Christmas Recipes
Making Your Holiday Menu Perfect
We all want the very best Christmas dinner, dessert, candy, cookies and cakes on our family’s table this holiday season. So where do we start? The biggest meal will be Christmas dinner, whether it is eaten in the evening time when the presents and festivities are over for the day, or whether it is eaten as a late, lunch, it is definitely the meal that everyone is looking forward to. The Christmas recipes that you use to prepare your meal are key to the success of the meal.
Starting with the main dish, you should first decide on your menu for the day. Traditionally a ham is served for Christmas dinner, but there are definitely no hard and fast rules that says you must serve ham. After you have your main dish, move on to the side dishes, breads, condiments, drinks and desserts. A great way to find new Christmas recipe ideas is to look on the internet. There are thousands of recipes that people have chosen to share with the world. Now that you have your menu all planned, you can start looking for some incredible recipes to prepare your dishes.
A favorite recipe for that Christmas main dish is one that can be found on allrecipes.com. The ingredients you will need are 1 (10 lb) bone-in ham, rum portion. If you are expecting a larger crowd, you can get a larger ham. You will need ½ cup of whole cloves, 1 cup packed brown sugar, and approximately 4 cups water. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, place the ham in a roasting pan, and press whole cloves into the top at about 1 to 2 inch intervals. Pack the top of the ham with a layer of brown sugar. Pour enough water into the bottom of the roasting pan to create a 1 inch depth. Cover the pan tightly with the lid, or by using aluminum foil. Bake the ham for 4 ½ to 5 hours in the preheated oven, or approximately 22 minutes per pound, or until the internal temperature of the ham has reached 160 degrees. Make sure that if you are using a meat thermometer that it is not touching the bone. Let the ham rest for about 20 minutes before beginning to carve.
Now that you have an incredible recipe for your Christmas ham, finding some great side dishes will be the next step. How about a green bean recipe, sweet potatoes with a marshmallow topping, the all time favorite of garlic mashed potatoes, or a tasty spinach salad will all compliment your ham.
Whether you are Italian, American, Polish, or Chinese, the recipes that you choose for your Christmas dinner will be remembered and talked about for days to come. Choose carefully, and research what recipes are sure to be ones that your toddler, teenagers, and adults will all love. |