge expense and instead of stressing about you having what people like to drink, ask them to bring their own.  Saves you time, money and stress...win!)

Christmas Morning

Family was on their own to make cereal, bagels, toast, etc.  Bloody Mary's and mimosas were started.  I did bake off some cinnamon rolls but this time was reserved for presents, spending time with family, enjoying the morning.

Christmas Dinner:

Appetizers

• Crostini with three cheese spreads (I made the crostinis by toasting up some slices of french bread, rubbing with fresh garlic and drizzling with EVOO)
• Garlic and herb
• Sun dried tomato and basil
• Smokey jalapeno
• (*All three cheese spreads were the Alouette brand from the grocery store.  I'm telling you, for big holidays, take some help from the grocery store where you can get it!  Not everything needs to be made from scratch.)
• Olive, cheese, pepperoni and crackers tray (no cooking required!)

Dinner

• Crispy Chicken (breaded and shallow fried with seasoned bread crumbs and parm cheese - This chicken was so pretty I'm going to re-make it for another post so you can see the photos!)
• Meatballs
• Spinach Artichoke Penne
• Sausage Rigatoni Bake
• Roasted Vegetables (mushrooms, asparagus and tomatoes)
• Garlic Knots
• Additional sauce and fresh Parm cheese
• BYOB continues :)

Dessert

• Even more Christmas cookies!
• Brownies
• Chocolate and vanilla ice cream