How to host Christmas dinner when you can't cook???

[Anonymous]

For X-mas Eve, I suggest Giant catered platters, e.g.,:
http://giantfood.com/onlinestore/storeitem.html?&iid=203&cid=132&sid=350&lang=0&vid=20060501002
http://giantfood.com/onlinestore/storeitem.html?&iid=192&cid=138&sid=350&lang=0&vid=20060501002
http://giantfood.com/onlinestore/storeitem.html?&iid=342&cid=138&sid=350&lang=0&vid=20060501002

For X-mas day, Giant also sell cooked sliced hams in the refrigerated meat section. You don't need to pre-order but you may want to check a few days ahead to make sure they have them.

For appetizers:
Buy crackers, a wedge of blue cheese, a wedge of a hard cheese like cheddar or manchego, and a goat cheese (coated in chives or herbs for festive green look). Arrange on a large cutting board or platter that you can cut on with appropriate spreaders/cutters and crackers. Wash off bunches of grapes, and snip the stems with scissors to make small bunches and decorate the edges of the platter.

Buy pre-made hummus and serve with pre cut baby carrots.

Buy roasted LIGHTLY salted or no salt cashews or other nuts.

Buy PITTED olives, whatever you like. Drain and serve in a little bowl on a smaller platter with pre-sliced sliced salmi.

Slice up or buy pre sliced melon or serve a bowl of berries.

For dinner:
Ham (pre-cooked, pre-sliced) and potato rolls on platter. Can serve at room temperature.

Salad: Can you make a green salad? Consider adding pistachios, cranberries, and maybe thinly sliced endive to make it look Christmasy. You can prep the day b/f but don't put any dressing on. If you don't own a salad spinner, buy the Oxo. Well dried lettuce will wilt less.

Sweet potatoes: Do you own a rimmed, half baking sheet? If not you need to buy one and practice this recipe. It was written for kids. (Double it for the day off.) Personally I would use all sweet potatoes b/c I love them with ham.
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/smoky-mixed-potato-wedges/#SmiU2qcvMOdxPdIg.97

Frozen peas: If you can boil water you can make these: http://www.wikihow.com/Cook-Frozen-Peas
Top with butter.

Dessert: Buy awesome pie, cupcakes, or cookies.

Day of starting about 2 hours b/f arrange appetizers, set out ham on platter. Pre heat oven. Set water onto boil. Prep ingredients and "cook." Arrange desserts on platter and leave in the kitchen.

[Anonymous]

My sister hosted Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for years and she couldn't cook at all. Not wouldn't cook. Couldn't cook. Unless you call opening a can and heating that up. She somehow managed to mess that up too.

She ordered turkeys and hams, each of us brought what we cooked the best, I brought a side and a dessert. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Most guests whether family or not want to bring something.

Keep a list and some standby easy vegetable and meat platters just in case. Enjoy your day, don't sweat it at all. It's not about the food, it's about the company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep, honey baked ham is the way to go. Lasagna is good for the night before because you can make it in advance and reheat. With 16 people, you can do 2 or 3 of them -- one meat, one spinach, and if you're really up for it a third with spicy sausage. It's not hard to learn and you have plenty of time to hunt recipes and practice. (Or you can buy them to go--try Vace, the Italian Store, or your favorite Italian restaurant.) If lasagna's too intimidating, baked ziti is also a good way to go.

For each meal, add a spinach salad. Sure you can do a basic tossed one but spinach is just as easy and seems a little fancier. Use the triple-washed baby spinach you can buy in a tub (I wash it again and spin it dry), then add something red (just one thing -- sliced strawberries, or dried cranberries), goat cheese, one thing that's crunchy (walnuts, or sunflower seeds, or pepitas (pumpkin seeds)), and a balsamic vinaigrette, which you can buy in a bottle. If you want to get fancy with the nuts, you can toast them first, which you do by putting them in a dry nonstick skillet over low-to-medium heat for just a few minutes, tossing them to keep them from burning. When they've just started to turn brown and give off a little nutty aroma, they're done. It's a nice flavor for salads. People will like the red-and-green look of the spinach and strawberries (or cranberries).

For the Christmas Eve meal, add garlic bread and you're done.

For the Christmas Day meal, add scalloped potatoes (I think you can buy these as a side at Honey Baked), dinner rolls, and some green beans. Here's an easy way to do green beans: Wash them and break off the ends. Get a big bowl of ice water ready, some pre-sliced almonds, half a lemon, and salt. Either steam or boil the green beans just until they get really bright green, about 3-4 minutes. Taste one--when it's lost the "raw" flavor, but still has a bit of crunch, it's done. Immediately put them in the ice water and let them cool. That keeps the crunch and stops them from getting soggy. Drain them and set aside. You can do the steps up to this part in advance.

Right before you're going to serve them, pre-heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high (not all the way high). Swirl some olive oil in the pan, then stir-fry the green beans enough to get hot and coated in oil. Then add the sliced almonds, and squeeze the lemon all over. (Fancy cooks will use cheesecloth or their fingers to keep the seeds from falling in, but I don't worry about it -- no one ever died of a lemon seed, or even complained about it.) Salt, remove from heat, and into the serving bowl--serve hot.

+1 Very nice ideas. I think purchasing the lasagna at a good Italian Store or restaurant makes great sense for the OP. You were very nice to post in such detail, it really covers everything for both meals. (also put out some cheese & crackers, grapes and a bowl of nuts before dinner. Ask the guests to bring desserts.

[Anonymous]

It's a bit about the food too.

[Anonymous]

Ho,eybaked ham a,saturday breadt. Or,call a caterer. I once had a small catering company and had a client who truly could not cook and wecatered her Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. We did everything.