For the last few years, we’ve hosted Christmas at our house. I love it! Chicago is central enough to make it an easy destination. We have enough bedrooms for everyone and, honestly, I love it (it bears repeating ;-). Over the years, I’ve figured out that I love it even more when I’m organized and can be fully present. So, after years of honing my Christmas Day plan, I’m going to share it with you. Here’s an elegant, stress-free holiday menu. And, here’s hoping you too can have a stress-free holiday — at least in the meal planning and cooking department.
Philosophy: Control Only What You Can Control.
As the holidays approach, there is so much that is out of our control – from the unexpected to family dynamics. I decided long ago that the one thing I could control is the Christmas day menu – and I wanted to make it one that I was not in the kitchen the whole day.
This does require you to do a lot of prep ahead of the big day. You just have to plan ahead and manage your time. This year, I had extra practice in “controlling only what I can control” when my back went OUT two weeks before Christmas. I lost a whole week of prep time and had to really pace myself to not re-injure my back. I was not successful — by Christmas day I was orchestrating from a heating pad on the floor of the family room.
Plan Around Your Family’s Traditions
Christmas eve is generally spent at my in-law’s and it’s a casual affair. On my side, Christmas Day was a full-day celebration. The day starts with Santa and gift opening, followed by brunch, then cocktail hour of shrimp & champagne, followed by dinner. When my Grandmother was alive we would dress for dinner. Now it is festive, but decidedly more casual.
Here’s Your Stress-Free Holiday Menu
Rise and Open Gifts
I generally have a counter filled with fruit, a basket filled with bagels, english muffins and other quick items that people can pop in the toaster and have with their coffee. I’ll make one thing fresh (um, frozen) — this year it was mini croissants served with maple butter, both courtesy of Trader Joe’s .
Brunch
I will have made ahead an egg dish and a french-toast-type casserole. These will take aboout 45 minutes — while it cooks I’ll make some bacon and veggie sausages (Morningstar).
I’ve made this French Toast Casserole from the blogger Love and Lemons, for a few years. You can’t mess it up–this year I used brioche bread and had run out of vanilla extract making the ice cream, so just doubled-down on the cinnamon.
Here is the link to Rebekah’s Keto Egg Casserole. We, of course, made it anti-keto by adding some of the Brioche bread used for the french toast and mushrooms. This recipe is a great foundation for whatever you want to create.
Traditional Shrimp Cocktail and Champagne
This is as easy as it comes — I purchased peeled and deveined shrimp from Costco (you want to get the larger shrimp, which means there will be fewer in the bag). And some cocktail sauce, my favorite is Bookbinders. We have a few vegetarians in the family, so I will also do a cheese board so everyone can enjoy. For beverages, I will also have a number of different sparkling options for the kids and non-drinkers.
Dinner
Before the cocktail hour I put everything in one oven (no wall of ovens over here!). It all cooks at 375 degrees, but you will need to check the tenderloin frequently to make sure it doesn’t overcook. Here is the dinner menu:
Beef Tenderloin
I buy my beef tenderloin at Costco — the meat is great and it’s less pricey than other places. You do need to open it up, pat dry and season with salt a few days before –then put it back in the fridge to dry out. This will help it form a good crust when cooking. I used this garlic-rosemary recipe and prepared the rub on Christmas Eve, then let it sit in the fridge overnight. Make sure you let the roast come to room temperature before putting it in the oven. It came out great and I served it with horseradish sauce.
Roasted Red Potatoes
I love a baked potato, and find that the smaller red potatos are more elegant, mild and taste great (and, of course, butter, salt and pepper help). I wash and dry them and poke a few holes to let the steam vent. Then I put them in a bowl and toss with olive oil and kosher salt. When everything goes in the oven, place the potato’s directly on the rack. This will help them cook evenly and develop a bit of a crust all around.
Something Green
Tradition in my family is “Spinach Souffle” — which is literally boxes of Stouffer’s Spinich Souffle thawed and then transfered to a casserole dish for baking. Before serving, I saute sliced mushrooms and just before being fully cooked stir in a bit of cooking sherry or white wine. Let that cook down and then sprinkle in a tiny bit of flour to thicken the liquid. I serve the mushrooms on the side because not everyone loves them.
My other favorite option for a green side is these french green beans (the thinner ones generally called Haricots Vert) with ginger and garlic. I always do this at Thanksgiving, but it’s great any time!
A Note about managing the Oven: I have one oven with three racks. Initially I put the potatos on the top rack, tenderloin in the middle and the spinach soufle on the bottom. As things get finished I moved the soufle up — it’s a bit tempermental and will cook the longest.
Dessert
The week before Christmas I make peppermint ice cream in my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. I will make a couple batches — one plain peppermint and one with peppermint Oreo’s. The freezer bowl must be frozen for 24 hours — I only have one freezer bowl, so this dictates that I can only make one batch at a time. Trust me, if it’s not fully frozen you will waste a batch. This is truly delicious and worth the time.
I should add this ice cream maker to My Favorite Things list. Although I only use it a few times a year, it is one of my favorite things!
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Stress-Free Holiday Menu, but Not Low-Effort
Okay, the stress-free part comes in with all the planning and having elements of the menu prepared well ahead of time. I really do WETSU the entire process — from grocery shopping to making the dishes. And when it comes together on Christmas day, that’s part of the joy for me.
In previous years, I would rely on my memory — and photos from year’s past to recreate the plan. This year, I got smart and made a folder in Notes with the entire menu, links to recipe’s, etc. So hopefully next year will be even more stress-free.
WETSU! WETSU!
XO JT
