Hello and Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you guys had a wonderful holiday filled with lots of time spent with family and friends. We really did this year!
So to celebrate this year, we had family over for Christmas dinner at our house on Christmas Eve. We usually go out for a nice dinner on Christmas Eve, then do Christmas dinner mid-day on Christmas day. This year, I really liked the new tradition. To me, Christmas Eve is so special and having a late night dinner followed by lots of time together, presents, and sweets made for a pretty perfect night.
So I didn't get a ton of photos around the actual house since I already shared all of our Christmas decor in my recent Christmas decor video and blog (you can check that out
here if you missed it), so I focused mainly on the food.
SO much yumminess! We spread all the food out on the island in the kitchen, which was really easy so that everyone could grab exactly what they wanted.
Before dinner, as everyone was arriving, we had a few snacks out. This is my FAVORITE dip/spread ever. Everyone likes it and it's super tasty.
It's called "Pinecone Dip". I first had it at my bridal luncheon given to me by my mother in law. So this recipe is all thanks to her.
Pinecone Dip
1 1/4 cup sliced, roasted almonds
1 (8oz.) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
5 slices crispy bacon
1 T chopped green onions (I always add just a bit more)
1/2 t dill weed
1/8 t pepper
Combined softened cream cheese & mayo. Add bacon, onion, dill, & pepper. Mix well. Chill overnight. Form into a "cone" shape and cover with almonds.
*You can also roast whole almonds yourself, or use whole, roasted almonds (store bought). Then, when you add them, you overlap them around the dip which is where the "pinecone" name comes from. I don't like chewing into whole almonds, so I used sliced, but you can use whatever you want.
On the other side of the kitchen, I set up sort of a drink area and a little dessert area.
My mom put together this really easy and yummy punch she's been making since I was little. It's so simple. Just lime sherbet and ginger ale. Delish spiked too. ;)
I also put out some Chex to snack on. I didn't bake it like usual. I just grabbed a bag of spicy, and a bag of bold party mix and put it together.
Oh, and some little clementines of course.
For desserts, I set out some mint sugar cookies my mom made, some little candies, a turtle cheesecake (store bought, frozen... was pretty delish), and a chocolate Coca-Cola cake my mom made.
For dinner, we had ham and turkey, cornbread dressing, squash and broccoli casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, and sweet potato casserole. We also had cranberry sauce, but I had that on the table.
I made the sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and broccoli casserole. Here are the recipes for those if you're interested...
Broccoli Casserole
2 bags frozen broccoli florets (cooked and drained)
2 cans celery soup
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups mayo
4 eggs beaten
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup of chopped onion
Topping: Plain or seasoned bread crumbs (whatever you prefer)
small amount of butter for drizzling over the bread crumbs
Cook broccoli as directed. Mix cheese, soup, onion, eggs, mayo, s&p in a large bowl. Fold in broccoli gently. Put in buttered casserole dish. Cook at 400 for 15 minutes. Sprinkle bread crumbs over top and drizzle with a bit of melted butter. Bake another 30-40 minutes until brown.
Sweet Potato Casserole (My Grandma's recipe)
3 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (I use Bruces canned yams)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter (melted)
Combine mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, & butter. Beat with mixer until smooth. Spoon into a greased 2 quart shallow dish.
Topping: Combine 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar, 1 cup all purpose flour, 1/3 cup melted butter, 1 cup chopped pecans
Sprinkle topping over top of casserole and bake at 350 preheated oven for 30 minutes. Let cool a bit before serving.
For my mashed potatoes, I really don't go by any recipe. So here's my non-specific recipe I just pulled out of my head...
Mashed Potatoes
8 medium-sized gold potatoes (peeled and chopped into chunks)
1 1/2 stick of butter
milk
chopped garlic or garlic powder
salt and pepper
Boil potatoes for about 12-15 minutes. Drain and transfer to a big serving bowl. Add a stick of butter. Mash them with a potato masher (I don't like my potatoes super creamy, I like a smooth-slightly chunky consistency). Add more butter as needed. Add a splash of milk here and there as you mash, until you get the consistency you like. I added at least a cup. Add garlic and salt and pepper to taste. I don't add too much garlic (as I don't want these to be "garlic mashed potatoes"), I just add a small bit for taste.
As far as the actual set-up, most of the serving bowls and platters are my everyday Mikasa "Italian Countryside" dishes, Pyrex, and Corning Wear. The deviled egg dish is by Wilton and the little copper three-tiered stand that the bread is on was a great find at World Market years back.
The little wooden risers are from Pottery Barn a few years back. I found some similar options below.
My "Christmas dishes" with the pretty silver snowflakes are from Target. I got mine a few years back, but they still have the serving dishes.
I think when you have this many dishes grouped together, adding some height is important. Saves you some space, plus it just looks pretty!
We had dinner in the dining room, which looked pretty similar to the home decor tour. I just set out some red cloth placemats, a red holiday candle, and called it done. :)
I was SO surprised to receive these beautiful flowers the day before. They are from my sweet friends, Andrea and her mother, Michele. So thoughtful! They looked perfect in the kitchen. We're still enjoying them.
So that's it! I hope you all had a great holiday! I do have an upcoming "What I Got For Christmas" video in the works! It should go up Friday night, maybe Saturday. Since you guys really enjoyed last year's version, I thought I'd continue the tradition. Or should I say,
start a new tradition?
Merry Christmas, Loves! I'm so thankful for you all... For all the support and how wonderful YOU guys make the blog and my videos. This has been such a happy and wonderful place to be and thing I've been able to do the past almost 6 years. It is SO much fun to do and to be able to share my life with you guys. Seriously, thank you. :)
Love you guys.
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