Meal Planning for Xmas and the New Year / White Chocolate Cranberry Toffee

[a_boleyn]

I'll be cooking for one for the two upcoming holidays, and want to make a couple of special meals, but I don't want to stress out by doing a LOT of cooking ... nor do I want to end up with a TON of leftovers. So, I've come up with the two tentative menus below

Comments

[spikesgirl58]

Yum menu! When are we sitting down?

We're doing a traditional turkey, etc. I'd like to throw a surprise in there or two, but we will see. My friends are willing to eat just about anything I throw at them.

[a_boleyn]

I usually plan things for around 2pm like my mom did. :)

I have 2 turkeys (I even splurged on a Butterball) and a bone in ham in my freezer. I just didn't feel like thawing and cooking them and then dealing with the leftovers.

Christmas Eve dinner is going to involve scallops and shrimp over fettucine in an Alfredo sauce. Whether it will be spicy (Creole-style) or not is still up in the air. I was going to serve it over polenta but changed my mind.

[spikesgirl58]

We got a Butterball this year as well. It's the first time in forever. We are going to start thawing it on Wednesday... not exactly sure where yet. Our poor friends, we have totally take over their kitchen! Mike even bought a brand new stove and a freezer for our arrival. Yeah, he enjoys our cooking.

Sounds very yummy. We spent the day in the kitchen. We did cream cheese brownies, three kinds of cookies and rum balls. I am whupped and I still have dinner to go - Parmesan Chicken with a Grilled Caesar. I suspect dessert will be brownies and cookies.

[a_boleyn]

Is that early enough to start thawing it? Or are you going to do the quick thaw method where you get a giant pot large enough to hold it and fill the pot with cold water? My dad had a large white ice cream tub (the kind ice cream stores get theirs in) that he'd fill in the basement for that.

All those wonderful desserts ... I'm trying to restrain myself but I have all the ingredients for gingerbread men (the butter is softening right now) and I'm going to roll down there (I gorged on a Mexican dinner my brother dropped off for me last night), any time now, and make the dough and then throw it in the fridge.

I haven't nibbled on the toffee I made yesterday, today, and am going to resist so I'll have SOME left for Christmas. And then I'm making those mini cheesecakes. Oh gosh, I'm going to explode.

[ext_1117662]

I really like your menus for Christmas and New Year's Day. I will miss a traditional Christmas dinner. It's just too hot so we'll have cold seafood and salads.

[a_boleyn]

When you're in the southern hemisphere, a cold meal makes a lot more sense. And I always enjoy seafood but I'm having it for the day before Christmas.

[ext_877277]

Oh, I finally found the link to reply to your main post itself, haha.

Sounds like a lovely menu - especially the duck fat roasted potatoes on New Year's Day... yum!

I hope you have a very merry Christmas!

[a_boleyn]

Glad you were able to track it down. It's hard for a blogger and a LJ'er to have a easy commenting relationship so I appreciate every hard won comment that I get.

Have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.