My Christmas Menu

I’d nibble unenthusiastically and have a pizza after the party.

For fuck's sake, Christmas traditions demand fish of a better profile than "salmon" as part of a paltry coffee table.

baked brie en croute.

Sounds nice, but everything sounds heavy and oily and rich.

There's nothing lemony, fresh or vinegary on your menu.

I'd like to see some apple or pear in there. Chestnut and squash are somewhat similar. Maybe a lemony dessert, instead.

Also, a vegetable dish. Pear endive or arugula salad.

After dinner drinks should include more Champagne or sparkling wine.

Way over the top. Too much in one sitting.

Minted peas sound awful.

I think minted peas sound good.

Fresh peas should stand on their own sweet merits. Fuck mint.

I got gout reading your menu. Lighten it up. Love the Beef Burgundy. The roasted chestnuts is a memorable holiday touch. Maybe you could reconsider the tart and add arugula salad with nothing but lemon and olive oil.

I'm doing the usual prime rib, undecided on sides right now. Potatoes, of course, I just haven't decided how to serve them.

What do you think of a lemon meringue pie to close?

Although the squash chiffon is so amazingly light in texture...

Also, this meal will probably be six hours in length from course to course. Everyone is staying over.

Good idea about keeping the champagne open.

Not sure I need a vegetable dish if I'm serving peas? Maybe crudities with the cocktail course?

Lemon meringue pie sounds lovely.

Yes, do keep the Champagne flowing.

Peas ... Yeah, they're technically a vegetable, but it's a pretty starchy / carbohydrate-y vegetable. In the big picture, it's just all so much heaviness.

Maybe a salad with some orange supremes. Oranges are somehow Christmas-y.

Peas are a starchy vegetable and this is a very carb heavy meal already. I would ditch the peas and do a green salad and/or wilted spinach.

To me, lemon meringue pie is a very summery dessert so unless you are in the southern hemisphere would seem odd.

Needs more Christmas cod and Christmas prunes.

Maybe a cranberry trifle OP.

R12, I like that idea....maybe clementines served after dinner?

R13, I was thinking of the matching of peas served over beef burgundy in the classic open dish style. Not sure spinach would work. Perhaps a light salad served as an opener?

I agree that to me lemon meringue is a summer dessert...although I personally would love it any time. The squash chiffon is feather-light in texture (a friend's recipe - I hated squash pie until I tried it).

R1 Jabba the Hutt!!!!

You're alive!!!

Orange meringue pie.

On Christmas Eve we're having Fettuccini Alfredo and Shrimp Scampi. A nice salad of mixed greens sliced Anjou pears, walnuts, feta crumbles, and sliced red beets. sauteed green beans and garlic smashed potatoes. We'll have cheese cake with fresh strawberries or Chocolate bundt cake with chocolate ganache. Obviously there'll be cookies and ice cream and eggnog. A Sauvignon Blanc with dinner. and the usual cocktails, sparkling wine, etc.

Christmas day we have a pork roast with dressing, homemade applesauce, roasted rosemary potatoes, (both white and sweet ) and seared collard greens. Cherry pie and apple pie and cookies with coffee tea, and eggnog .

OP- It's not 1962 anymore.

R20, I live in the Hudson River Valley.

It is always 1962.

And you have always been the caretaker.

I should know.

I've always been here.

R19 that sounds so rich and heavy. Why not serve the shrimp on plain fettuccine with the garlicky scampi sauce? And mashed potatoes with pasta? And potentially cheese cake after that? My gallbladder hurts just imagining all that.

My family seems to be the last American family that cooks a turkey for Christmas. Perhaps it's our French background because the French have turkey for lots of their holiday feasts.

Yeah, that dinner at R19 sounds super heavy. Fettuccine Alfredo sounds good, but with shrimp scampi (more butter), it just sounds like too much. And then mashed potatoes? Plus feta cheese and cheesecake.

What is "pate"?

r25 acting so obscure.

[quote]Not sure I need a vegetable dish if I'm serving peas?

Peas are a legume. You need some kind of green vegetable.

R25, wet cat food.

We're having old-world Christmas Lasagna. The way Jesus intended.

(It's really just lasagna with a Christmas descriptor thrown in to appear season-appropriate.)

I’m also making lasagna r29 for Christmas Eve. Will have leftovers Christmas night if I get hungry after spending the day with my family. I’m going on vacation on the 26th so don’t want to leave a lot of food behind. I can freeze whatever is left of the lasagna.

Actually it sounds good. But I would never ever go to that much trouble.

I'm an outlier in that I don't care for lasagna. I've preferred the Italian dishes that are lighter with a lemon-wine based sauce.

R32, you are dead to me.

Jeezus Fucking Keriiiist, it's CHRISTMAS! Some of you need to get over your diet obsessions!

Hungry Man by Swanson

Beef burgundy pie doesn't sound "nice enough" for Christmas dinner. And won't you need to make two of them to serve eight?

Standing prime rib or a fresh ham or another kind of joint would be more appropriate, IMO. Beef bourguignon would be ok, too. It's the pie concept that makes it ordinary or downscale.

[quote] Beef burgundy pie doesn't sound "nice enough" for Christmas dinner.

I think it does sound nice enough. However, if OP is thinking about making pie for dessert, it's repetitive.

Also, if you skip the pie part and just make beef burgundy, you can just put the peas in there, whole. You can just put the peas in, whole, even if you make a pie.

R37, I find that peas tend to dominate if you cook with them. I've always had them as a side or scattered while plating.

R38, peas have such a mild flavor, I don't see how they would dominate unless you use an excessive amount. They also add color to brown foods like stews (beef burgundy).