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Whether you’re planning a picnic with your loved one, or a whole party, here is a Christmas menu for a very merry picnic. Every year for Christmas Eve we do an open house style party with a different food theme. My parents have been doing it for 30-some years.
Welcoming and filling is what my family had become known for at the holidays; complicated is not something my family messes with. All recipes are easy to make and/ get made in advance. While this celebration was originally made for young military folks who didn’t go home for the holidays.
Though the numbers have decreased, the themes have repeated. I look forward to it every year. Some themes of Years Past include:
- Charcuterie
- Soup
- Meatballs
- Brisket Sandwiches
- Cold Cut Buffet
- Sliders
- Dips
The theme for the year is agreed upon while we’re eating Thanksgiving dinner with the usual suspects. Our usual brain trust sessions usually go something like one person blurting out a theme and then we see how many things we can actually think of to go with that theme. Basically, throw sticky noodles at the wall and see what actually sticks.
Alas, this one was no different. I wanted to cook a ham, so the brain-trust I call a family started blurting ideas and we came up with: Picnic, but make it Christmas. Coming up with the food for that was a bit harder because winter as a season doesn’t scream picnic. But this is what we have:
- Glazed Ham
- Potato Salad
- Crockpot Mac & Cheese/Mac & Cheese Bites
- Caprese Salad
- Cheese cubes
- Colby
- Swiss
- Pepper Jack
- Parmesan
- Deviled Eggs
- Hot Apple Cider
- Veggie Tray
- Cheese Salsa
- Onion Dip
It is a great Christmas menu when you think about it! All the recipes are easy to whip together. The sides can be made in advance, and a single meat center piece. Grazable and grabbable.
These are family favorites through and through, just not what we eat at Christmas. Recipes don’t have a time of year. There are many summer recipes that appeared on the table. But in Southern Arizona, there’s no difference some years. So happy snacking this holiday season.
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