Alternatives to the "Typical" Holiday Meal

Holidays! A time for families to come together and enjoy each other's company-AND EAT! If you are anything like my family, you will have more than one family get together: your own family, your extended family, your husband's extended family, etc. And if there are any divorces in the families, more get togethers. So much food in the span of a month! First there's the big Thanksgiving Feast with all the families, which leaves you eating left overs for days. Then, a few weeks later, here comes the Christmas Feasts. By the first meal, I'm already tired of turkey and ham and all of the trimmings. This year we are boycotting the "typical" holiday meal with something different. Who knows, maybe it can become our own tradition...and maybe yours.

One alternative is to have a breakfast feast in the middle of the afternoon. This works well with multiple families. Think about it, you wake up early Christmas morning, the kids are too excited to eat breakfast, then you open presents, and the kids are then too busy to sit and eat a meal. For Christmas morning, let every fend for themselves for breakfast and nibble though out the morning. Then get everything in order for the feast. Cinnamon rolls and muffins can be made and a fruit plate can be prepared in the morning. Then when it's almost time, early afternoon perhaps, everything else can be prepared. Biscuits can be baking in the oven, sausage gravy can be heating on the stove, waffles can be waffled and transferred to a crock pot set on low to keep warm, large batches of eggs can be scrambled in a skillet while sausage and bacon is being fried in another. If it's a multi-family gathering, have each family bring an additional covered dish of their favorite breakfast item. The possibilities are endless!

Another idea which would work great for an evening gathering would be to have an appetizer and beverage buffet. Depending on the number of people coming, each family could bring in one or two of their favorite apps and two unique beverages along with recipes of both to pass around.

A fun idea would be to have a themed family gathering. You could have a Western Style Buffet where everyone brings their favorite western style food along with the recipes. Examples could be BBQ ribs, chuckwagon beans, potatoe salad, etc. You could also try Italian, Chinese, or any other ethnic cuisine.

For a lighter filling meal, try a soup and salad, or soup and sandwich, or soup, salad, and sandwich buffet. This would work well for around lunch time or so. Like the others, don't forget the recipes.

For something terribly sinful, try a dessert and coffee bar. Have everyone bring their two favorite desserts and a carafe of their favorite coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc. This feast isn't for the faint of heart or the dieter. It is a feast for the evening time when everyone is "mealed" out and want something different and totally original without the stress and mess of preparing a huge meal.

Whatever the food choice, the important thing is the family being together on this very special day. If you burn the main course, or your souffle' takes a dive, don't sweat it. That is NOT the important thing. Have fun and be creative and no matter the outcome, it will be memorable for all! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!