Holiday Hosting: Think Outside the Typical Christmas Dinner

Growing up we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve with a big family holiday dinner.  The actual 25th was a more relaxed day with the emphasis on breakfast. To my friends this was always met with envy when I could open my presents a full 12 hours before them! 

Now with two kids of my own, we have changed up our holiday traditions to reflect whatever worked best for us each year. When we lived in Australia, we had our main meal at lunchtime to escape the summer heat.  Back in Canada we have had small dinners for the 4 of us and large 20+ dinners on Christmas Eve. This year we let our extended family know we would be hosting everyone for a late lunch. The timing works for our family this year with elderly relations being able to drive home in daylight, aunts who like to be tucked up in their bed by 8pm and I personally am looking forward to a big holiday lunch followed by a long wintery walk and then curling up by the fire to enjoy leftovers and a glass of bubbly!

If you are in charge of the family meal this year, think outside the usual dinner hour and make it work for you and your family. You might even find a new tradition that suits everyone even better!

For our holiday lunch I'm serving our Onion & Fennel Soup in teacups to sip around the fire followed by our fully prepared Holiday Ham Menu. I'll serve Gluten Free Chocolate Date & Almond Torte as a decadent dessert but bring out warm bowls of Apple Crisp later in the evening to enjoy with our glass of bubbly toasting that everyone has gone home and the four of us are cozy together and relaxed!