April 2008 Weddings
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Christmas Eve menu
So we started a tradition last year that my parents and the ILs and SIL come over to our house on Christmas Eve and we do a big dinner. Last year i made a seafood pasta which was good. This year I really have no ideas of what to make. i like to have some seafood not the whole 7 fish but some. Any ideas?
So far I have
1. a cheese fondue
2. shrimp cocktail
3. stuffed mushrooms (maybe)
Re: Christmas Eve menu
Here is the menu I put together over the weekend for Christmas Eve.
Ham
Mash potatoes/gravy
Corn Salad
Green Bean Casserole
Rolls
Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry Salad
Pies
I think that is about everything.
I'm doing:
baked ham
scalloped potatoes
stuffing
gravy
cranberry sauce
corn
another veggie dish, yet to be determined
rolls
two pies
homemade ice cream
I like your idea of seafood but I'm not good at cooking seafood. Although, paella could be good to share with a group of people.
I'm basically doing another Thanksgiving dinner. Except replacing one of the stuffing/dressings with oyster dressing.
I love Thanksgiving, so doing a dinner like it for Christmas is my Christmas present to me, lol.
If I were still in IL, my family usually does pasta with meat sauce and Italian Beef with some other side dishes. (We're not Italian)
What about a seafood lasagna? It's easy to get together ahead of time so you aren't tied to the stove. This recipe is Miss Paula Dean's. Personally I would add in some diced roasted red bell peppers and some chopped sautted spinach to add in some festive red and green :-)
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 10-inch aluminum foil pan with vegetable oil cooking spray.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the lasagna noodles until they are just done, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet and cook the onion over low heat until very soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute more. Over medium-low heat, stir in the flour with a whisk, then gradually add the half-and-half, allowing the sauce to thicken slightly before adding more. When the sauce has thickened to about the consistency of whipping cream, add the cheese and stir well. Add the salt and pepper and stir again. Add the scallops and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, then add the shrimp and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or just until the shrimp turn pink. Turn off the heat.
Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the sauce from the skillet into the prepared pan. Cover the bottom of the pan with 4 noodles, placing them side by side. Spoon 1/3 of the sauce over the noodles, distributing half of the seafood evenly. Layer 4 more noodles, 1/3 of the sauce, and remaining seafood. Cover with the last 4 noodles and the remaining sauce. (For the top layer, do not spoon any seafood on top of the noodles; just use the sauce.) Tuck in any edges of the noodles so they're all coated with sauce. Top with the Parmesan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, uncovered, until bubbly. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before slicing.
We do a traditional Cuban dinner. We roast a whole pig in a Caja china. The Lechon asado "roast pig" will be prepared by the various men of the family -they literally prep, marinate, and talk about it all day long on Christmas Eve. We serve it with white rice, black beans (made by me), Yuca with Mojo (it's a garlic-ky and lemon-y sauce that's awesome), and other side dishes.
We'll have various desserts, and this year I'll have my first go at making "Tres leche's" cake. I love Christmas Eve...it's sooooo good.
Suggestions: Prime Rib Roast, Pork tenderloin, Herb Roasted Potatoes, Roasted Butternut Squash or other Acorn Squash, Creamed Corn, Baked Ziti, Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp or Bacon-wrapped Figs, or bacon corn chowder--(notice that I love bacon), Spinach Bacon salad.
Ahh tres leches. How I love thee.