What worked? What didn't?

[CreativeChristmas]

Now that Christmas has come and gone did you sit down with your notebook and jot down about what worked and what didn't with your recipes?

One thing I did was make note of which recipes were huge hits and what was a bit of a fizzle. Example, crescent wrapped hot dogs always a favorite but I sure didn't make enough of them! I had used up 2 packages of crescents and had plenty of other appetizers and several people were left hunting for them (they went so quick some just smelled and heard rummor they existed! LOL!). 2 new apps went over well and best part was they are "make ahead".

Oopsie! Start the ham earlier and make sure I set a timer for ALL items that go in the oven. Yeah, we had a minor smoke detector go off right before people showed up. :slap:

 

[MrsSoup]

Really, I made too many cookies. LOL I didn't really have anyone to give them to except for 2-3 people so now i'm stuck with all the leftovers. I didn't cook dinner or anything this year so didn't have to worry about that.

One thing though for next year is to make the breakfast casserole the night before. I usually do but just didn't have the time because we were gone all day Christmas Eve and didn't get home until late so we ended up eating my mom's at her house.

 

[KimD]

100 oreo balls were not enough. I gave my brothers some as part of their gifts but my mom and dad only got one apiece out of the extras. My dad was mad when he went out to get more and they were gone. So I told him I would make a batch for him, sometime this week.

 

[christmascreations]

Well my Aunt decided to regulate some of the cooking to other relatives so we weren't doing all the work and last minute one relative decided he wasn't going to make the fruit pies!!! So from now on if they don't participate then they don't get to take any "free leftovers" home. My Aunt and I are on extremely small budgets and we had to make (and buy) just about everything we needed. Thank god my job gave me a coupon for a free 7 lb Honeybaked Ham and my other Aunt made lasagna.

I also had to clean my church Chrismas Eve and Christmas Day and was only asked a week in advance. I had to work my other job everyday the week leading up to Christmas so I am going to have to try freezing cookies for sure this year. I will probably trial freeze for Easter and see how well it works.

 

[Cathymac]

Things went pretty well at our Christmas Eve dinner, except that I didn't like the appetizers I served-just chips and dips. I wish I'd done something a little fancier, but budget restraints got in the way and I just took the easy route. Next year I'll do something in advance, at least buy the ingredients ahead.

I made spaghetti and meatballs, salad and hot bread, along with eggnog/donut bread pudding. Good stuff! I made the spaghetti sauce and put it in the crockpot to simmer all day, then made the meatballs and baked them, and just warmed them at the last minute to add to the sauce. I made the bread pudding early and even did a rum sauce to soak in it...it was warmed along with the meatballs and was really good. I did forget to get whipped cream, though, which would have been good with it.

I think it went well....

 

[Ahorsesoul]

I cut my menu way down this year. No one missed a thing so I'll do it again next year. Prime rib, baked potatoes, mushrooms, onions and beets. It was enough.

I did make too many candies. I only made three batches but since I wasn't giving them out as gifts it was far more than we could eat.

Oreo balls will be dropped for me. Only one person in my family is eating them. Might have something to do with that I have to use Gluten-Free cookies and not REAL Oreos. lol

I need to collect some recipes for leftover Prime Rib. I always buy larger roast than I need so I have leftovers but then I am at a loss as to what to do with it. I made fajitas one night and then Steak Salad, both excellent ideas. Now I still have a lot of Prime Rib. I saw recipes for Hash but that seems like a waste of Prime Rib to me. I personally could just eat sliced Prime Rib for three meals a day but the rest of the family seems to think they want variety!

I made Shrimp Dip. Everyone loves this but it's not Gluten-Free and we suffered. So this year I need to figure out a way to make Gluten Free "Cream of Shrimp" soup. The recipe calls for a can of Cream of Shrimp soup, a package of cream cheese and a can of drained shrimp, add a little garlic and some hot sauce. Presto, the best shrimp dip for crackers, chips or veggies. I have other Shrimp Dip recipes but this is the best.

 

[Connie Angela]

I had four extra people at my house for four days and these people eat enough for eight people! Luckily, I made enough food but there were never any leftovers.

What worked:

making meals in the crock pot
making a ham for Christmas Eve...very easy
Scalloped potatoes were a huge hit!
Chicken Wing Dip was a hit too!


What didn't work:

making a full breakfast everyday was too much work for me....will serve cereal and juice next year!
didn't make enough cookies
I did all the work (cooking and cleaning) and didn't get to sit and enjoy my children.
DS had horrible anxiety with all of the extra people in the house.
Mommy needed more wine.....

 

[momof4]

Since I didn't know I was going to do Christmas dinner for Dh's family until about 1 week before, some things weren't as I would have hoped, but everything went pretty well. :applause:

DMIL had already purchased a ham (originally we were going to her house) and insisted on bringing it. Not the ham I would have gotten, but it was okay.

I used the same mashed potato recipe as I used on Thanksgiving with the same crowd - on Thanksgiving people were scraping the bottom of the bowl, on Christmas nearly 1/2 was leftover??? Not sure what to think of that.

DSILs brought appetizers and desserts. That worked out great because all I focused on was the main meal (except the aforementioned ham) and didn't have to worry about anything else.

I didn't make as many cookies and candies as usual because I ran out of time this year, but it actually worked out better - fewer for me to eat! Next year I'll scale back on purpose.

 

[CreativeChristmas]

Mommy needed more wine.....

I knew there was something I forgot, LOL! We ran way short on certain items and I ended up without any "holiday spirits"
With 22 people in the house I sure wanted something once most of everything was done and with Christmas Day there wasn't a chance to replace for then either. Did I mention we had 4 fairly large spills and only 2 of them involved children? One huge cup of coke and another full cup of coffee! Ugh! I need to get my carpet cleaner out again and see if a thrice cleaning will help my new carpets.

At least no fires this year (well besides that little smoke thing in the oven. LOL!) :haha:

 

[Twinkle]

We don't host any dinner so that is simple but here are mine I wrote down for next year:

must haves (everyone requested these already
Spinach Dip
Pumpkin Fudge


Stock fridge/pantry with more appetizers/finger foods since we don't bring home leftovers- luckily our neighbor gave us some as a gift and that is what we ate when he came home.

Would like to do frozen meals for quick dinners

 

[momof4]

Ooooh! Pumpkin Fudge! That sounds wonderful! Could you share the recipe?

 

[doodlebugs]

This year the Christmas celebration with my DH's family got cancelled due to DMIL having a nasty stomach virus. Therefore, a week later... they decided to come to our house! Then my parents decided to join too! My budget was already strained but now I had to entertain and feed 6 extra people!
Next year:
* buy extra ingredients throughout November and December for "just in case" it happens again.
*I'll not try to act like Superwoman and ask family to bring a dish to help out.
*Do more slow cooker recipes.
* Stock more in my gift closet. (had a cousin come up with inlaws and no gift to give...had already emptied gift closet )

Or maybe if they get sick next year instead of trying to hustle and bustle to get things ready for them to visit my house... i'll just run away to the beach! *lol* :nana:

 

[Twinkle]

PUMPKIN FUDGE

1 1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 T butter
1 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t salt
2 c mini marshmallows
12 oz package white chocolate chips
1/2 cup choped walnuts, toasted
1 t vanilla extract

butter sides of heavy medium saucepan. Combine sugar, milk, pumpkin, butter, spice, and salt in saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. BOIL FOR 12 FULL MINUTES STIRRING CONSTANTLY (use a timer!! this is important) Remove from heat. Add marshmallows, chocolate chips, walnuts and vanilla, stir until melted. Pour into an aluminum foil-lined creased 8 x 8 baking pan; chill until firm. Cut into 1 inch squares. Store in an airtight container in fridge. Makes about 4 dozen pieces.

 

[doodlebugs]

That sounds so good!! Thanks for sharing! Printing it and putting it in my notebook to try on Great Pumpkin Day!!

 

[momof9]

haha... my list is LONG...

didn't do enough baking mostly because of a few major and a lot of minor family crises. That taught me a lesson... I will be baking ahead next year!

We have decided that we will be switching our Christmas eve menu from cold cuts and cheese trays, etc. to fondue.

I am giving up on my omelette roll. It has been a headache two years in row and I think I will make a strata next year.

I need to add more to our breakfast... I am thinking a hashbrown casserole.

this year we switched our traditional boxing day dinner from turkey shepherd's pie to turkey enchiladas and I think that will be a new tradition in our house.

MAKE MORE GRAVY!!! there was not enough to put in our turkey sandwiches and everyone missed it!

hmmm... I think that is all.. LOL

 

[ChristmasCheerSpredr]

what is an oreo ball?

 

[momof4]

Twinkle, thanks for the recipe. That sounds delicious!

 

[ChristmasMissy]

Note to self: Do NOT forget the appetizers in freezer for Christmas Eve!! LOL

That's okay, we had plenty of munchies for Christmas Eve dinner so we will be saving the spiral sandwiches for New Years Eve...lol I really enjoyed having finger foods for dinner on Christmas Eve. Just pop stuff in the oven and still have time to finish up Christmas stuff before Santa's visit. Hehehe

I think we made too many cookies this year. My aunt came to visit and brought candy and caramel popcorn so we had ALOT of sweets.

 

[jampss]

Well, I made too many cookies, too! I did do the freezer thing and that works great and they still taste great! So, that was a new thing and I liked it. My dad and step-mom came and dad takes us out for lunch at all you can eat Chinese Buffet on Monday ... so the mac and cheese I had in crock pot to go with the ham and green bean casserole for dinner ... nobody needed! We did snack on mac and cheese about 8pm after light looking!

What kind of interesting finger foods are there that you even made up ahead and put into freezer? That sounds good.
:grin:

 

[CanadianJingles]

We hosted Christmas for the first time this year.

What worked well...
* Delegating and Asking for Help. DM bought the bird for me and came over the day before to show me how to do the stuffing. All I had to do Christmas morning was pop it in the oven. SIL brought wine (took undrank home) and a few extra folding chairs. My MIL brought cranberries, Christmas pudding and buns.
* Borrowing instead of Buying. As noted above, SIL lent us four folding chairs. MIL lent us a tablecloth.
* Letting DS (3.5y) pick the hot veggie for Christmas supper. He wanted niblet corn so we made the same frozen corn we eat a lot of nights. He felt involved and ate.
* Telling people to come a bit later in the morning so we could have some family time with just my DH, kids and I.
* The countdown chain on the fireplace. It was red and green construction paper links; DS removed one every night at bedtime so he could see how long it was to Christmas. Each link had a number on it.
* Having the baking we wanted even though it didn't all get eaten and some was sent home with family later.
* lists, lists, lists (gifts bought, wish lists, baking/menu and to-do/cleaning)

What didn't work...
* The crackers and cheeseballs got forgotten and weren't served. Crackers are a common snack platter with DH's extended family but got forgotten about at our place. Probably wouldn't drop if we hosted again.
* Christmas cards were late going out. I didn't set a deadline for that this year!