Christmas Appetizers Instead Of A Family Sit-Down Dinner
How to entertain at Christmas with your family in mind? The most important consideration is food, right? We stopped having a Christmas dinner many years ago. Once our children began having families of their own and celebrating with their spouses and significant other’s families, it became apparent that getting everyone together for a sit-down dinner was beyond frustrating and nearly impossible during the Christmas holiday. Someone else can tackle that task if they like. We chose to start setting out a display of appetizers so people could come and go all day on Christmas Eve. Anything to lower stress during the holidays, right?
[ctt template=”8″ link=”f7sQD” via=”no” ]Getting everyone together for a sit-down dinner frustrating and nearly impossible during the Christmas holiday? Consider this laid back appetizers, hors d’oeuvres, and desserts option.[/ctt]
Welcome to the 5th annual 12 Days of Holiday Ideas event, hosted by Shirley of Intelligent Domestications and Erlene of My Pinterventures Between Nov. 11th and December 6th there will be hundreds of new ideas shared by over 55 Co-host bloggers!
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Appetizers Idea For A Family Christmas Day
Mini Ham Sandwiches
Aside from cheese, crackers, chips, dips, and salsa, we enjoy mini sandwiches. My youngest son, Will, supplies a ham each year. We slice the ham and serve it with Hawaiian buns, sliced cheese, mustards, and mayonnaise for making mini ham sandwiches.
Ham and Cheese Stuffed Baby Red Potatoes Appetizers
Dave and I prepare the Ham and Cheese Stuffed Baby Red Potatoes the day before Christmas Eve. We store them overnight in a plastic container and pop them in the oven a couple of times during the party. Hot appetizers are a nice contrast to the cold appetizers. These baby red potatoes stuffed with a robust filling are a burst of flavor in a bite. The filling is made of cheddar cheese, chopped ham, sour cream, cream cheese, fresh chives, green onion, crushed pineapple, garlic salt, and red pepper. These are gone in no time!
Red Pepper-Ham Roll-Ups
We make the Red Pepper-Ham Roll-Ups early in the day and refrigerate the rolls. Then, before serving, we cut the rolls and add the toothpicks and olives. The filling is made of cream cheese, garlic, toasted walnuts olives, roasted red bell peppers, and pepper. You simply spread the mixture on thinly sliced ham. These are a family favorite.
Gold Star Chili Dip
Aidan requests Gold Star Chili Dip. Talk about an easy dish, this is one! Preheat oven to 350°. In a 9″ x 13″ casserole, spread a layer of 12 ounces of softened cream cheese. Open a 15-ounce can of Gold Star Chili and spread on top of the cream cheese. Add a bag of shredded cheddar cheese on top of the chili. (Use as much or as little as you like!) Heat in the oven until the cheese is completely melted. Serve with tortilla chips.
Pizza Appetizers
A week ahead, I make the little Pizza Appetizers and freeze them in Ziploc bags. It is easy to pull a bag of them out of the freezer, pop them in the oven, broil for about 3 minutes, and serve hot on a platter. It’s nice to have some hot appetizers and easy to broil two or three batches at different times during the day.
A mixture of browned ground beef and sausage combines with Velveeta cheese, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder spread on party Rye bread make up this mini appetizer. These are so easy and some of my favorites!
Vegetable Tray
Of course, you know we have to have a fresh vegetable tray with ranch dip. We cut up, wash, and prepare the vegetables on Christmas Eve morning. Extra vegetables can be stored in Ziploc bags to retrieve as the vegetables on the platter disappear.
Shrimp Scampi Dip
Tiffany brings her delicious Shrimp Scampi Dip and serves it with tortilla chips. This dip is made of shrimp sauteed in butter, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, dry white wine, lemon juice, cream cheese, sour cream mayonnaise, fresh parsley, mozzarella cheese, and Parmigiano Reggiano.
Oh, my gosh, this dip is so good. You simply have to try it. It is addictive. Your guests will love it!
Drinks And Dessert
Be sure to supply a variety of drinks, from wine and mixed drinks to water and soft drinks. To make things even easier, you won’t have to supply a dessert if you host a dessert contest! We just enjoy the entries in the annual Dessert Contest!◄ Click here for how to.
This informal holiday family get-together ends up allowing everyone to play cards, board games, eat, drink, and just socialize. Create your own family traditions and memories.
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I will have to try some of these! If I had my way, we would always do just appetizers instead of a full meal.
There are times when I would just as soon have appetizers, too! Lol! Thanks for stopping by.