what is everyone doing for holiday meals???

[ChristyB]

looking for ideas, Christmas is almost here. Done no planning, no baking and no shopping yet. And just got a phone call that my SIL & her family are now also coming which brings my total up to 20 that I will have to house and feed.
Oh and did I mention Steve is working on Christmas day.

[Paula]

WHAT is there a holiday coming?

[Ruth Ann Landry]

Christy, I'll let you borrow my favorite phrase as of late: "Just shoot me!" LOL Wow girl, you sure have your work cut out for you the next two weeks. I think I'd do a buffet and let people either bring a favorite dish to pass (if local), or enlist some help preparing dishes for the table. You have to let them help or go bonkers and ruin your whole holiday..I'd go with a ham (even if I always do turkey) as that serves tons of people and is easy to prepare. DH and I powershopped yesterday and got it all done but one gift that I overlooked. I get a small notebook, list a name at the top of each page and gift ideas for each person plus sizes on the page. I collect all coupons and list those and how they qualify at the back of the notebook, I list all stores I will go to for the gifts. It goes quite quickly, don't go into any stores I don't need to visit...don't "shop around" since I know just what I'm looking for, and have coupons ready at checkout. Good luck girl...and may the force be with you!

[azemigh]

Today is baking day at my house. I will be making buried cherry cookies, thumbprints, maple yule logs, scandanavian almond bars and peanut butter cup cookies. These will almost all be traveling north with my son on Saturday. Hubby and I will be all by ourselves on Christmas, we're having a leg of lamb, and we'll be sharing Christmas through a video link with our family in Washington.

Have fun with your houseful!

[Ruth Ann Landry]

Another thought: make Monkey bread and breakfast casserole for the morning...it can be prepared the night before and thrown in the oven in the morning to bake while you're opening those gifts you haven't bought yet!

[Monica]

If you've got a Costco nearby, get a couple trays of their large muffins, a couple packages of quiches, and a bunch of bananas for breakfast. If your family likes pistachios, or any or type of nut, have a dish of them on the table for people to snack on. We are headed to Walla Walla for Christmas with my in-laws, and no one has started a menu yet! Lolz! I second RA's suggestion of having people bring or make foods as well. I always try to get my in-laws to plan a bit ahead, as I have a Costco in town and can easily run over to grab some food to take with me. I'd divvy up the cleaning and cooking responsibilities too.... just because they are family and visiting is no reason for you to have to do it all. Just my 2 cents' woth.....

Monica

[pamcook]

I would go for ham, too. It's kind of fool-proof.
I envy you. Christmas morning we're flying up to DS's in NY. He's an amazing cook so whatever he has will be great. I just miss doing all the holiday "mom" stuff.

[jdrhope]

I agree that the Ham sounds like it would be a great idea. A even better idea would be to preorder a cooked ham from some place like the Honey baked Ham store. You have to call a week or two ahead to order but it would be a great time saver. Great for sandwiches after the big meal also.

[djenns]

I'll probably make Waffles w/strawberries for breakfast at home. Since I'm on the Activity Team, we'll be getting the dining hall set up, cooking hams, and getting things ready for about 84 people to come and sit down for a huge dinner in the afternoon. Being in an RV resort for the Holidays is like one big happy family.

When I worked at the Hospital I worked many Holidays. Ham is the easiest thing to fix for a main entree for Christmas dinner......and ham sandwiches are always good later.

Diana

[julierealtor]

I won't be cooking at home this year...but Christy, if I were you and family wasn't able to bring dinner items.. I'd go to Costco or Sam's and pick it up all up...desserts & all. Buy 1 gift for each child (except Ryleigh) and do IOU's for items and/or special events you know they really want. AND I would hire someone to come in and clean and help you if your husband isn't able.

[pbp908]

What am I doing??? I'm praying that I can smell and taste whatever gets onto the table.

[ChristyB]

all right
ordered an 11lb Ham

nobody is local-people are coming in from SC, PA,& ME
They will all get here the 22 and leave the 28th
I believe a trip to BJ's will be made later this week.

[troublesmom]

Ham is perfect and get veggie trays, dip and maybe even a fruit tray. When I was sick a couple of years ago at Thanksgiving we actually bought dinner from WalMart and picked it up the day before. It only had to be heated up. How about a tray of Stauffer's Mac & Cheese that would go great with ham.

[jam1375]

I once ordered a Thanksgiving dinner from La Madeliene (spelling is wrong but I'm too lazy to look it up). It was amazing. I was on a pre-trial team that had a trial starting the Monday after Thanksgiving, so there was no way I was doing any cooking. This year we are visiting in-laws for Christmas, and they always go to a buffet that one of the local hotels puts on. They get a big group of family and friends together, reserve a room in the dining area and spend a couple of hours eating, relaxing, and catching up with everyone. My MIL says it's more important to her to spend time with the family than it is to spend hours preparing food.

Christy - when my brother an I were kids and we had a big gathering of family at Christmas this is what my mom would do. She would have a breakfast casserole put together on Christmas Eve, and it would bake while we opened our stockings and presents from Santa (absolutely everything under the tree got gift wrapped). Then we would have breakfast and then most of the group would go and shower, get dressed, etc. while she and my grandmother or aunt put the stuffing, pies, etc into the oven to bake while we opened gifts from friends and family. It made for a fun, non-rushed Christmas morning, and the presents seemed to last forever!

[Kellacious]

maple yule logs

Note to self: go to bed when you read the above phrase as, "male yule logs.'