Christmas dinner

Runcarla

This year I wasn’t feeling up to the traditional fare of ham or turkey with cooked veg and potatoes, so changed things up! I made a salad of crunchy mixed greens, mandarin oranges, and pomegranate, DH slow roasted a large pork loin on the bbq, we had a cranberry and orange relish, apple sauce, and egg noodles. I made a Pavlova for dessert - my first attempt!

Thought of YLF’s ‘down under’ ‘cause I believe the Pavlova is an Aussie invention!

#1 table
#2 salad
#3-5 pavlova

Did you eat traditional fare over Christmas, or try something different?

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4 days ago

Off Topic

18 replies

Latest reply was from Angie

LJP

Veteran

Oh wow! Your pavlova looks beautiful ! I've never made one. I made an identical salad as accompaniment to turkey breast and ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. Cranberry sauce and mustard . I couldn't land on a vegetable dish I wanted to make, so the salad was it. I took a quick survey , and no one cared if I made a dessert or not (it's usually a Yule log) so we had dainties, treats, and cookies. I was determined to get the stuffing recipe right for once, so got the advice (and a really great stoneware loaf pan ) of a friend who is an expert chef. It turned out fabulously well!

3 days ago

JAileen

Veteran

Gorgeous dessert! Because our plans were derailed by weather, we went to Plan B - lasagna and roasted asparagus. I think the last time I made lasagna was when we weren’t able to go over the hill for Christmas. There were four of us instead of a dozen, and it was very nice.

3 days ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Your Pavolova is a beautifully festive work of art, Carla! IMPRESSIVE! WOW! And looks delicious I love Pavlova and Eton mess. I'm coming over.

LJP and JAileen, your Christmas dinners sound fabulous! Glad everything worked out despite the weather.

We had a brilliant Christmas with friends. We hosted in our "new" loft! It was vegetarian. Made Ottelenghi's Israeli leak fritters for starters. We had French mushroom bourguignon with cauliflower mash, kale salad and Persian cucumber salad for mains. Also made African chicken peri peri for the meat eaters. British lemon meringue pie and Christmas pudding with runny custard for dessert! There was cheese, nuts and olives for people to have with cocktails. A global menu, which is fitting for the Cox Castle.

These are the only pics I remembered to take!

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3 days ago

LJP

Veteran

Gosh your condo is gorgeous, Angie.

3 days ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Carla a pavlova is not necessarily Australian! The origin is heavily disputed between the “frenemies” and rivals Australia and New Zealand.
Yours looks stunning. As I am a very lazy cook I have never actually made one. We have served them many times, bought from the supermarket and just topped by us with whipped cream and fruit.
I can look up the menu I wrote down, later today, for what we served for the Christmas summer lunch for 10 people (ages 89,65,64,63,60,34,34,32,29 and 4.)

3 days ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Have got the menu. It was deliberately simplified somewhat this year due to eating too much and having too many leftovers in some past years.
Drinks: fruit punch (nonalcoholic), bubbly one nonalcoholic one alcoholic. Nibbles: chips (crisps) and sour cream with parsley/chives dip, plus charcuterie platter with cheeses, grapes, prosciutto and salami.
Mains: seafood cocktail, glazed ham, roast potatoes, sourdough bread with Brie/cranberry, chicken thighs, Caprese salad, green salad.
Dessert: chocolate log (gifted), strawberries, fluffy jelly, vanilla icecream, whipped cream.
There were leftovers but people took some away and what we kept is manageable. We will use the ham for a few days then slice and freeze small packages of it for cooking with later.

3 days ago

Sal

Veteran

Well done on the pavlova Carla! It looks perfect. Yum yum.

We had a feast for 26 including ham, sirloin, lamb, three salads, cheesecake, meringues, sweet treats. I made the nibbles which included salmon and cucumber canapés, stuffed red chilies and guacamole and salsa with corn chips. We had berries and waffles on the deck for Breakfast and no dinner!

Your apartment is lovely Angie!

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3 days ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Wow, Carla, your meal looks delicious and your table beautiful! The pavlova must have been a huge hit!

3 days ago

Irina

Veteran

Wow, very impressive, Carla!
We had dinner with our son’s family. We don’t cook meat and our grandson the only one who eats it, so we bought his favorite Butter Chicken from our local Indian restaurant.

I cooked too much. Don’t know what came over me!

Green Salad
Russian salad (our tradition)
Roasted fingerling potatoes
Roasted carrots served with feta cheese/natural yogurt spread
Mushroom mix with soy sauce (pan fried)
Veggie patties
Salmon patties

Baked a strudel for dessert. Also, fruits and chocolate ice-cream for our grandson. And lots of cookies from our DIL and neighbors.

Why I didn’t take pictures?

3 days ago

Bijou

Veteran

That pav looks amazing, and I am quite the connoisseur! I actually had pavlova for dessert last night too.

3 days ago

Jules

Veteran

Merry Christmas! It all sounds scrumptious - fresh, light and crunchy - and I love the photo of you smiling with your pavlova

We had prime rib with all the trimmings and eggnog cheesecake for dessert.

2 days ago

MsMary

Veteran

Beautiful photos, Angie and Carla and Sal! We had just the two of us and we cooked an easy-but-Christmasy glazed pork roast, brown butter mashed potatoes, and green beans with bacon. Plus homemade dinner rolls left over from Thanksgiving and pulled out of the freezer. It was a nice, festive, relaxing dinner! Oh, and Christmas cookies for dessert!

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2 days ago

Rock

Active Member

We have been in Japan and Hawaii for the last three weeks and got home on December 22, so simplicity in holiday eating was a must this year. We made prime rib with au jus and horseradish sauce, baked potatoes with toppings, and asparagus for Christmas Eve. For Christmas Day, we took purchased ham and turkey breast to my dad, along with potatoes au gratin made by me, buttered green beans, and rolls. I also made Christmas morning breakfast for my family including baked French toast, hot buttermilk syrup, and bacon. We also had charcuterie and shrimp cocktail on Christmas evening. These were definitely not healthy meals and it felt like too much food, but it was all easy fare for weary travelers.

2 days ago

Rock

Active Member

… and Carla, your pavlova is gorgeous and one of my favorite desserts. It is beautifully executed and festive.

2 days ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thanks so much, LJP, Sal and Mary!

Mary! You win most stylish and festive Christmas Cookie Baker of the them all! Looking smashing in your beautifully cozy and fably decorated home. Cookies look delish too

Sal, such a serene setting. Yet bustling with 26 people!

1 day ago

Helena

Veteran

Love a pavlova! Your meal sounds great Carla. We travelled home late Christmas Eve from a week away so my whole non-trad Christmas (serving in Boxing day) was courtesy of a rushed Longos trip in the morning. Lasagne, charcuterie, Caesar salad, baguette with oil and balsamic, tiramisu, done!

1 day ago

MsMary

Veteran

Angie, forgot to post our matching Cookie Crew tees!! (Pay no attention to the lack of attention to hair and makeup!)

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1 day ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Mary, it gets better and better. A very fun, festive and chic chef and sous chef! You two are adorable! LOVE!

19 hours ago

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