For the first two Christmases we were in Charlotte, we didn’t do much decorating because we were still recovering from the changes and stresses of the preceding couple of years. This year, however, we’ve been in the mood to put out a little more decor.
The highlight of our decorating so far has been adding red hats to our band of musicians on the fireplace hearth.
That was Steve’s idea, and I think it is so fun. I bet there aren’t many other households that have seven behatted, bronze musicians. (And if you listen very, very carefully, you might even hear that they are playing a Christmas carol.)
makes me think about many things, one of them being this question about holiday food.
Do you make the same menu for Christmas as you do for Thanksgiving? If not, what do you do differently?
For some reason, I hadn’t given it much thought over the years because we always had basically the same menu for both occasions. But then I thought it would be nice to do something different for one of the meals and wanted to get some input.
we had a meal with Nathan and Meagan recently, and Meagan made delicious sandwiches using a recipe she got from her friend.
The beauty of this recipe is that it is fast, easy, and delicious, which, in a busy season, is extra-appreciated.
It’s also a mix-and-match recipe where you are the boss of what you want to add, decrease, or change around. How fun is that? It may be one of the few areas of life where we are truly in charge of of something.
This recipe serves six, but you can easily double or halve it. And you can eat the whole sandwich, cut it in half, or even cut it in thirds if you’re serving soup and/or salad with it. Enjoy.
What about you?
Tell us about your menus for Thanksgiving and Christmas and what you change about it–if anything.
And speaking of cooking, I have the worst time making baked sweet potatoes without them being stringy. Do you have any sweet potato advice?
What is a big or small event you have coming up in the next week or two that you are looking forward to? Or maybe not looking forward to?
Are your decorations up? Have there been some years, like with Steve and me, that you just didn’t feel like going to the effort?
We went super untraditional this year for Thanksgiving due to my shoulder surgery. I wasn’t able to cook so we grilled steaks and the kids brought sides. For Christmas, we will be celebrating the weekend before. We go out for and ‘experience’. Go to a hotel, let the kids swim, go out to eat, play games, etc. Then on Christmas day, everyone wakes up at home to their own gifts, Santa, traditions, etc. We may all get together later in the day but not for a meal.
I have no sweet potato advice. Sorry. It seems I’m the only one who likes them so I never cook them.
We also did very minimal decorations this year due to my shoulder and lack of ability to help. It’s ok and there’s always next year.
We are really looking forward to watching our 12 year old granddaughter dance in the Nutcracker ballet this coming weekend! She is a beautiful ballerina and has been practicing her part diligently for the past two months. She will be dancing en pointe and we are so excited!! 🙂
LeeAnne,
Steak and sides? Sounds like a winner dinner to me!
I think it’s such a great idea to have the extended family gatherings a few days (or weeks) before Christmas. Glad it went so well for you.
I watched a young friend dance in the Nutcracker a couple of years ago. I can’t image how you excited you will be to watch your granddaughter. Big day!
Love the red hatted band and can hear their sweet music all the way up here in Mt. Airy.
We usually have turkey and fixin’s at Thanksgiving but since my mom passed away in June we decided to do something different. Holidays are hard after losing a dear loved one. This time we went to my brothers and he fixed a huge pot of chili for all of us…there were 13 of us. There was only a small bowl left.
We are going to do our usual Christmas breakfast this year at mamas old apartment. The apartment is built onto my sisters house so she redid some things and left it so we could still go there and have our get togethers like we did when mama was living there. We all bring certain items…mine is eggs for everyone and pones of homemade bread. My hubby’s mama passed away on Christmas day when he was only 10 years old and she was 29. He has a hard time with Christmas. I can’t get in the Christmas mood this year but I will put on my happy face for my family and we will talk about things mama used to do or make. Our hearts are still tender…..
I hope you and your precious family all have a very Merry Christmas and a safe and healthy and happy New Year.
Kaye,
Well, I just learned a new word from your comment. I had never heard of a “pone” of homemade bread. I’ve heard of cornpone, but never heard of it the way you used it. So thanks for teaching me something new.
Sometimes on holidays, we do have to put on our happy faces, don’t we? I love your line, “Our hearts are still tender.” That is such a perfect way to describe feelings after the loss of a loved one.
I think it was such a great idea to change up your menu for this holiday following your mother’s passing; you’re still remembering her, but also making new traditions. And what could be better than chili, memories, conversation . . . and a pone of bread! Hugs.
Our Holidays are much different these days. Thanksgiving was always my day to host but now we live full time in the RV and winter in Florida. For Thanksgiving we joined about 80 of our RV Park family for a potluck which is away to share each others favorite Holiday dishes. Yes, that included turkey and the fixings. I teamed with a friend to make the mashed potatoes… 22 lbs! I also made some sweet potatoes but they did not match the amazing ones that my mother in law (Gwen) always made! Wish I knew her secret. It was a great day and an amazing meal.
For Christmas we will be traveling from Florida to Pennsylvania to spend the Holiday with my sister’s family. My brother in law is in charge of the meat and will either pick out a special ham from the Central Market or a prime rib, not sure what it will be this year. My sister will roast some root veggies and make Yorkshire Puddings if he does the beef. It’s always a special day. A little different now with her daughter being married and her son being engaged so we have to share them and won’t be all together for one meal.
Love the band and decor! I got out the ceramic Christmas tree my dad made over 50 years ago and a few other things. Also decorated the golf cart for the RV Park’s annual Christmas golf cart parade we are having tonight!
Merry Christmas!
Ginny,
How fun to have a potluck with 80 old and new friends. I love it! And 22 pounds of mashed potatoes? My hat is off to you.
I’m not sure if I ever got to eat Gwen’s sweet potatoes. I know Vernie made some great ones as well. Even though I have her recipe, they never turn out the same.
I hope you enjoyed the golf cart parade; it sounds like so much fun. Merry Christmas and many hugs to you and Kenny.
We don’t eat sweet potatoes so I’m absolutely no help there. We usually eat the same thing for both Thanksgiving & Christmas – turkey, ham, broccoli/rice casserole, green bean casserole, rolls. The subs sound delicious and quick & easy is my favorite way to cook. I have my tree up, but not decorated. We drug it in from the garage Saturday, but wanted to give Rex (my daughters 75 pound shepherd puppy) some time with it before we added decorations. So far, so good, so we’ll try adding some (unbreakable) decorations this weeked. Wishing you a wonderful week as we journey toward Christmas.
Sue Ellen,
A 75-pound puppy? Oh my. I can’t imagine. I hope your Christmas tree and unbrekable ornaments surive the dog’s enthusiasm. 🙂
Your menu sounds delicious; no wonder you don’t change it from holiday to holiday! I especially love that green bean casserole.
The caps on the band look great! What a wonderful idea Steve had! 🙂
We have had prime rib for Christmas for several years now. I actually prefer it over turkey. I usually make twice baked potatoes — my family loves those (I only do them a couple times a year). I will make them next week — they freeze well — it’s nice to have them prepared ahead of time. We will have green bean bundles, probably squash casserole, rolls or foccacia (depending on what I feel like making!), fruit, probably a salad, etc. Dessert at Christmas varies — I do not serve pies. I love to cook and bake but struggle with pie so once a year for pie is enough! We are celebrating two birthdays the day we are together for Christmas so I will be making the birthday dessert of choice for each honoree.
We rarely do baked sweet potatoes but have roasted sweet potatoes all the time. I cut the sw. potatoes, put them on a parchment-lined baking pan (they should not be crowded or they will steam more than roast), and use some type of fat. I used to use olive or avocado oil but the last couple years use ghee. We usually only season with salt — but there are various spices you can use, of course. They are so good this way!
DeLynn,
Is your recipe for prime rib easy or complicated? If it’s fairly easy, I’d love to have it. It’s also good to know that twice baked potatoes freeze well; Steve loves those.
When you say you cut the sweet potatoes, do you mean in chunks? Or circles? That sounds like a good alternative way to cook the potatoes. Thanks for the good idea!
Becky,
Prime rib is very easy! I don’t know if you have ever heard of Chef Andrew Gruel — he is a bit famous — on tv some, has a well-known restaurant in CA — seems like a great guy. He and his wife ended up feeding tons of people after the CA fires last year — just incredible. I have learned a lot about the science of cooking from him. He explains things well. I will send his article on prime rib. Don’t be intimidated — it’s not hard!
https://andrewgruel.substack.com/p/perfect-prime-rib-guide
I re-read my comments about sweet potatoes — I wasn’t very clear! 🙂 Yes, I chunk the sweet potatoes. Probably 1-2 inches in size. I don’t peel them unless there are spots that are not appetizing — you know how sweet potatoes can be rather rough-looking. 🙂 Another thing I learned from Chef Gruel was to salt things during the cooking and not just at the end. I definitely do that for sweet potatoes. Also, it’s best to put them in a hot oven — somehow that helps them roast well (another fact I read somewhere).
Let me know if you have other questions!
Here is an article about the Gruels feeding people during the fires: https://redstate.com/bobhoge/2025/01/12/hoges-heroes-star-chef-gruel-steps-up-to-help-those-affected-by-wildfires-response-will-move-you-n2184238
DeLynn,
Thanks so much for taking the time to include all this great information! I love Chef Andrew and his wife already if they fed people after the CA fires. Generous hearts are the best hearts.
I look forward to purusing his site and learning about “perfect prime rib.” I do enjoy reading the science behind food and what makes it good and not so good so I’m sure I’ll find lots of interesting reading material there.
And thanks for the further instructions on sweet potatoes; will definitely try that since I love anything that’s roasted. (And will salt them during cooking.)
Thanks again!
Chef Gruel is a wonderful teacher! I have learned a lot from him.
He and his wife offered to feed people at their restaurant. Other people saw the offer and wanted to help. It grew into a huge thing — so many donations of food, so much cooking, so many deliveries they did — it was amazing to watch.
No need to reply to this reply to a reply to a reply! 🙂
For my husband’s mom’s side we usually do the same as Thanksgiving. That’s so boring though, even though it tastes good. Haha. So at my house we usually have tamales and TexMex sides like refried beans and Mexican rice and do that with my husband’s dad’s side. This year I think I’ll do lasagna like someone up above did for Thanksgiving! That sounds yummy!!! Now I need to find a great lasagna recipe so I don’t end up with a box one. 🤣
Lizz,
A TexMex Christmas–sounds like a winner to me! Lasagna sounds good, too.
It’s nice to do things differently sometimes; I hope you enjoy whatever new thing you do this Christmas!
We used to make the same meal for both holidays, but about 10 years ago we started making changes – different foods, simpler menus, outsourced pies. I saw how exhausted my grandmother and mom got preparing this massive meal that was gone in minutes. I decided I wasn’t doing that. I can make a love filled meal that’s special without making a bazillion sides.
Now I don’t even make a traditional turkey meal for either. This year we had lasagna for Thanksgiving- I made ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, and the sauce and sourdough bread. So good! For Christmas, we’ll share a big meal when my sister is in town; I’m serving smoked chicken tamales (that I ordered from a local bbq place that is out of this world yummy) with homemade green tomatillo sauce. And then Christmas Day my 18 year old will smoke a brisket.
i found an amazing baker and order her pies. They’re better than I can make and obviously no time investment.
For Megan’s subs, try using goat cheese. It’s tangy and brings such a wonderful flavor.
My decorations are up. I usually put the tree up after Thanksgiving meal. But this year I got the outdoor decorations up just before Thanksgiving because the weather forecast was rain and cold. I don’t do rain and cold. 😂 The boys were able to put their decorations on the tree while they were him for Thanksgiving break.
Vicki,
Your line about exhausted moms and grandmas rang true with me. There’s sooo much work invovled and it’s all over so soon. I loved, “I can make a love filled meal that’s special without a bazillion sides.” That just sums it up perfectly.
I like your idea of “outsourcing” some of your food–ordering the tamales but making homemade tomatillo sauce. It’s a wonderful combination that results in great food and rested cooks.
Will definitely try your idea of goat cheese on the subs. Sounds like an interesting addition.
Happy rest of December and enjoy not cooking a huge meal.
We do a prime rib roast for Christmas – so definitely different. We started that about 20 years ago. Family LOVES it.
Lynne,
I asked someone in another comment if they had an easy recipe for prime rib. If yours is fairly simple, I’d love to have it!
Love the hats on the band. My husband had a similar idea to have me make hats for all his parrot statues.
We have turkey and all the fixings for Thanksgiving and Ham with similar fixings for Christmas. My husband usually cooks so he decides. I used to do different county themes when I was at home with my family. Italian-Lasagna, Mexican-Enchiladas and Tamales, and several years we had Fondue.
We usually use canned sweet potatoes but even those are sometimes stringy.
We had our big event this weekend. After I had a Friday night craft sale and Saturday craft sale, we raced off to my husbands stepkids family Christmas party. 25 in all, and all 4 great grandkids. Then Sunday I went to a great grandsons 5th birthday party. A busy and very fulfilling weekend.
I got the upstairs and outside decorated, but have yet to do anything down in the basement (boxes are still stacked up there). We have missed decorating a few years for health or busyness. I do love seeing the tree lit up at night and love all the memories of the ornaments we have collected.
Patti,
Hats on parrot statues. That is great!
You are so creative to have different country themes. I never would have thought of that.
Whew. Reading about your weekend made me exhausted. Sounds like your schedule and hearts were full.
It’s so true about putting up the tree and seeing each ornament represent a memory. I love that.