Help me complete my Christmas menu

[Anonymous]

We will be having crown roast of pork with apple stuffing, a salad with greens/dried cranberries/mandarin oranges/nuts and strawberry cheesecake. What else?

[Anonymous]

fresh bread, a chocolate dessert of some kind

[Anonymous]

Some other warm sidedish, like roasted brussel sprouts, or twice-baked potatoes, etc.

I'm always a fan of a first course, and often do a pureed soup that I can make and freeze ahead to keep it easy. Butternut squash soup is a favorite. If you're having a lot of folks, you can even serve this in teacups to sip as an appetizer while they mingle, pre-dinner.

[Anonymous]

potatoes or noodles

[Anonymous]

Love the idea of a soup first course. How about a potato gratin and a roasted green vegetable (second the brussels sprouts becuase I've been on a kick about them lately).

[Anonymous]

hot green veggie of some sort. We usually do Brussels sprouts, sometimes green beans with almonds.

Seafood is often a part of a Christmas menu. Mini crabcakes might make a nice appetizer to pass, if you have oven space for them. Or shrimp cocktail.

As much as I love bread and potatoes, I don't think you need them as well as the stuffing. And I'd normally do cheese either as an appetizer or with dessert, but with cheesecake as your dessert, that might be too much.

[Anonymous]

You can do a baked corn casserole-type dish that you can make ahead and just reheat. Allrecipes has a lot of them, for example: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Corn-Casserole-III/Detail.aspx

[Anonymous]

Butternut Squash Gratin

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Butternut-Squash-Gratin-with-Rosemary-Breadcrumbs-104303

[Anonymous]

I'd add some kind of soup to start with as well as another side vegetable plus fresh bread or rolls.