Holidays are a great time to gather the family together and enjoy a delicious meal. Often, the seasoned (no pun intended) members retreat to the kitchen and prepare the meal, but some families ask members to cook their signature dishes and it becomes potluck style (I'm always down for my homemade cinnamon honey cornbread and I MUST have my cousin's macaroni and cheese and my sister's deviled eggs).
No matter how your family approaches making the holiday meals, we can't ignore the fact that it can be stressful. After all, following a month after Thanksgiving (and after JUST finishing off the last of those leftovers), now the question becomes how can we make Christmas dinner different?
The key here is to present a fresh menu ... or at least a fresher menu, even if you serve a similar menu to Thanksgiving. Here are some suggestions on how to refresh your next holiday menu:
Serve a couple of light appetizers if you didn't have any for Thanksgiving.
Switch your protein choices; if you had turkey, try ham or chicken instead.
Use seasonal ingredients to create something fresh.
Keep it simple; Christmas isn't as heavy a food holiday as Thanksgiving.
Do not try any crazy recipes that require skills you've never tried before.
Make sure you have plenty of desserts; Christmas tends to focus more on sweets.
I hope these tips and tools help you as you prepare for the holidays.
We about the love of Christmas and holiday menus, including the cookies and milk you left for Santa!
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