Jenn, you guys are troupers! Glad your hubs got at least some of the tastes of a big dinner. Your Doordash meal sounds great.

We had saag paneer for Christmas. It’s one of my son’s favorites, and the staff at the Indian restaurant near us knew it. I could take my own containers for them to fill. Seeing as our cancelled flight was just before all the stores and any restaurants close for the 3-day holiday, we were super happy for the saag. I briefly made plans to go out somewhere with a fireplace, but he was sick, so I made one last run.

So sorry for Jenn. We had our summer Christmas at 86 y old and 91 y old parents-in-law’s house. Every year we feel they may not be here the next one but they are! 86 y old MIL still managed to prepare some food.
Nibbles: cranberry mix ( nuts etc), crisps and dip, crackers. Punch made with orange juice/ ginger ale/cold tea. Bubbly or white or rose wine.
Main: seafood cocktail mix, glazed ham, baked salmon, Harissa chicken salad, Parmesan roast potatoes, potato salad, lettuce salad.
Dessert: trifle, semifreddo, whipped or liquid cream, fresh strawberries.
Afters: fresh cherries.
9 of us. There were leftovers!
Pic: DH and DD2 made the semifreddo and she/I decorated it. Looked awesome and tasted it too! Italian apparently.

JNZ - semifreddo was one of those desserts I used to see in "women's magazines" when I was a kid. It's terribly photogenic, as you have shown but I had no recognition of how to pronounce it or even really what it was. Still haven't made my own but at least I now know how to say it and what it is.

Last night we watched as LMA created his signature dish (a simple, delicious chicken that he has cooked and eaten five nights a week for the past five years). We repeated with tofu for me.

The semifreddo is so lovely! I love seeing summer Christmas traditions - strawberries are perfect! For us they are Canada Day (July 1) dessert, with white cake and whipped cream, red & white and perfectly timed for our short season of locally grown ones.
I typed out 3 meals then lost it, suffice to say, it was all delicious and the results of family coming together to be festive, collaborative and realistic (eg. forgoing sit-down dinner for 22 for a much less stressful Christmas Eve of appetizers and turkey sliders).

Fun to read everybody's traditional or not dinners! We were "not" -- after a couple of cancelled flights we ended up eating French fries and chicken tenders (and cocktails, of course) in the airport bar while waiting for our flight to see my daughter in Portland. (We finally arrived at 2 a.m. 12/26!)

Jenn - sorry to hear your Christmas plans were put in disarray. I hope your son loved his very cool coat for Christmas.

I hosted extended family of 26 for Christmas and it was chaos! After the first half hour DH looked at the clock and said 'It has only been 30 minutes, it feels like 2 hours!'

Starters
Sausage rolls, mini steak pies, nuts, potato crisps, dips and crackers

Main
Freshly baked baguettes, turkey, ham, roast beef, potato salad, garden salad, coleslaw, cheese board

Dessert
Chocolates, gingerbread (homemade and amazing), fruit cake (also homemade), fruit platter

The family all bought different dishes and everyone over catered - but we all took food back home, so not too much was wasted.

I had 3 ice chests full of drinks - in the Australian summer, you need to stay hydrated, so not too much alcohol was consumed.

Highlight was seeing the younger children, aged 6, 4, 1.5 years and baby of 9 months opening their presents and getting super excited. The 4-year-old particularly loved Margot (my dog) and thought she was a real-life teddy. It was a real family reunion and celebration as my sister's family flew over from the east coast of Australia and we had not caught up in person since 2019.

Boxing Day was DS's 14th birthday, so no rest as we had another, albeit smaller, party to host the following day!

April, your Christmas dinner sounds truly unique! We always eat leftovers too. Loathe food waste

Jenn, now stressful, and my heart goes out to you and hubs. Wishing hubs a speedy recovery, and a calm and peaceful New Year for all of you.

I made Magret de Carnard for Xmas dinner.

Jenn, I am so sorry to hear about your DH. I hope he recovers quickly.

Our Christmas dinner with my family was postponed because of Covid. We finally got together today. Dinner was salmon, chickpea and spinach scramble, roasted brussel sprouts and cheese buns—chocolate cake for dessert.

Mr. SF's family got together on the 27th. They had a traditional turkey dinner. We just ate the vegetables. We are both vegetarians/vegans.

Seeing our families was the best part.

I fulfilled a New Year's Day tradition from the American South by making Hoppin' John. Here's where tradition broke down: I had no black-eyed peas so used french lentils; I made it vegan; I made it in the Instant Pot.

It did not stay vegan because I covered mine in slices of smoked Gouda and Mr. A added leftover chicken to his but it was delicious!

Angie, Magret de Canard sounds like something Mr. A would adore but he has a strict "no duck" policy after bonding deeply with the ducks who flocked to our pond at the last house.

This year was a bit different for us, food-wise. My husband normally cooks a rather lavish spread anchored by prime rib and Julia Child’s potatoes baked in cream. It’s a lot of food and a lot of work.This year we opted for a simpler, but still delicious Barefoot Contessa beef stroganoff made with ribeye, noodles, salad and bread. My husband and I hosted, and my son and his girlfriend surprised us by offering to cook the meal, which was delightful. I could get used to this.

We had to hurry back home so we could drive between storms. Christmas dinner ended up being Yunnan Rice Noodle soup instead of the big dinner we had planned, as we didn’t want to have to toss the leftovers. Next trip will feature a lovely nut loaf, chestnut and apple stuffing, cranberry sauce and an apple-cranberry pie!

Thanks for the invite, cat2, see you next Christmas!

Seriously, though, if you're willing to share your nut loaf recipe, I would love to have it.

I like the Nut Loaf recipe on BBC Good Food.

Thank you! I just ran the ingredient list through a measurement converter and I'm ready to roll.