Playing Hostess: Christmas Holiday Luncheon

Christmas dinner - been done.  Cocktail hour - done.  Christmas morning brunch - also been done.  But what about a Christmas Eve luncheon?

Turkey, Brie and Strawberry Salsa Sandies on Rosemary Bread

Kickin' Holiday Chicken Balls in Spicy Pomegranate Sauce

I got this idea because so many of our friends and family arrive into town on Christmas Eve and are looking for something to do.  Granted, we host a big Christmas Eve dinner, where we open stockings, watch Christmas movies, and enjoy a bottle of Port before winding down and waiting for Santa.

But this year, we had a much smaller group for Christmas Eve, and contrary to my usual starving of the guests before dinner, I decided to host a Christmas Eve Lunch and invite friends and neighbors to join us for some holiday cheer mid-day.  This meant serving a much lighter and simpler Christmas Eve dinner, but I think it made the entire day more enjoyable.  After all, what's there really to do on Christmas Eve?

Because I'm in my fifth month of pregnancy, I'm afraid I do not have as much energy, nor zest for cooking, than I usually do.  But that's ok...I'm pretty good at faking it.  The entire lunch took a matter of minutes to prepare, especially because I pre-cut everything.

The inspiration for this menu came from one trip to Costco.  Sometimes I find that wandering around Costco, Trader Joe's or World Market can inspire an entire meal.  So, two days prior to the 24th, and at a complete lapse for ideas, I pushed my way down the aisles of Costco until I stumbled upon a Pomegranate Habenearo sauce and I thought, "How festive!  What can I do with that?"  And then I remembered seeing some Cranberry Chicken and Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs in the meat aisle, which coincidentally is the same brand as my favorite Weight Watcher-friendly chicken burgers.

The final component - the Turkey, Brie, and Strawberry Sandwiches - were inspired by what happened next.  Starving, and with an hour to spare before my doctor's appoint, I headed to the local Village Bakery for a sandwich.  For some reason, this brie and turkey sandwich stood out to me.  It sounded fresh, yet festive, and OMG!  It was the best sandwich ever.  So I copied the recipe to best of my taste buds, made them open-faced, and broiled them in the oven for my own Newly Domestic twist!

Ok, so now that I've bored you with my culinary adventures during my Costco trip, I will cut to the chase...here are two great recipes for holiday hosting.

Turkey, Brie and Strawberry Salsa Sandies on Rosemary Bread

Ingredients:

Strawberry Salsa -
1 Bag Frozen Strawberries, thawed
1 - 2 TBSP Cilantro, chopped
3 Green Onions, chopped

Sandwich -
1 Loaf of Rosemary Bread (I used snack-sized slices fresh from the bakery at Fred Meyer)
1lb Deli Fresh Smoked Turkey, thinly sliced
1 Round of Brie, cut into thick slices
1 English Cucumber, thinly sliced into rounds
1 Red Onion, thinly sliced into slivers
Mayo
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, mix together thawed strawberries, cilantro, and onions.  Mix together until strawberries start to bleed juices, almost to a jam consistancy.

Grease a shallow cookie sheet with olive oil, and line rosemary bread.  Spread a thick coat of mayo on the slices, followed by a 1/4" of strawberry salsa jam.  Then top sandwhiches in this order: turkey, cucumber, onion, salt, pepper, brie.

Broil for a few minutes, until brie is just beginning to melt.  Enjoy!

Kickin' Holiday Chicken Balls in Spicy Pomegranate Sauce

Ingredients: 

1 Package AmyLu Kickin' Cranberry Chicken Meatballs (Costco)
1 Jar of Robert Rothschild Cherry Pomegranate Habanero Sauce (Costco)
Fresh Pomegranate Seeds
Red Onion, diced
1 Fuji Apple, diced
4 Green Onions, sliced

Instructions:

Add all ingredients to a slow cooker and cook on low until meatballs are warm in center.

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How Christmas Happened At Our House

Me and my son Christmas Eve

Ok, so this post might seem a little dated, and in fact, you maybe thinking, "Am I really following a blogger who probably hasn't even taken her Christmas lights down yet?"  The answer is, "Maybe."  What I mean by that is, yes, my lights are down, but I have fallen a bit behind lately.  Mostly because there has been a string of illness flying around the house, and second, my consulting business seems to have gotten suddenly busy (and sorry folks, that's just a bit more lucrative than my AdSense account!).

But I didn't want to turn the corner to February without a small entry about Christmas.  I hosted Christmas Eve and morning this year and it was quite a hit.

Cranberry Almond Brie

First the fun stuff: The Menu. My brother made it up from California on Thurs night, so we started our happy holiday weekend with a batch of homemade spaghetti and--you guessed it--handmade spaghetti pasta noodles.  What a great way to kick off the holiday, don't you think?

For Christmas Eve, we followed up that ever-so-light spaghetti dish with a traditional Christmas dinner.  So, truth be told, I'm not much of a ham fan.  But since my brother is, and he drove all the way up from California to have it, I gave in and made a Cherry-Glazed Ham.

Here was our Christmas Eve menu and links to the recipes:

Cranberry Citrus Salad - Very light and yummy.  Recommend, especially if accompanying it with a heavy meal.

Cranberry and Almond Brie - Delicious.  Must have at every holiday meal from here on out.

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

Cherry-Glazed Ham - Liked it and would recommend it.  Even for non-ham lovers.

Cinnamon Apples - This was risk.  I mean, apples? I was worried only my two-year-old would like them, but turns out they tasted great with the ham.

Homemade Green Bean Casserole - This was such a hit at Thanksgiving, it was requested I make it again.  So I did.  I'm not one to turn away from rants and raves, afterall.

Cheesecake - This one was a little selfish. I enjoyed the cheesecake so much at Thanksgiving, I made it again.  But unfortunately, the only one who actually eats dessert at my house is my husband, and he doesn't like cheesecake.  So only one slice was taken out of it, and the dog ended up getting it.  He loved it, though.

The Decorations.

Well, you are just going to have to trust me on the menu, as I must have had too much "holiday cheer" Christmas Eve because I forgot to take pictures of anything cooked after noon (I do have some pictures of the lovely brie appetizer though).  Luckily, I did set the table early so I actually have pictures of that.

I used my good china--which happens to be Christmas China and the only China I own.  I found some gold chargers for a $1/piece at The Dollar Tree, as well as some napkins that matched.  Then I mixed and matched wine, beer, and port glasses, plus one port glass filled with Martinele's for Noah!

A Modern (and Adult) Take on Holiday Traditions

I love the holidays.  But being that for the last nine or so years there has been no "kids" in our family, Christmas can get pretty boring.

Have no fear, the Curtis clan is here!  Over the course of the last nine years, my family has come up with a new set of holiday traditions we enjoy that don't just involve watching little ones open gifts.  Now that we do have a little one in the family, it is pretty fun to do the Santa thing, but our other traditions still exist.

1. Shortbread with peppermint coffee.  Every year, I get out pounds of butter and make a GIANT batch of shortbread for us to enjoy with our peppermint coffee.  Shortbread is so easy to make, and granted, it's seriously fattening, but hey, it's only once a year!
2. Port and chocolate.  Apparently, my family loves food and drink.  So we follow up every dinner with a small glass of port (our favorite is Chateau Bianca, Dallas, Oregon) and a piece of fine chocolate.  This tradition started with my grandma, whose French grandfather used to serve port on the evenings of special occasions.  We would sit in the living room with port and listen to stories about our Great-Great Grandpa and the tradition just sort of stuck.
3. Elf Bowling.  This is a new tradition.  In fact, we are headed "elf bowling" tonight.  On the 23rd of December, we dress up in our favorite "elf" costumes (usually Christmas pajamas and a Santa hat, but this year it has turned into a sort of masquerade with my husband decked out in capris and jiggle bells, and my brother dresses as a D*ck in a Box).  Once all dressed up, we hit the local bowling alley for a little competitive elf bowling.  I do not know why dressing like an elf and bowling is so fun...it just is!
4. Touring the World.  My brother, sister, father, and I are quite into beer.  Maybe it's because there are 13 breweries just in Bend alone (making it the No. 1 microbrew per capita capital of the U.S.), or maybe it's just that we like to pretend we know what we're talking about when we drink.  Either way, this tradition started about seven years ago when I picked up one of those "Beers from All Around the World" 12-packs from World Market.  We had fun saying, "We've just landed in Japan" as we collaboratively sucked down a Sapporo. But now that we are a little more beer savvy, we realized those beer kits are just cheap macrobrews that taste like dirt.  So, instead, we head to the specialty markets and pick out our own twelve beers, each from a different country, and enjoy tasting something new as we "tour the world."  Hard to admit, but after seven years, we are running out of beers to try!
5. Stockings on Christmas Eve.  We used to do the whole sha-bang on Christmas day, but it's almost too overwhelming.  So a couple years ago, while trying to figure out what to do on Christmas Eve, we decided to open our stockings a day early.  You know, you just appreciate floss so much more when it's the only thing you open that day!
6. White Christmas.  OK, OK.  Other than my husband, the men in my family hate this tradition.  But every year, on Thanksgiving night, we cuddle up with a glass of wine and watch White Christmas.  It reminds us of my Grandma who is no longer able to travel to see us for the holidays, and it lets us bring a little "piece" of her to every holiday celebration.  A night of White Christmas just wouldn't be complete without talking about how "Bing Crosby would beat his kids," (says my Dad); "Did you know their shoes were two sizes too small but they had to wear them anyway," (me); and "Oh, yeah, tell the fat one she's hungry and needs to go eat a sandwich in the middle of the night," (all the women). 
7. Christmas Pajamas on Christmas Eve.  Ever since we were kids, my mom has insisted that there's nothing better than a new set of pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve.  But now I see there are two advantages to new Christmas Pajamas on Christmas Eve: 1) Looks good for pictures/video; 2) Elf Bowling (see item No. 3).
8. Ten Dollar Limit.  What's the point of buying expensive gifts for each other when you are old enough to buy yourself anything you want?  But...put a $10 cap on the gift giving, and all of a sudden things get pretty interesting!  For example, this year, I contemplated making my brother a mini-me of "D*ck in a Box" using a Ken doll and mini present confetti from the craft store.
9. Home Movies.  This is one of my favorite traditions.  My dad would always get out the 8MM film and play old Christmas movies to Christmas music as we hosted our Christmas dinner.  It gave people sitting on the couch something to watch, brought back memories of Christmases past, and was just something sentimental to do.  But the 8MM proved to be a huge pain for my dad, so five years ago, we transferred the film to DVD's.  Maybe the best Christmas gift ever.
10. Cinnamon Rolls on Christmas Morning.  What's delious and easy to heat up on Christmas morn?  Why, Cinnamin Rolls of course.  I look forward to their sweet smell every Christmas morning. Click here for my recipe.