****Official Christmas menu thread****
 

What's on your Christmas menu this year?

It's just the Mrs. and I this year - no kids, closest family is 11 hours away or more, so we'll be spending the day with our friends at the local AMC. But we are cooking dinner.

I'm going non-traditional this year and doing a spin on my super secret lasagna. This year it's a fresh pasta lasagna with a homemade ragu and bechamel with Italian garlic bread. The wife is doing a vanilla bean crème brûlée for dessert.

Steak, green beans with bacon (duh), and twice baked potatoes.

Oh, that reminds me, I have a pork belly curing, so we'll have freshly smoked (apple and hickory) brown-sugar cured bacon, too.

Because of some unusual circumstances, we're not having the usual full family meal this year (usually two or more meats and some additional sides).

Appetizers and snacks:

Buffalo chicken dip
Salsa and chips
Queso and chips
Veggie plate
Chilled shrimp and cocktail sauce
Deviled eggs
Stuffed puff pastries with Brie and assorted second fillings (maybe)


Main course:

Slow roasted prime rib
Garlic mashed potatoes
Zucchini gratin
Wild mushrooms with onions
Oven roasted asparagus with garlic and oil

Dessert:
Pumpkin pie
Lemon delight
Unknown desert (likely to be a cake of some kind), being brought by a guest
Tapioca pudding (maybe)

We thought about wrapping a pork tenderloin in jalapeño bacon, but steak and potatoes will suffice.

Salmon on the grill

Ham, green bean casserole, some sort of potato, bacon jalapeno deviled eggs, and some rolls.

Think we're doing a cherry pie for dessert.

Got some pork shoulder for sweet and sour pork and spring rolls.

Jackstack.

That sounds great, and I bet your Lasagna is to die for with all of your fresh spices etc.

We are driving quite a long way to be with the family, so I baked pies all day yesterday. Two Pumpkin, two Cherry, Two Banana Cream and a Blueberry. I like making the crust the old fashioned way, and same with the banana cream. The blueberry and cherry filling is just from the can.

Hopefully something besides the pies is being prepared by my Sisters and Brother.

Headed to Just Passin' By's house.

Let's hope so! I've never done fresh pasta in my lasagna before, and I don't typically do a bechamel, so we'll have to see how it goes. But I'm excited to try it.

No pecan pies? I haz a sad.

Tamales and Menudo

I imagine my daughter and her SO coming up from Texas will furnish the pecan pies. They usually give me a big sack full of pecans every year. He has grafted some pecan trees that have huge pecans with paper thin shells.

Lamb Chops
tri tip
green beans wrapped in bacon
some sort of potato
mac n cheese
salad
pecan pie
and I'm going to smoke 3 varieties of ribs, one traditional KC rub, one greek/rendevous rub, and one jamaican jerk rub.