Posted by culinarymartyr on 2004-12-28 09:48:13
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I cut way back on my cooking this year. Did the turkey for Christmas dinner with the family, but there's not much in that. I made my standard peanut butter balls (I think there'll be a riot if I ever stop) and dipped pretzels & candy canes in the leftover chocolate. I also made brown-sugar chili pecans that were a big hit. 4 cups pecans, tossed in 1/4 cup melted butter. Add 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1 heaping tablespoon of chili powder (i used ground ancho chili pepper & a pinch of salt). Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes.
Posted by jenjar985 on 2006-12-25 18:09:46
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The schedule that always worked for my family was Christmas Eve at one persons house , Christmas morning and afternoon at home with time to open presents and play with them a little bit, and then Christmas dinner at another person's house .
Posted by happydaisydoo on 2007-12-22 15:18:27
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My family is big and very into celebrations. Seriously, we'll celebrate anything. So, there is always a traditional Christmas dinner with extended family on Christmas day. In order to avoid the same foods Christmas Eve, we have what is affectionately known as "Taco Christmas." We have tacos, dips, chips, etc. and are all ready for our traditional meal the next day. Its fun.
Posted by stitchypoo on 2008-02-08 00:54:29
Post Subject: Holidays are for FUN!
My family is very weird (in a good way!) and we never have a very "traditional" anything.
We always find it is more fun not to make a "normal holiday dinner" like ham or turkey, but to make something delicious that we all enjoy and can share just so we can spend the time together.
Last Christmas dinner I made my family a huge "appetizer platter," with several kinds of chicken wings, homemade dip and chips, egg rolls, nachos, mozzarella sticks, and more! It was fun to eat as we all sat around and talked and laughed with the finger foods!
Here is one of the recipes I used that everyone really enjoyed:
Combine all spices and coat wings thoroughly. Spread chicken wings evenly on a greased cookie sheet and sprinkle with parsley. Broil wings until fully cooked, turning once. Remove wings when golden brown, serve hot with ranch dressing for dipping.
Hope everyone enjoys!
Get lots more FREE recipes on my homepage:
http://www.geocities.com/ediner1
Posted by spiderlady on 2005-12-23 12:50:21
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One Christmas my oven had problems and I could do the traditional thing, so we had fajitas for Christmas! I cooked the meat on my indoor grill. We still talk about that Christmas dinner--they were darned good fajitas!
Posted by Slinkster on 2005-12-23 09:30:13
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Maybe you can tell your son how important it is to you to spend time with them on Christmas? If the other MIL is having Christmas Dinner maybe you can host a small lunch?
I've always been used to traveling from one place to another on Christmas. Every Christmas growing up we would open our presents then go across the street to our Grandma's then drive to our other grandma's house (about 50 miles away) and spend the day there.
When we moved down south and only one set of G'parents moved as well we still drove 75 miles to get to them.
Now that I'm all grown n'stuff and have a family of my own we still juggle between families. My parents live about 25 miles away from my husbands family but we make the effort to visit both.
What I'm saying is...don't feel like you are meddling when all you are doing is inviting.
You could also just go straight to your daughter-in-law with an invitation. I know half the time my husband forgets to tell me that a holiday will be spent at his sisters instead of his mothers.
Posted by fenestrelle on 2004-11-11 20:00:42
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we are making reservations at a restaurant! given various family situations, it's just proven to be easier to do this. my mom, brother & i usually pitch in to make christmas dinner, but for thanksgiving going the out-to-eat route works best.