Special meals to make ahead for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day?
Over the last few years I have found that making a stew or pot pie ahead of time and freezing it has made Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so much less stressful for me (I am the main cook for my little family of four and we celebrate Christmas day alone - I really want to be present with my kids and not trying to pull off miracles in the kitchen - but yet, I love a special meal). I'm looking for new ideas to try this year. For the past two years I made Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon ahead and froze it for Christmas Eve, and made Smitten Kitchen White Bean Pancetta Pot Pies for Christmas Day (also made ahead and frozen). Both were very successful - froze well, easy to reheat/bake on the holiday, resulting in a low stress day plus enjoyable holiday comfort food. Any new suggestions for similar wintry comfort foods that are special but would work well to make ahead? (Or which would be otherwise low effort on the actual holiday?) Thanks in advance for suggestions!
8 Comments
But Christmas seems to be different, and families (or whole cultures) have dishes they repeat and that they love. If you do that, your kids will build associations and memories with those dishes, as FritschKitchen reports for the quiche and monkey bread traditions.
Maybe stick with the Boeuf Bourguignon and White Bean Pot Pies, or find a couple dishes you like better & make them every Christmas until they leave home.
(Then, of course, they'll have something to rebel against...)
For dinner, if you want a project a few days before hand, tamales are great. You can make them and freeze them, then steam them for dinner. That is my family's traditional Christmas Eve dinner, with pinto beans made in the slow cooker. Everyone is free to enjoy their day and have a delicious dinner. Potpie is great as well. My favorite pot pie (we call it hug in a mug) is from Pam Anderson (recipe: http://threemanycooks.com/recipes/meaty-mains/chicken-potpie-green-apples-cheddar-biscuits/) I actually just made it this last Sunday and we've been happily enjoying leftovers all week. Lastly, a great make ahead meal (although not too elegant) is meatloaf... :)