Christmas in Ohio, Menus

hristmas

You are in the right place for more Christmas celebrating

he page of Christmas Menus is our families tried and true choices for the holiday celebration. That doesn't mean we don't experiment or add in new choices, but if we are all going to rely on the memories of good food that means "Christmas" to us, this is what we serve.

Christmas Dinners

In our home, the Christmas food fixings are simple for most of the weeks preceding Christmas, we do manage to save some of the cookies we bake for setting out as part of the dessert table on Christmas Eve and Day. We have our most important dinner on Christmas Eve, with a special breakfast/brunch for Christmas Day, if I have not collapsed! The year we stayed up all night finishing the girls doll house was one of those times. I do find that in recent years we ( I) have dropped off many of the cookies baked and the brunch attempts in the effort to simplify. Those things were always so much fun, but sometimes the schedule or the budget don't accommodate everything. I really think the important thing is the festiveness of the atmosphere with well- chosen foods that create a warm and hospitable table.

Usually, we have Italian style foods, but some of the other menus have had their share of use. Some years we will have the stuffed turkey menu, since we missed it at Thanksgiving! The two dishes which my family insists upon, at Christmas, are my Cardamom Rolls, and Cranberry Relish (made the way my mother and Grandmother made it).
These menus can be used anytime for a large family holiday

Christmas Eve I

home-baked Lasagna or Manicotti
Green Salad with Italian Dressing
Green Bean Almondine
Cranberry Relish
Cardamom rolls
Waldorf Salad and Ambrosia fruit salad
Sparkling punch made from fruit juice and Lemon-Lime pop
coffee Christmas Rice Pudding with raspberry sauce

Christmas Eve II

Roast Ducks
Fruited Rice Stuffing
Spinach Salad with warm Bacon Dressing
Fruit Compote
Rolls
Cranberry Relish
buttered broccoli and cauliflower
Gingerbread with maple syrup flavored whipped cream

A Turkey Menu

Large Roasted Turkey
Stuffing of the type we decide for that year(sometimes Pecan or Chestnut, I like Oyster)
Waldorf Salad or mixed Fruit with Whipped cream
Crudites /Green salad with garlic Vinagrette
Cranberry Relish rolls Assorted pies of Pumpkin, Apple, Pecan

Christmas Morning I

Cheese Blintzes with warm Strawberry sauce
Clementine Oranges
Cardamom rolls Coffee and tea

Christmas Morning II

Sausage and egg casserole with spinach
Mixed Seasonal Fruit salad
Cinnamon rolls
Coffee and tea Fruit Juice