Hellobee Boards

I am thinking of doing a ham. I like the Smithfield style ones that Costco has.

Then with that, biscuits, mustard cream sauce, carrot soufflé and a green salad.

For dessert, probably something with cranberry curd.

For Christmas eve my family (like 15 of us) has a very traditional eastern European meat-less meal with mushroom and bean soup, dumplings in sauerkraut, and pierogies stuffed with potato or sauerkraut. And to feed my picky brothers in law, lasagna
For Christmas day I cook for 3 so we have a roast, yorkshire puddings, glazed carrots, roasted asparagus, and either a yule log or a trifle

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: HEY! We're making the same dinner and similar salads!! I'm getting a little fancy and doing a cornbread crouton Cesar salad. Your dessert and breakfast sounds dreamy!

@bubblegum: how cool! DH is a cheese fiend. For croutons I am using Parmesan cheese crisps from the deli section. Cornbread croutons sounds scrumptious.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: So am I!! OMG cheese crisps sounds even better!!

I snagged a clearance turkey and ham after Thanksgiving and stashed them in our chest freezer. I always brine my turkeys and stuff herbed butter under the skin of the breast and it comes out perfect. I also scored mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes (like those Bob Evans tubs) on sale and froze them too, since we aren't having huge crowds for Christmas. I will just doctor up the mashed potatoes and regular potatoes with extras. However, for bigger crowds like that, I would buy the mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes that Costco has - really delicious and I used those for Thanksgiving this year.

We'll do hot rolls (my family just really likes the Bridgeford frozen yeast rolls with lots of hot melted butter on top, so that's what we'll go with), Paula Deen's broccoli casserole with added water chestnuts, and I'll make bacony french green beans unless our friend brings over green bean casserole. I'll make my own glaze for the ham and serve it with applesauce. Oh, and I make a sweet corn casserole and DH's grandmother's fresh apple salad (apples, glazed pecans, sour cream, sugar, lemon juice, chopped celery, and Cool Whip).

I have a fresh apple pie in the freezer from a local farm that we bought as part of our kids' school fundraiser, so I will bake that off for dessert. Again, for a crowd like your's, I would probably get several different pies, but purchase them. Costco pecan and pumpkin is always a favorite around here. Another favorite is to make a big trifle with storebought cake cubes soaked in some kind of flavored syrup, whipped cream, pudding, and berries. One relative makes one with boxed chocolate cake, vanilla pudding, cherry pie filling, and Cool Whip and its always destroyed at the family get-togethers.

Does your family/friends group have food preferences or any traditions? How much freezer space do you have? (lol)

For Christmas brunch we traditionally have buffet of: scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, homemade breads (cinnamon rolls, banana bread, scones), quiche.

For Christmas dinner we traditionally have beef wellington with asparagus with homemade hollandaise, but that isn’t exactly easy to do for a crowd as large as yours.

Some ideas:

A big salad of mixed baby greens with goat cheese and pecans with a champagne vinaigrette on the side

Big pan of roasted root/winter veg (beets, squash, sweet potatoes, etc.)

Couple of pans of baked ziti

Ham with some cheesy potato dishes like scalloped potatoes

Salmon with dill potatoes

Big pot of soup with good bread

Huge appetizer platter of sliced meats and cheese, pickled veggies, marinated olives, marinated mozzarella balls, some candied nuts and a couple of nice chunky jams

Pies and cakes are easy to make days in advance and SO MUCH better than any store bought so I would personally just do those in advance.

@arosebyany: pulled pork will be delicious!

We are doing a seafood dinner. Haven't decided what yet though.

We do ham, a few different veggies, mac n cheese, salad, and rolls. None of it's exciting or that good. . .

@yoursilverlining: Would you mind posting your beef wellington recipe? And the hollandaise sauce recipe? My husband wants beef wellington for Christmas dinner, so I thought I'd give it a try this year. It sounds delicious with the asparagus and hollandaise.

@littlebug: We like this Gordon Ramsey recipe from the BBC, although I just use a mix of cremini and shiitake mushrooms for the duxelle. Definitely make sure the duxelle is very finely chopped. I use my food processor for this.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2538/beef-wellington

I always use the tried and true Julia Child’s recipe and directions for Hollandaise sauce. Tip: I don’t make it in a pan directly on a burner, I either use a double boiler if you have one (I don’t) or make it in a pan over a another pan with simmering water in it. Easier for me to moderate and keep heat low and even this way.