.

  Potential Problem on Christmas Day:

I was going to my in-laws on Christmas Eve, leaving in the afternoon, not coming home until the next day, around noon.  The plan for Christmas Day was for Matt and Kristi and Kayla to come over, have dinner, and open presents.  How could I prepare a holiday dinner when I would be getting home in just the knick of time to host dinner?

.

Solution:

My daughter-in-law, Kristi, gave me the idea of putting a turkey in the crock-pot before leaving the house on Christmas day.  I took Kristi's good advice/tip and put a boneless turkey in the Crockpot before leaving the house.  I put a box of Swanson’s chicken broth in the pot, and then added an entire jar of horseradish sauce. I cooked it on low, and when I served this turkey 24 hours later, it was perfect.

Sweet Potatoes with marshmallows on top – I had boiled about ten sweet potatoes 24 hours earlier, took their peels off when they were done, mashed them, mixed in an egg, 1 tsp of vanilla, and about ¾ cup of brown sugar.  Then I put it in the refrigerator. When I got home, a day later, I put this in the oven to bake for about 40 minutes at 350.  Ten minutes before they were done, I added half a bag of marshmallows on top. 

On Thanksgiving Day, I had tons of gravy.  More than we could eat at one meal.  So, I had divided all the gravy up into small Pyrex glass dishes and froze it.  For this Christmas meal, all I had to do was to pull my frozen gravy out of the freezer and dethaw (in the microwave).

I also had made a ton of stuffing on Thanksgiving Day.  I found a dish of stuffing in my freezer and was plesantly surprised - all the more less time I will have to spend on the day of Christmas.

I made boxed instant mashed potatoes to make it easy on myself.  I almost always use real potatoes, but for this day, I needed it to be quick and easy.  I really don’t think anyone even noticed that they were any different.

I made a great corn dish. I improvised from a recipe I was following trying to imitate a favorite corn dish that my family used to eat at a restaurant before they discontinued it.  My attempt was successful. They liked it better than our old favorite.

Mexican Corn

2 cans of Mexican corn (sold in Wal-mart right next to the other cans of corn)

2 cans of creamed corn

A pkg of Martha White corn bread, or some other kind similar

½ stick of butter

1 egg, whisked

2 cups of Mexican cheese

1 cup of sour cream

1 can of Green Chiles

Mix together and bake for 45 minutes at 350.  I guarantee you’ll love this recipe (if you like corn, that is.)

I also served rolls and canned cranberries.  I had meant to make a Green Bean Casserole, but it didn't happen.  There was plenty of food just the same.

Now, there is one thing that I haven’t told you about, yet.  When I made the sweet potatoes and the corn, I made two separate Pyrex glass dishes of it.  I have found that often when I serve a big meal, because there are so much choices of food to choose from, there is often a plethora of food left over.  On the other hand, I often have people just drop in that I did not expect.  It is hard to decide sometimes just how much food to really make.

My solution:  I make double of everything.  This way, if I have more people than I expected, I will have enough food.  If I have less, I have food for the freezer for another meal.  But in this case, on Christmas Day, I served the second’s of food for a great meal the day after Christmas when Matt and Kristi (and Kayla) joined us.