Weddingbee boards

     We've finally ironed out our Holiday schedule!  After juggling airline ticket prices and work schedules we've landed on visiting his family the week before Christmas and my parents coming to visit us the week after Christmas.  This leaves just the two of us at home together for Christmas... which I'm very excited about!  Since this is our first Christmas, I really want to make it special.  I'd like to make a nice meal that evening but am not sure what to prepare.  Obvious Holiday staples like turkey or ham are problimatic because they usually come in such large quantities.  We're all for leftovers but don't want to be eating leftovers for the next two weeks.  Any ideas for a special meal that's not too gigantic?

Lobster tail or prime rib? Or steak and shrimp? Some kind of surf and turf deal. If you aren't into red meat you could also do a fancy seafood pasta-- like lobster ravioli or crab risotto.

You can also roast a turkey breast as opposed to an entire turkey.

Sounds like fun!

We had our first Christmas dinner together last year -- and it was just the two of us.

We had a roast chicken, with lots of the 'trimmings' you'd usually have with a turkey or a goose. It was absolutely gorgeous -- just the right size for two, with some leftovers. We then had brussels sprouts cooked with pancetta, roast potatoes and pumpkin (roasted in goose fat -- makes them delicious!), honeyed carrots, yorkshire puddings and gravy.

We then had a Christmas pudding with custard (for him) or cream (for me), and lots of nibbles throughout the day.

Breakfast was smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels in bed, a nice counterpoint to the roast chicken later in the day!

We're planning to do almost exactly the same thing this year. It was great.

If you want a "Christmas" feel, then a Cornish Game Hen might be nice. They're the perfect size for 2 and taste a lot like turkey. Then just do smaller versions of all the other staples.

If you want something different than Christmas dinner, I second a steak and seafood dinner. Nummy.

Yum!  These are all great ideas!  I'm so excited about making this a special meal.  The best part is that he works night shift and works the night before.  He'll get home early Christmas morning and will go to bed.  I hope to have an amazingly delicious smelling house waiting for him when he wakes up! :)

My fiance's family always has cheese enchiladas for Christmas dinner. (I have no idea why, since they are SWEDISH), but they could be easily adapted to a smaller-sized recipe.

We usually have a ham for Christmas dinner and then I use the bone to make split pea soup two days later. Ham also freezes well so if we have extras beyond that I will usually slice it and freeze it to use later in ham tetrazzini or some other recipe.

Congratulations on your first Christmas alone together!

@futuremrsreed - I was originally thinking about Mexican food because my husband in Mexican American.  But, I realized that we will be visiting his family the week before and have a week full of great Mexican food and I definitely can't compete with his Grandma's cooking!

@fallflowers -- Don't think it as "competition." Think of it as putting your own spin on it. That is what I always do when my FI complains that my lasagna doesn't taste like his mother's, even when I use her super-weird recipe.