Youve Been Reviewed: What will be on your Christmas Dinner Table?

There are only a few more weeks until Christmas and that means besides gift shopping, we will all be food shopping. While Turkey is the main dish at Thanksgiving, it is also served on Christmas in many homes.

Of course, no one has to serve turkey; there is no rule or law that says so. The commercials on TV do lead us in that direction. You don’t see many ads featuring Prime Rib on the Christmas dinner table but I know some people who have had that meat as their entrée.

For those of you who prefer Turkey have you done a Turkey Breast instead of the whole bird? We prefer a breast since we don’t care for dark meat and for just the two of us the breast makes more sense.

Can you smell that Turkey Breast?

Because my husband and I have our holidays alone we have the ability to cook outside the box. We have prepared Prime Rib for Christmas and we have also dined on South Carolina Shrimp served with Lemon Pasta. All of a sudden I'm craving shrimp, I wonder why?!

Let’s see what else could be a turkey replacement…Ham, Pork Roast, Stuffed Chicken, Lasagna and the list goes on and on. If you are going with the basic roasted (or deep fried) Turkey with Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy and … and what else? What side dishes other than Green Bean Casserole or Baked Butternut Squash? Succotash is our favorite side dish any time of the year. I would serve Pickled Beets or Mashed Turnips, or both.

One item that I never consider part of a big Turkey dinner is a leafy green dinner salad. We love salad but it seems to be out of place with holiday meals. Maybe that is because when I was a kid the famous ‘Jello Salad’ was a big part of the celebrations! There is always room for Jello.

Don't forget the Dinner Rolls or Cornbread.

Who doesn't love Cornbread!

A fun way to have a Christmas dinner would be to divide up the work – the hostess provides the main entrée and the guests bring side dishes, bread/rolls, desserts. That would just take a little coordination so that you don’t wind up with 10 of the same side dishes.

Speaking of Christmas dinner….

you might know an elderly person who has no family and will be all alone. If you can find room at your table and in your heart - invite that person to share Christmas dinner with you. It could mean more to that person than you will ever

know.