Christmas Dinner...do you do casual or sit down dinner?

[NYCgrrl]

We seem to mix it up every year. If it is just dh and our own kids (all adults now but still single), we like to order Chinese Food or just make a bunch of favorite appetizers to munch on.

This year, however, we are hosting about 20 family members and will be making a Prime Rib dinner with tons of fixings.

Do you have a Christmas meal tradition?

Our traditions for C-Day dinner are a sit down meal with all dressed for the occasion; suits and ties not needed just try to remember what the day is about and put some effort into your appearance. One year my oldest son rolled out of bed, and ran into the d/r like the house was a fire, in gym shorts and bed hair. Before I could pick my jaw up from the floor to ask if he really was raised by wild ravening wolves, my mother ordered him back into the bedroom to make himself presentable. Incident now duly entered in the family annals, LOL.

Guests begin arriving around 2:00PM and generally the last ones leave @ 11:00 PM. Lots of appetizer platters and hot cider for grazing until 4:00 PM when it's time to sit at the dining room table. A solid 2 hours of eating and talk followed by a singsong of holiday songs accompanied by older sister's flute (keeps her from singing off key), a nephew's electric piano keyboard, and sometimes our Bermudian cousin's acoustic guitar. No TV on until after 8:00 PM and if you want to watch sports, watch it in a bedroom. Many of us live in different parts of the world and only get together for holidays, weddings, and funerals, so there is a lot of family gossip going on after dinner. First one who decides it's dessert time is the runner for the oldster's sweet desires which can be eaten where ever you want.

There are no food traditions beyond accommodating the pescatarians; easy enough to put more than one meat on the table.
Oh and the sit down meal has to have 2-3 courses: soup, main dish and sides, salad. When it's mostly the North Americans, I serve salad first; otherwise I put it out after the meat. Also must serve a bowl of fruit and unshelled nuts which can be placed on the d/r table or on the dessert buffet. Somehow this is a tradition with the Bajan part of the family; don't know the story behind it but it's comforting nevertheless.


Christmas Eve however does have meal traditions: must be gifts from the sea. Picked that up from the ex who came from a country where CEve was the big day as opposed to CD. Go to church in the evening, eat, open presents. To give equal time to all, presents were opened on the Eve and Day when my kids were small.

 

[sharona]

We go to my Aunt's house for Christmas dinner and it's fancy sit down. She gets out the china, crystal, silver flatware, etc. I wish it wasn't so fancy because then after dinner we spent twice as long as we did eating carefully hand washing all this fancy stuff. I'd rather just eat off everyday plates that could go in the dishwasher and spend the time after dinner visiting.

I totally get that. We switched to the plastic plates for anything more than 10 people a few years ago. The white ones with the silver trim look really nice.

My nice Christmas set is dishwasher safe! We use it Christmas Eve and for New Years Day dinner.

 

[Twinkling]

Both? We go with a traditional meal-turkey, mashed potatoes, casserole, etc. but it's eaten in a more casual manner. We don't get super dressed up or all sit at the same table because frankly there's not enough space!

 

[design_mom]

Christmas is a casual meal around here.

We do Christmas Eve with my parents and that's all of our favorite appetizer foods. (That has been our tradition ever since I was little.)

Growing up, for Christmas dinner, we had steak grilled outside no matter what the weather was like. I think it was part of my mom's gift to my dad -- his favorite meal. I remember grilling in a snowstorm a couple of times.

Now we do Christmas day with my in-laws and it's usually a casual meal -- often it's barbecued beef sandwiches, mostaccoili, veggie tray, chips, etc. I like it. I am not a big fan of Thanksgiving dinner, so I'm glad we don't do it twice.

When I was younger and my extended family used to get together for a holiday celebration (not on Christmas Eve or Christmas day), we did the sit-down dinner... but I think the meat was usually ham for Christmas.

 

[mrodgers]

Both here too. Didn't have a dining room at the house when I was married, but we occasionally put up a table in the living room. There wasn't even much room in the LR for a table.

Now, I have a dining area, just not a table. It's on the list, just low in priority of other stuff I have to spend money on. I did miss one at the Thrift Shop when I first bought this place. Kicking myself for that, but at the time, $30 was a lot more money with just finishing the Lawyer fees than even $1000 is now.

Now it's just me and my 2 kids, I lost all of my extended family in divorce. They eat on the couch and I eat on the floor. I need a table more for playing cards and games than I do for eating. My girls love playing Texas Hold 'em with chips.

 

[leebee]

We have no family nearby, so for Christmas it's always been DH, DD, and me. Now DD is married and lives 6 hours drive away, so it's just DH and me. Our family tradition for Christmas Eve has always been some form of seafood, and my homemade macaroni and cheese- DD isn't a fish eater- but now that it's just the two of us, I'll make baked stuffed shrimp or seafood chowder or shrimp scampi or something like that.

On Christmas Day, we do snacky things. Breakfast is usually bagels and cream cheese from a local bagel shop, eaten as we open presents. As far as the rest of the day goes, it's pretty much apps and snacks. We'll have chips with onion dip and clam dip, nachos, chicken wings, buffalo chicken dunk (although we often cook some noodles and put the chicken dunk on that), soup, bread, cheeses (yum- baked brie!). I do most of the prep work on Christmas Eve day. Years ago, I decided I wanted to spend Christmas reading my new books, doing a new puzzle, hanging with my family, not cooking and cleaning. That's when we swapped to having "easy" stuff for Christmas Day foods. For dessert, we might make ice cream sundaes, or I'll make a trifle or cheesecake or red velvet cake- none of which is straightforward, but made ahead so that I don't have to deal with cooking and cleaning on Christmas.

 

[lilmc]

We stay in jammies all day long, if possible. Put some spice tea on the stove and drink that all day. We snack on Christmas cookies and spinach dip all day. Random, but pure bliss

 

[AuntieMe3]

Christmas eve is a casual sitdown dinner with my very large extended family. It's sort of like a potluck, almost everyone is responsible for something, if you don't cook, you clean.

Christmas day is super casual with just our little family and my immediate family. We have tamales and eggs for breakfast, and the rest of the day is spent relaxing in our pjs, snacking on snack foods, usually having sandwiches for dinner.

 

[sk!mom]

We used to have long standing traditions but with kids growing up and marrying plans are changing and flexible.
Christmas Eve may just be DH, I, and our adult son. DD recently married and her new DH’s family has their big gathering on Christmas Eve. We do snack, app type things. Sometimes see a movie or play a game.

Christmas Day will be 10 this year so we will sit down. More than 10 and it becomes more casual. I’m making prime rib. My mom and sister are in charge of sides and dessert.

 

[Funfire240]

We're pretty casual. This Saturday I'm hosting my family (parents, sister and family and brother and family). We're having ham and sides and dessert and will eat buffet style then open gifts between everyone. Then Christmas Eve, we attend Mass at our Church with DH's family then head to my parents for a casual buffet snack when you want with some aunts uncles and cousins (more of an open house type). Christmas Day we just stay home now and have breakfast then both of our parents come over for a sit down more formal meal - usually prime rib. My DB and his family usually come back too and pop in (usually right at dinner time lol)