I would keep it simple. A big pan of lasagna, veggie laden green salad and cheese garlic bread. You can really keep it simple and serve Stouffers lasagna ( very good!!!) and make your garlic bread ahead of time, ready to bake. ( Or buy the frozen slices). Have everyone bring desserts. Why spend the whole day in the kitchen....enjoy the day visiting and not cooking all day. It is your holiday too.

Sandy

we love standing rib roast (prime rib) . several years the kids have said, 'let's do easy' and we had finger foods. --ham, meat balls, shrimp, veg's and dip, fruit plates, plus whatever anyone else felt like.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I do Brunch on Christmas.

I forgot to say that Christmas Eve we have fondue. Cheese with bread, then a beef broth with tenderloin and blanched vegies, follow up with Chocolate fondue with berries, fruits and Gf banana bread.

We always have a huge, traditional Thanksgiving meal with all the family that can come. SO, for Christmas, I usually downscale for our immediate family. Usually something like roasted chicken, baked potatoes, broccoli/rice/cheese casserole, salad of some sort, green beans, rolls, and a couple of dessert choices (whatever my DS or DIL wants). My DILs family usually has enchiladas or lasagna.

Several years ago I started making lasagna for Christmas dinner, but made it very special, - seafood lasagna, with shrimp, crab, and scallops instead of meat. It was such a hit that it became our family tradition. All the seafood is a bit expensive, but it is for Christmas! The best part is - I can make it a day or two ahead of time and just put it in the oven on Christmas Day. Add a salad and a dessert and dinner is done! Easy and delicious!

That's what I have for Christmas dinner too. I only use imitation crabmeat tho....and no one can tell the difference. (I pull it) Pioneer Woman has a recipe for "The Bread" on her website....hmmm, let me see if I can find it....
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/?s=The+Bread&submit=
This is wonderful with the Seafood Lasagna. She also has bread that has butter, cream cheese, green olives and ripe olives on it. It's really good with regular lasagna. Oh man, I'm getting hungry.

A huge thank you to all!! There are really some great ideas here that I will take advantage of.

Homeade mushroom soup, beef tenderloin, new potatoes brushed with olive oil, and roasted with fresh rosemary, fresh green beans, caesar salad and dinner rolls, plus trifle for dessert!

Can I have your old recipes. They will be new to us. We are burned out on the turkey Thanksgiving repeat with Christmas. We normally have just under 20 people.

Thanks! I send an email out to my adult kids suggesting Italian as the theme this year. My 8 kids still at the home are all for it so I am going full steam ahead. We did the tamale and black bean thing in the past as 4 of my children are from central America but that was a lot of work for me.