I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

Let's talk about all the holidays in December and if you are hosting or if you have hosted in the past, please post what you have made for food and anything else you prepare for the event. Love to hear everyone's thoughts and ideas. We are hosting Christmas again this year and I am looking for new ideas for food and anything you and your families do to celebrate.

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

We are hosting Christmas this year for about 20 - 24 people (that includes 4 kids).
I am nervous b/c I have NEVER even so much as had a little dinner party, nevermind a large holiday gathering.

I think we are making a lasagna, honey baked ham and possibly a turkey. Baked Sweet Potatoes, mashed potatoes, not sure of vegetables yet.

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

We host Eve every year. We have about 20 people.

For food we do a bunch of appetizers and dinner is usually ham, and stuffed shells.

Message edited 11/23/2009 1:55:36 PM.

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

we are hosting christmas eve - our first holiday!! it will be us, my parents, my sister, my grandparents, and my in-laws...

we are continuing a lot of the traditional xmas eve foods from my DH's side of the family (they always had much better stuff than my side )

for us xmas eve is more of a free for all with food and not so much a "sit down" dinner...it will be lots of appetizer stuff than we will sit for the main course, coffee and dessert...

i am making home made foccaccia bread (my MIL's speciality which she has taught me), we are making something we call frit - which are like personalized deep fried calzones - i think i'll be doing some with mozzarella, some with provolone and a few with mozz and ricotta mixed, we'll have raw clams, baked clams, shrimp cocktail and scungilli in red sauce...i am also going to put out mozzarella and tomato, cheeses and meat to pick on...

then for when we sit down we are going to do shrimp scampi and i'll probably do a tray of baked ziti or lasagna

then for dessert i am probably doing bow ties and chocolate covered strawberries and something else - just haven't decided what...

my DH's side does a lot of the fish but my family isn't into stuff like that - especially when you get into octopus and stuff like that so i am taming it down and adding some pasta and keeping it mostly to shrimp which everyone likes

Message edited 11/23/2009 1:55:08 PM.

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

I host Christmas Day.

I normally serve a beef dinner (each year I try to change things up) w/mashed pototoes, green beans with sauteed almonds in it, some sort of roll/biscuit and a salad.

For appetizers, I put out cubes of cheese with crackers, some pepperoni and salami, along with a hot o'deurve of some kind.

For dessert, we have homemade holiday cookies and sometimes a cake/pie of my MIL makes one.

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

Nik, that sounds like my MIL's Christmas Eve, plus some other stuff. You go girl. Very nice. But after us being that full from Christmas Eve, I have to tame it down for Christmas Day.

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

Dh & I host Christmas Day. This year it's just us, my bro, my sis & her BF, my parents and our neighbors (a couple).

We will have apps- assorted italian cheeses & meats, olives, (antipasto things) and prob the roasted shrimp cocktail recipe someone posted on here.

THen for dinner we have- stuffed rigatoni from Uncle G's, chicken parm and a roast of some sort (beef or pork). Then I want to do the burnt broccoli and a green salad. Probably also some peas & mushrooms. Lots of fresh italian bread.

Dessert is homemade cookied that my mom & I make. Usually a cake that Dh picks up also.

Christmas day is the only holiday I'lll get to see my family this year, so it will be fun. My parents come early and help and we open presents together and other family & friends stop by throughout the day and for dessert, so it's a really nice time.

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

All previous years we have gone to DHs parents and spent the ENTIRE day there. It was very boring and my allergies would be catching up around dinner time no matter how many pills I popped. I can't sit in their home since the cats have their hair everywhere. They know I love them and come rub all over me. I'm dumb so I pet them and make lovies. Then suffer.

For the first time this year DH and I will be hosting Christmas Day breakfast. I have started collecting recipes and can't wait! After present sharing time the ILs will probably go home and leave BIL. He may or may not stay until we go to the ILs house for dinner.

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

Oooooh, I am I am!! I host Christmas dinner every year. This year I'm having about 9 other people and then the 4 in my family--so, not too many, not too few...

One year I tried a prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, brussels sprouts, potatoes, etc, but the meat turned out to be a disaster (I didn't defrost it long enough ) and so I've become gun-shy. I'm going back to my usual...
turkey
mashed potatoes
stuffing
cranberry
corn
and for something new...::drumroll::
butternut squash lasagna!
Pretty Thanksgiving-y but I love that stuff.

To start off, I also plan to have a cold antipasto and serve a "signature" drink...maybe some kind of a punch pre-dinner or spiked egg nog post-dinner.

Also, I cannot wait to break out my "Martinis & Misteltoe" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" CDs.

But most of all, I am SOOO excited to use my china!! I only use it once a year and I love it soooooo much...what a dork!

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

I'll be hosting dinner for 6 - not a crowd by any means, but since I'm used to just me and DH, it'll take some planning. I have no idea yet what to make! Maybe a roast chicken?

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

We are doing Christmas Eve and Day. For Christmas Eve I am doing Italian Take out and keeping it simple. Christmas Day we will have 20+ people. Once Thanksgiving is over I will think about the menu for Christmas based on what was a hit and what was not. I think I want to do a surf and turf for Christmas Day though.

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

We are hosting christmas eve, but MIL is having it catered. Thank Goodness, cause it ends up being like 30 ppl!!!

Then we are hosting my family the Sunday after christmas, it's only 15ppl, but everything is homeade. I haven't figured out the menu yet, but I'm thinking............

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

we're hosting "christmas day" (we'll probably do it on the saturday right after b/c of a few of our work schedules)- that will be for 12 people. We haven't finalized the menu or anything yet, but we'll probably do a spiral ham, sweet potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes and a few vegs, nothing fancy.. crescent rolls- whatever DH is up for cooking lol i usually bake alot of different cookies for dessert- chocolate chip, cake batter cookies, oatmeal raisin, devils food cookies with raspberry sauce... and then i make brownies and Dirt (chocolate pudding with cool whip and crushed oreos).

The week after, we're hosting the yearly christmas party for my extended family (all of my cousins, aunts and uncles). That's about 60 people. Considering that i struggle with making easy mac for the 2 of us, i'm pretty sure we're just going to have that one catered

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

Thanksgiving is DW's holiday. SIL gets Chrismtas. There's going to be 15 people at Thanksgiving this year. DW does most of the food (which everyone loves), and she gives out odds and ends to people so they feel like they are helping when they show up.

We're also having 20 people for our local PT Cruiser "family" Holiday Party. DW will be making a lot of the food for that as well.

For Thanksgiving, DW makes two smaller turkeys instead of one huge one. Cooks faster, we never "present" it on the table whole anyway, and you get twice as many drumsticks. She brines them overnight, so they are very moist.

For the PT party, she's making one of Paula Dean's recipes. Bacon cheeseburger meatloaf.... Mmmmmm......

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

We're hosting it this year but it will just be my parents, my sister and MIL.

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

Thanks for everyone's great ideas so far. Keep them coming if you want to share. I'm getting hungry.

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

Wow, you guys have some work to do!

Christmas Eve my sister is having everyone so for Christmas Day, I'm going to ask my parents to eat at our house. Rusty's the cook but in our family, we always had lasagna with all the usuals that go along with it - antipasto, italian bread, sauce, maybe some pepperoni and provolone...

It all depends on what DH wants to make because we do something different every time. But he's never really tried his hand at tomato sauce (he's Russian, not Italian ) so I don't know how good that would be anyway!

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

This is my 3rd year hosting Christmas Day! I have a pretty large family so it will be about 25-30 of us. Last year I used my china, everyday plates and even borrowed my moms china this year I refuse and we are going very causal and serving dinner buffet style with paper plates. Much easier.

My menu is:

Appetizers:
Shrimp cocktail
stuffed mushrooms
cheese and crackers
mixed nuts
antipasta platters

Dinner:
Salad
Veal Marsala
Pork
roasted potatoes
string beans almondine
either lasagna or baked ziti


Dessert:
the normal cakes, pastries, fruit!

That is all I can think of right now!

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

I'm hosting Chanukah. We're having 17 people, three of them are kids 4 and under. It's the first holiday that Dh's and my families have spent together. I'm catering most of it. We don't have any group traditions yet; hopefully we'll start some this year. Chanukah trivia, anyone?

Message edited 11/25/2009 2:20:07 PM.

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

we do Christmas eve - my mom does the Italian seafood soup with linguine. I do chicken parm, penne alla vodka, salad, and a tray of fried calamari (I order that one from a rest.)

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

Apparently, when DH was growing up, his family did Christmas Eve but eventually that stopped. Well he wants us to start doing it and make it a tradition and "our" holiday. I am all for it.

But we have big family meal on Christmas Day so I don't really want a meal... and this year at least I'll be working s half day on Christmas Eve.

So I am thinking more of an open house app/dessert type thing for a few hours. IDK if his family would go for it lol but 2 sit down dinners in a row seem like a lot, esp. when i won't have a lot of time to make stuff!!

I guess we will see!

Re: I Know it's Early, but who is hosting for the Holidays in December this year?

We're hosting my family this year. Not sure yet how many people, or what the menu is. My DH is the chef, so he'll figure that out!