[DesignDiva]

It's that time of year again, and since we are at home we will have our traditional Christmas...appetizers all day long and new pajamas for all!

We started doing this a few years ago when the kids were smaller and all they wanted to do was play all day...no one wanted to take time out to sit down for a meal, so we decided to do away with that and just load the oven all day long with trays of yumminess. Since no one wanted to get dressed either (it would cut into play time) we all wear our jammies all day long.

This year we went on a family shopping excursion to Costco and Sam's Club and came home with an amazing assortment, everything from cream puffs (for breakfast) to jalapeno poppers and puff pastry quiche to shrimp cocktail and cheescake.

What are you doing for Christmas meals?

[Tigratrus]

We've become total converts to the Appetizer Christmas .

We made a trip to Wegmans and Costco Friday and picked up quite an array of meats/cheeses/veggies etc. I think Susan's planning on doing a really full featured antipasto platter, deviled eggs, veggie platter with hummus. "Food should taste good" multi-grain chips and some regular potato chips.

I think there are also plans for chille for breakfast, and we picked up a largish wedge of Saga Blue torte at wegmans with an amazing nut/dried fruit topping. I won't touch that particular delicacy(it's the BLUE part.. ::shudder:, but Susan and both kids go into raptures over it.

Oh, almost forgot the dates stuffed with brie and topped with crushed pistachios, those are seriously yummmy!

We'd like to thank you once again for introducing the whole concept... Taking meals out of Christmas drops the stress level quite a bit, and everyone enjoys themselves much more .

James

[Kayla]

This is Chuck's first Christmas so we're very excited. The last 5+ yrs we've done some sort of overnight bake with sliced fruit to accompany, but nothing really planned after that. Nobody fully enjoyed their Thanksgiving this year so we decided to do the full spread. But i'm trying to figure out when to do it. I'm thinking: Christmas Eve Turkey dinner and then egg bake and sliced fruit for Christmas morning.
That would leave left overs and another appetizer convert for Christmas Day.... who knows.

We are doing Fancy Schmancy European New Year's Eve again this year. Chuck and I are cooking a 6 course meal for 10-14 people with each course coming from a different country. We're gonna have a blast cooking all week (and eating ) along with doing all the shopping for the various exotic details.... i'll start a thread for that when the time comes Oh, and then New Year's Day my ex is throwing a game day at our house, about 30 people will show for this. Chuck and I will be manning the grill and making sure people have everything they need to eat! Holy cow I'm thinking easy Christmas is the way to go!

[ccsubruce]

We actually have my parents in law over for Christmas Eve and then go to one of our aunt's homes for Christmas Day. In our family, each household has one or two holidays to host (we have Father's Day and Christmas Eve) along with any birthdays that get big parties (my son). But I'm becoming intrigued with Appetizer Christmas. While I don't believe we can convert the masses in our family right away, down the road--with all the little ones getting to the point where all they want to do it play--might be a possibility.

@DulcineaK: I am in absolute awe of you in regards to the way you get along with your ex. I'm divorced, and my ex-wife is still waging war, nearly a 6 years later. And my son now wants to move from her home to ours, so it's getting worse again.

@Tigratrus: I mentioned this to Susan awhile back...I'm jealous of the fact that you have a Wegmans! I used to live in Wegmans home territory (Rochester, NY) and fell in love with Wegmans up there. They're building one or two stores in MA (one very near Stoughton ), but I wish they'd come to CT. I know they're considering it...but they're not moving fast enough!

Anyway...too large of a hijack. Sorry!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Address:1 IKEA Way Stoughton, MA 02072 Telephone: (781) 344-IKEA (781) 344-4532 Store hours:Mon-Sat: 10am - 10pm Sunday: 10am - 6pm IKEA Store Directory Entry for IKEA Stoughton

[kisaacs]

Eva, you've converted us to the appetizer Christmas too. We started it last year with our daughter's first Christmas. Now we've got 2 little ones, so there's no way we're doing a big spread. It's just the four of us on Christmas Day anyway. We picked up some goodies from Costco and are making it really easy. The only thing I make for Christmas are cinnamon buns. This year I was smart and did it ahead of time, since they take me about 4 hours to make. They freeze wonderfully though, so that'll make Christmas a cinch.

My family is coming up on 12/29 to do Christmas. My sister in law is a vegetarian, so I'm doing all vegetarian Christmas for that one because it's easier than making two meals. For appetizers we're having baked brie with apples and bread, spinach dip with pita chips, cheese and crackers and wine. Then for dinner we're having red and green peppers stuffed with corn, sundried tomatoes, pecans, goat chesse, cottage cheese, and cheddar...they're delicious. We're also having garlic green beans and scalloped potatoes. My mom's in charge of dessert because I'm not getting back here til midnight the day before!

I'm finally getting into Christmas. It's taken me a while this year. I think I've just been overwhelmed!

Kristen

[DesignDiva]

How fun we're all doing this! It really is a wonderful tradition, and everyone loves it...the kids because they don't have to stop playing, the moms because it's easy peasy and not a lot of work (especially with Costco and Sams stuff) and the guys because they can eat all day long without guilt, and not feel stuffed and uncomfortable!

We all seem to be cheese lovers, too...except for James...which gives me an idea that maybe I'll break out the fondue pot too.

[Tigratrus]

Oh, I LOVE cheese! I eat staggering quantities of Cheddar (White Vermont Extra Sharp mostly), along with Provolone, mmmm-Mozzarella etc etc. The brie stuffed dates are probably impossible for anyone to not like, they're a fabulous taste combination.

I just draw the (freely acknowledged to be prejudicial) line at blue cheese. I've just spent too many years learning NOT to eat things with mold on them...

Used to feel the same way about Sushi though... And now that's one of the things we look for when out of town. ::shrug::

My mom loves the whole big dinner thing, so there might have been a conflict with appetizer christmas, but we just morphed it to Christmas EVE dinner (which is awesome) at her house. She gets to put on the big dinner she loves, complete with Yorkshire pudding, hard sauce etc, and we don't have to do all the prep work. We make sure to help with the cleanup though .

Having everything done ahead of time makes Christmas so much more relaxing. Eh... said most of that already, ah well. It bears repeating!

James

[Harpy]

Oh, yum. I always spend Christmas with my brother and his family and they don't make any exceptions to the eat-healthy rule for Christmas dinner, since they have to go so many holiday parties. So we have a nice austere dinner: turkey without stuffing, steamed green beans, etc.

Kristen, got a recipe for the stuffed peppers? They sound wonderful.

Bruce, it's funny. I spent a few years in Rochester and I know I shopped at Wegmans, but all I remember is trudging across that snowy parking lot on dark winter nights. I guess they must have changed since then. They were majorly ordinary back in those days. (I actually thought CT had better shopping, if much higher prices, at the time.)

[Tigratrus]

@ harpy Oh, they must have changed a *lot* since then!

The Wegmans here just opened a few months ago, first in the area, and it's just... Incredible. They have EVERYTHING! And the Seafood/Meat/Deli sections are unbelievable. The produce section is gigantic, with all sorts of unusual things many as well as a fabulous organic section. Mushroom section is amazing as well, they even have a (LOCKED) case with truffles in it!

The Cheese section is also immense, entire wheels of Parmigana Reggiano, almost any kind of cheese you can think of. The wine/beer section is like having a "Total Wine" attached.

What really makes the difference is the fact that not only do they have nearly everything a foodie could want, but they have excellent prices on staples. Their prices on large "club packs" of staples are comparable with (and often beat) Costco's. But if you don't want huge quantities though, you can buy things in regular grocery store sizes as well.

From what I understand, Wegman's also pays their employees substantially better then average, and they are hugely helpful. The deli/cheese department staff are *really* good about giving you samples of pretty much whatever you want.

The final thing about Wegman's is the sheer size. It's like an entire strip mall centered on an anchoring grocery store, except that it's ALL one store. With a second floor dedicated to just tables and seating for the food court area. They've got a really good pizza oven, sushi bar, full service seafood bar, Soup and Salad bar, (asian type) Buffet, Burrito/Panini station etc etc.

Oh... and the bakery/dessert section ::rolling eyes:: the sheer indulgence of the crème brûlée, fruit tarts, french silk pies, various mousse and cookies etc etc.

::sigh::

Luckily it's about an hour away, otherwise I think we'd spend waaaay too much time there.

James

[Harpy]

Oh, that doesn't sound anything like the Wegmans I remember back in days of yore, Tigratus.

How nice that you have a place like that.