The Food, The Fun

I'm sure your families have Christmas Eve traditions- one of ours is our Christmas Eve feast. Everyone has to prepare something for our potluck dinner. This year's offerings were diverse and varied. And delicious!

Lindsey made Grinch kebabs and White Lightning slush.

The kebabs looked like Grinch heads!

Brian made a ham and cheese stuffed Stromboli. He really goes for hot pocket-type foods.

 Shannon brought these Loaded Potato slices. Lots of cheese, lots of bacon. Perfection!

 Ben made Parmesan Garlic Rolls. Mmmmm.

Here's Bruce watching the Food Network video of how to make Chateaubriand with Bearnaise Sauce. Ambitious? Yes. But it's Christmas Eve and we have to go all-out! I did have to step in and tell him the difference between a clove of garlic and a whole garlic head. He bought 7 heads of garlic at the store and I didn't want us all to die. If you need garlic, let me know.

 I was in charge of the Christmas Eve Corn Dogs. It wouldn't be Christmas without 'em.

I also made a really good onion dip with onions from my new BIL's farm up in Corinne. Recipe to come. Then I had to try these Cream Cheese Sausage Meatballs with Creamy Mustard Dipping Sauce. These were delicious and I'll be passing this recipe on too.

Peter outdid himself with this Crepe Cake! He's dating a girl who really knows how to cook and he's picking up vocabulary words like "ganache" and "frittata." This cake had 17 layers! Very impressive.

When our bellies were full, we read the Christmas story and played our traditional game of Christmas Eve Condiments. Then, somehow, the evening deteriorated into a hamstring stretching contest. Bruce has notoriously tight hamstrings and can't touch his toes. Now we know that Brian does too! The winners of the night: Lindsey took these pictures with her phone:

Peter, standing on 3 books, still touching the floor.

But Shannon, standing on 4 books, won when she could put her palms flat on the ground. Now that's freaky.