Traditional Christmas Dinner

It's the most wonderful time of the year and you are preparing the meal.  You have decided to be traditional and serve up a classic Christmas dinner,  but with so many options it's tough to begin planning.  Allow us to help you. 

Preparation and Planning

Being organised is key!  Plan up to two weeks ahead for your Christmas dinner party.

Two Weeks Ahead: 

• Plan on each guest to eat about a pound or two of food.  Knowing this helps when planning out how many dishes you will serve.  
• Get out a note pad  and organise the menu into to-do lists.  This will ease the process of food preparation for you. 

One Week Ahead:

• Clean out your refrigerator!   You will need to free up a lot of space for the Christmas meal, so be ruthless in your decisions on what to toss.
• Head to the grocery store.  Most of the items (except for maybe the fresh produce) will keep for the week.
• If you are baking  cookies, make the dough and stick it in the freezer.   You can also bake a cake a week in advance and freeze that; a frozen cake is much easier to decorate anyway.  

A Day or Two Before:

• Clean  up your home and set the table  in advance.  This will give you time to find that missing wine glass  and to see the spacing of any holiday arrangements  that you will have on the table.  
• If you are serving more guests than your table  will sit, consider serving the meal as a buffet.  You can push the table up against the wall and use this as the serving area, or invest in a buffet table.   
• Peel  and cut  all vegetables two days before the party.  Carrots and potatoes can be stored in ice water and onions, celery, etc. must be wrapped well and kept dry.
• Make as many dishes as you can!  The day before should be for food preparation.  This is the time to make seasoning mixes,  sauces,  and desserts. 
• Trim and ready your meat for the oven,  however, don't season it ahead of time.  Place it in the roasting pan  and chill it until needed. 

Holiday Drinks

Decide if your party will be accompanied by alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages.  Then start to spread some holiday cheer with these recommended drinks! 

Champagne  Celebrate in style with some bubbly. If you're on a budget, how about sparkling wine?	Christmas Beers  Plenty of beer companies feature a winter ale or a holiday flavour this time of year.	Eggnog  Eggnog is truly a Christmas classic. Buy some or make your own at home.	Mulling Spices  These can be used for jazzing up apple cider, but also for making mulled wine.	Spiced Rum  This cinnamony spirit can be added to cocktails to impart a festive taste.

Main Meats

A traditional Christmas dinner has the meat as the main course and primary focus of the meal.  Choose a loin that you and your guests can all enjoy.

Goose  Goose is a Christmas classic, but is not as common these days, so you might have to search a bit to find one.	Ham  A cured  or glazed ham  is not as typical as fowl, but it is a delicious alternative.  It can be prepared in a number of ways.	Roast Beef  Again, this is not such a popular choice, but remember, where there's roast beef, there's Yorkshire pudding.  Yum!	Turkey  Turkey is arguably the best-loved focal point of Christmas dinner.  Serve with a savoury stuffing  and be sure to enjoy!	Other Meats  Looking for something different?  Consider duck,  pheasant,  quail,  or you might even think about going meatless.

Side Dishes

Once you have chosen your meat, plan to accompany it with various vegetables and carbs.  Keep in mind the amount of time that you will have to prepare the side dishes.  

Brussels Sprouts	Rolls	Cranberry Sauce	Creamed Spinach	Corn

Foie Gras	Glazed Carrots	Honeyed Sweet Potatoes	Mashed Potatoes	Mushrooms

Roasted Asparagus	Roasted Chestnuts	Roasted Parsnips	Steamed Cabbage

Desserts

Everyone loves some kind of dessert, so be sure to end your meal with something sweet.  If you are feeling really ambitious, serve a few different kinds of sweet treats to please all palates. 

Bread Pudding  This is especially great to make if you overestimated on bread for the stuffing.  Make use of it for dessert!	Fruitcake  A good fruitcake should be deeply spiced, delicately fruity, and perfect for serving with a cup of tea or coffee.	Gingerbread Cookies  These are fun for the whole family to make!  Kids and adults alike will love moulding and decorating these guys.	Christmas Pudding  You might already have your own recipe for this dessert, but if you're in a pinch, you can find a great one to buy.	Yule Log  If you're addicted to chocolate, you might want to forgo the puddings and make a delectable chocolate log cake.

Related Guides

Check out these guides to help you complete your menu planning and home décor for the holidays. 

Hosting a Christmas Party	Indoor Christmas Decorations	Christmas Etiquette	Vegetarian Christmas	Kitchen and Dining

 

External Links

• CooksRecipes.com: Christmas dessert recipes for every level of baking skill. 
• EZineArticles.com: An informative article on the planning that goes into a Christmas party. 
• GoUK.About.com: What Brits will eat for Christmas. 
• Gourmet-Food-Revolution.com: A traditional Christmas menu, with a twist.  
• iVillage.co.uk: A vegetarian Christmas menu. 
• WhatToDrink.com: Making holiday drinks was never so easy.