As we ready to host our family members, I'm thinking about the Christmas dinner we'll prepare this year. Rather than a ham or roast beef, we're going to prepare a meal that emphasizes the vegetables since in the last few years, that's what people have eaten mostly--we've got a growing number of vegetarians in the family.
So this year the menu will include the following:
So this year the menu will include the following:
- Appetizers: Cheese and crackers, grapes
- Chicken stuffed with cranberry-apple-wild rice stuffing
- An extra dish of stuffing for the those who don't eat chicken
- Scalloped potatoes
- Spinach pie
- Butternut squash
- green salad
- Cookies, ice cream, and chocolates for dessert
I chose the chicken dish because it's relatively light, festive looking, and easy to prepare and cook. The potatoes and butternut squash can be prepared ahead of time and served as part of the buffet in crock pots and the spinach pie offers a healthy main dish for those who are vegetarians. Cookies and ice cream are a nice culminating dessert on Christmas Eve.
The gathering will include story telling, a yankee swap, and perhaps some singing and game playing too.
Most of all, it's simply good to be together at the holidays. Onward.