7 fishes

Lapsed Catholic here but we do variations of the traditional Seven Fishes. It's actually really easy...ready to eat crab meat, shrimp or seafood salad with a little pasta and oil.

I like this thread too! Thanks OP!

We also do lasagna with salad and lots of aps - cheese, great bread, dips.

We do lasagna, salad etc with lots of wine on Christmas Eve!

Anonymous wrote:We often do breakfast for dinner on Christmas Eve. One year, I made enchiladas, which was also a bit.

*hit (not bit!)

We do a big dinner on Eve and low key in Christmas night. Our Eve dinner is a Norwegian dinner. White fish with crab. White potatoes. Green peas. Other greens. White rolls. Rice pudding. Yum.

OP here- All these responses are great ideas and I love hearing them. Please keep them coming!

Smorgasboard.

We often do breakfast for dinner on Christmas Eve. One year, I made enchiladas, which was also a bit.

We do Mexican food & margaritas before midnight mass (but I'm from Texas)! I do a big traditional dinner (prime rib, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, etc) on Christmas Day so it's nice to have something different Christmas Eve.

We do lasagna, which is also easy to prepare in advance. I've also seen (but not tried) crock-pot recipes.

We go to the children's Mass on Christmas Eve so that we don't have to all get up and out of the house on Christmas morning. Usually I do some kind of soup with bread or rolls. Simple, easy and can be made ahead of time.

Anonymous wrote:We do chili on NYE. Always a hit, can simmer in the crock or on the stove all day, and is easy for whomever is cooking.

My husbands family always does pizza. I love pizza, so sign me up!

Oh chili is a great idea for a winter's night. And uncomplicated to put together. Thanks!

We do chili on NYE. Always a hit, can simmer in the crock or on the stove all day, and is easy for whomever is cooking.

My husbands family always does pizza. I love pizza, so sign me up!

So without kids in the extended family for a while, we've been less careful about following traditions. Now that my DD is two, she's starting to understand holidays and we're trying to bring back fun rituals. The last few years we've done a big Christmas Day dinner with a honeybaked ham, homemade popovers, scalloped potatoes, spicy brussel sprouts, etc. I'm stumped on what to do for Christmas Eve dinner though.

Last year, we left my grandma's house late after a midday get-together and since we were making the big meal the next day, we didn't want to cook and thought we'd pick something up on the way home. Everything was closed (duh!) so we ended up getting McDonald's and my mom joked that could be our new tradition. Help me come up with something better!

Do you do a low-key dinner on Christmas Eve in contrast to Christmas? Do you do the big dinner on Christmas Eve? A dinner both days? I don't mind cooking real dinner on Christmas Eve, but I guess I'd prefer it not to be a huge production. I also don't mind getting yummy take-out as long as it's open and not McDonald's! It would be nice to have a contrast, but something fun we still look forward to each year. Have any ideas? Thanks!