ON THE MENU CHRISTMAS WEEK

Need ideas for dinner for Christmas week? Here are 7 dinner menu plans and 38 scrumptious recipes waiting for YOU.

It’s CHRISTMAS WEEK, people!!!!! I adore this week! And we are eating lots of great, crowd-pleasing meals! Instead of being harried and hurried and stressed and worried I come to a full stop! What is not done won’t get done and the busyness of Christmas does not find a home here! So let’s pour a glass of wine or coffee or hot chocolate, take a deep breath and enjoy Christmas! Oh, and great food too!

This week I’ll be making gingerbread houses and cookies with my grandchildren! Here is a very old but really delicious gingerbread cookie recipe. Honestly, you will love these cookies with bold flavor and a big snap!

I’m very chatty today, so I have a cute story about Christmas cookies. Years and years ago all of our family would come to StoneGable at Christmas. My sister Lisa and her family and dog Max stayed with us as they lived a few hours away. It was wonderful to have our home filled to the brim with family and dogs!

In those days, way before blogging, we had three trees. One was the family tree that we decorated together with lots of family ornaments. One tree was my tree I decorated however I wanted every year and one tree was the kitchen tree.

For years I made gingerbread men using the recipe above and decorated them with white puffy paint. The gingerbread men hung all over the kitchen tree. The tree smelled like Christmas!

One year I noticed that one of the gingerbread men’s leg fell off.

Over a few days, I noticed that an arm was missing from another of my “men” and a few of them lost the whole bottom half of their bodies! What was going on?

A big clue to this Christmas mystery was only the men on the lower branches seemed to suffer dismemberment!

Later, I watched Max, Lisa’s dog, walk by the tree and help himself to a little snack!

We laughed so hard!

Thank goodness puffy paint is non-toxic and apparently delicious!

I’m sure you have funny Christmas stories too! We should always retell them so we can remember these precious times and our grandchildren will have a history that goes further back than themselves!

Here’s what’s on the menu Christmas week…

MONDAY

We have a full Christmas house! My children, in-law children, and grandbabies are all here!

Bobby said to me, “I know how your heart is full when your chicks are in your nest”. And he is so right. It’s loud and messy and tiring but more wonderful and loving and soul-healing! Yes, my heart is full to overflowing!

Dinner tonight is a family favorite!

Grandma LoBianco’s famous meatballs will feed a crowd and are a make-ahead, easy dinner. This is our grandson Anderson’s favorite dinner! I’ve watched him put an entire meatball in his mouth and eat it!

The meatballs are in the freezer and all I do is thaw them and put them in sauce and put them in the frig. The next day I put them in the slow cooker for a couple hours. So easy!

If you have never tried these scrumptious meatballs, you should. They are the best I’ve ever eaten. Really!

• GRANDMA LO BIANCO’S FAMOUS MEATBALLS IN SAUCE
• SPAGHETTI
• CAESAR SALAD

TUESDAY

I love the Italian tradition of the Seven Fishes Christmas Eve Dinner.

It’s not Christmas Eve but it is close! And I’m not serving seven fishes either but we are having this gorgeous Cod fillet that will feed a crowd!

THANK YOU, Tania, from Cooktoria for this gorgeous cod main dish!

I’m so excited to make the gingerbread cake on the menu today! Bobby LOVES gingerbread with hard sauce.

• BAKED COD WITH ROASTED RED PEPPER SAUCE
• NANI SAUTEED RICE
• PERFECTLY ROASTED ASPARAGUS
• GINGERBREAD CAKE with HARD SAUCE

WEDNESDAY

It would not be Christmas without having beautiful Holiday Brisket! Since I am going to make Prime Rib for Christmas dinner I’m serving this a little early!

I’ll put the beef in the slow cooker on Monday and stick everything in the frig until dinner on Wednesday. The direction in the recipe is so easy to follow.

If you have not tried this make-ahead wonderful main dish, you should. Just 3 ingredients and WOW it packs a punch of beefy flavor!

This is a special meal tonight for all my family as we celebrate my amazing son-in-law Jonathan’s birthday! Happy Birthday sweet man!

• HOLIDAY BRISKET
• CREAMY CHEESY POLENTA
• ROASTED GREEN BEANS WITH BACON

THURSDAY

My little grandson Alexander (age 3) is a big fan of Parmesan Cheese! So I think he will love tonight’s main course.

Although I am making this main dish for family, it is really company-worthy! Isn’t it beautiful? What a good lesson on styling food. Remember, we eat with our eyes.

Thank you Olga from What’s In The Pan!

• CREAMY SPINACH AND MUSHROOM CHICKEN WITH PARMESAN SAUCE
• LEFTOVER NANI’S SAUTEED RICE
• BIG SALAD OF LEFTOVER GREENS ETC

FRIDAY- CHRISTMAS EVE

Merry Christmas Eve! Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the entire year. It just feels so special and holy to me! So I try not to get sucked into all the “things left to do” for Christmas morning. And usually, the things left to do (other than cooking) are not worth bothering about.

We go to church as a family on Christmas Eve. And since we have small grandchildren we go to an early service at our church, usually at the dinner hour.

So dinner is more of a late lunch! And this year it will be a very easy affair. Friday is pizza night with our grandchildren. They will love these adorable mini pizzas!

• CHRISTMAS TREE MINI PIZZAS
• ARUGULA SALAD WITH SHAVED PARMESAN AND PINENUTS IN A LEMON VINAIGRETTE

SATURDAY- MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This year I am making something I’ve always dreamed of making for Christmas! An aged, bone-in Prime Rib. Nothing like making a new recipe for Christmas dinner! LOL! Wish me luck or I should say God’s blessing!

I’ve been researching and perusing so many sites and YouTube videos about making Prime Rib and what I’ve found out is Prime Rib seems pretty easy and straightforward to make!

If you are getting a Prime Rib ask for the FIRST CUT. It is the best part of the ribs.

I’ll have my butcher cut the bones off the roast and then tie them back on again. The bones have so much flavor so I want them on the roast. But because they are cut off the roast and tied back on I don’t have the messy work of cutting them off after the roast is cooked.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Here are some of the videos I’ve been watching: here, here, here, and here.

I’m also making potato stuffing and serving it with the beautiful roast.

Mashed Potato Stuffing is very Lancaster County and very Amish and it will go perfectly with the beef! The recipe above is pretty close to the one I make. I’ve actually never written my recipe down. I use a lot more bread in my recipe. But you might like to try this yummy comfort food!

Here’s what else we will be having…

• ORGANIC CARROTS WITH THYME
• PEAR POMEGRANATE SALAD
• BARCARDI RUM CAKE

SUNDAY

This fall Bobby got a buck and a doe during deer season. So our refrigerator is full of lots of beef and venison mixed hamburger. Our son loves Shepherd’s Pie so I’m making a big family-style pan of it.

Did you know I hate (and I mean hate) peas? Growing up I spent a little time at an all-girls Scottish boarding school and they served a lot of peas. Mushy old peas… and mutton.

And to this day no pea or lamb will ever cross my lips! But for my son Christopher making a dish with peas in it is a labor of love!

• SHEPHERD’S PIE
• CARMALIZED BRUSSEL SPROUTS WITH HONEY AND MUSTARD
  

SWEET TREAT OF THE WEEK

Don’t you love things you make only at Christmas time? They are extra special!

That’s why I love these beautiful cookies from my dear friend Ann On Sutton Place.

• CHRISTMAS PECAN TASSIES

YUMMY RECIPES TO MAKE…

You might like to see my 8 FAVORITE CHRISTMAS RECIPES all in one place.

The flavors in CHICKEN BACON RANCH CASSEROLE sound delicious!

CRANBERRY ORANGE BUNDT CAKE is the most beautiful Christmas dessert!

I just may have to make this beautiful BLEU CHEESE, WALNUT AND THYME PULL APART PUFF PASTRY TWIRL for an appetizer on Christmas Day.

I’ve been looking for a scrumptious SAUSAGE TORTELLINI SOUP recipe!

These CRANBERRY PECAN GOAT CHEESE TRUFFLES look like little jewels!

I make CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST CASSEROLE every Christmas morning!

WISHING YOU LOVE AND JOY THIS CHRISTMAS. And lots of great food too!

I was looking for a great breakfast recipe and found HASH BROWN CRUST BACON AND CHEDDAR QUICHE.

Seriously beautiful ROSEMARY AND SEA SALT RUSTIC BREAD LOAF.

I must make ITALIAN RAVIOLI WITH SPINACH, ARTICHOKES, CAPERS, AND SUN DRIED TOMATOES.

I’ll make these BAKED OATMEAL BREAKFAST CUPS with my grandsons this week.

Another gorgeous ROSEMARY BREAD!

I LOVE DUTCH BABIES! These are made in muffin tins! Ingenious!

SAVORY HERB SHORTBREADS are something I’ve always wanted to make.

I hope you will make some of these tried and true, delicious recipes on the menu Christmas week!