Christmas Dinner Sucks

My mother had a love/hate relationship with Christmas Dinner.  She was tired from the night before (we always had a house full of company on Christmas Eve, and Mom cooked goodies for weeks to impress everybody).  Christmas Day -- people came late.  She was ALWAYS crabby...and I'm ashamed to say she never got much help with the clean-up.  At some point, she turned it into an end-of-the-year-clean-out-the-freezer-game-dinner.  She made turtle, beaver and fish...(food she, herself, would never eat.)

And, once again, my Mom was right about a lot of things...

Tonight, Christmas Eve, is when our family gets together.  Lilly and Warren will be here -- I'll make Brocolli-Cheese soup and lumpia.  We'll exchange gifts and have some homemade eggnog... 

My cousin Linda came used to live in Hawaii, and LOVES lumpia.  So last week, she came here and we spent the day making100 of these suckers...

We fried them, and put them in the freezer.  Tonight, I'll get them out, thaw for one hour, then reheat in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  PERFECT...

My homemade sweet and sour sauce has crushed pineapple and chopped green onions...

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The thing is -- by the time Christmas Day rolls around, I am over it.  Totally.  The kids want to stay home and enjoy their Santa gifts, and I AM SO HAPPY TO LET THEM DO THAT...lol... 

I honestly cannot even think about how or why I'd cook a big-ass Christmas dinner.

Several years ago, my sister Ronda had a very disappointing Christmas meal.  After standing in her kitchen for hours that day, it was dry turkey, runny mashed potatoes, and lumpy gravy.  AND she was still doing dishes at Midnight...

She's tried different things since then...appetizers were also a lot of work...lasagna felt a little ordinary.  But this year, I think she has struck on something very special.  AND EASY TO DO...

On Saturday -- I'm hoping to post pictures of what Ronda served her family for Christmas Dinner this year...SHE IS A GENIUS...