by Guise

Created on: December 31, 2008   Last Updated: January 01, 2009

Planning a Christmas holiday event is overwhelmingly enchanting. The night is filled with moments to remember...the crackling fire, the fresh tree with all it's glittering ornaments, accompanied by colorfully wrapped gifts. And even though opening doors to visiting family members can be horrifying, the heart warming rendezvous completes a sought after holiday spirit. The most anticipated part of the entire night comes when it's time to eat, because for several cultures Christmas eve dinner is the most celebrated meal of the year. So, what to serve your relatives and friends may take a lot of thinking.

The Christmas eve holiday is not completely american like that of Thanksgiving, but instead must fit into different cultural celebration styles custom taylored to each family. Since sharing any meal is considered sacred, whoever is doing the cooking should know their guests appetites better than their own, so as to avoid any "unsatisfied customers". Generally speaking, if your family is not 100% percent pure in one specific ethnicity or nationality, the Christmas eve meal should be culturally diverse. A spiraled ham and mashed potatoes usually never suffice in filling hungry family members. So a good initial idea would be to serve an assortment of finger foods, egg nog, and other casual drinks, as people begin to settle into the room right before sitting at the dinner table.

Along with those holiday favorites to get the ball rolling, remember to have more than 2, 3 or even 4 side dishes; reserving spots on the table for only the best. No matter what is served for the main dish, items such as mashed potatoes, candied yams, sauteed greens, stuffing and roasted potatoes, are staples to any Christmas Eve dinner table. The experience would be incomplete without side dishes, especially the holiday favorites mentioned above.

Also, serve up some generic appetizers, easily purchased at your local grocery store. Perhaps some soup, a healthy green salad and even a quiche...all those ideas can provide for a perfect beginning to any Christmas eve dinner. Nevertheless, make sure to fit all of your guest's tastes. Be attentive to the spices used and how "hot" the food actually is, if at all. Otherwise you might find some disgusted aunts, uncles and nieces, just begging to leave early. The number one "do not" for Christmas eve dinner, is serving extremely spicy food because not everyone can take it.

The star of this fanciful evening is the main course! Last but certainly not least, the final dish (not including dessert), should leave a lasting impression with your guests. Especially if you serve up some favorites like: honeyed ham, prime rib, roasted chicken and even quail. Who knows...a combination of these foods might be necessary for a successful Christmas Eve dinner; but at least no one will go hungry. Serving some marinated rack of lamb, along with a ten pound stuffed turkey, will get you a gold medal in "Holiday Cookery" for the year. But I only suggest dishes like that when there are a lot of mouths to feed.

Choose wisely though, because you must leave room dessert. Finish the whole Christmas eve dinner with a healthy serving of Italian pastries, Ice cream, or even some simple fruit. Or if you want to take a route that's easier on the stomach, serve up some roasted chestnuts and other types of nuts with coffee and tea. Versatility is important when planning a meal like this, because you can obviously get carried away. Yet always remember what the number one dish to serve for Christmas Eve dinner is: Love.

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