I am not quite sure where this started, but I remember it kind-of being a thing growing up. My mom can correct me, or update me when she reads this. Christmas day I don’t remember doing a big meal, I only remember having a big meal on Christmas Eve. Sometimes there were other people, sometimes it was just our family. But I loved it.

Fast forward to my husband and I. His family always had a big meal on Christmas day, so that left Christmas Eve free for me to continue doing a Christmas Eve dinner. But we don’t do a huge dinner, well actually, there’s lots of food, but it’s not what you’d call a traditional meal and it’s evolved over the years.

I love crackers, cheese and meat, not just as a snack sometimes, but as a whole meal. This is how it all got started. For Christmas Eve I would get some fancier cheese, variety of crackers, and then some deli meat and summer sausages and we’d celebrate with our little family. 

Then when we started having kids we decided it would be fun to invite the in-laws. This went on for a couple of years in our shop we were living in, just us and grandma and grandpa. One year there was a couple at our Church that didn’t have any family around so we invited them over as well. 

This went on for several years until we were able to have it in our house. Not our finished house, but we were working on it and it was insulated. We would start a fire in the fireplace, set up a couple sawhorses with a piece of plywood for the food, and get out the camp chairs, sitting around visiting and eating for the evening.  A few years later there were others in our Church who didn’t have family around and so we started to expand and continue to do so today. 

The menu started to expand as well. What started out with our crackers, meat and cheese have turned into a full blown meal of appetizers and finger foods. We have our cheeses, I usually try to get about 6-8 varieties of hard cheese that vary from year to year depending on what I find in the store. I also really like brie, so I usually get one larger one that I can bake to soften. This year Costco had a variety pack of 6 smaller ones, so I’m going to try that.

We have stuck with the same kind of meats, ham, turkey or chicken, and roast beef, along with the summer sausage. I also love cocktail meatballs. I buy the 5 pound bag of meatballs at Costco and make them in my crockpot using 1 can of jellied cranberry sauce and 1 jar of chili sauce. 

I also make a veggie tray, usually consisting of broccoli, carrots, celery and then whatever else I find that looks fresh, like peas, cauliflower, cucumbers, etc. I make a dip from 1 -16 oz container of sour cream, and 1 packet of onion soup mix. 

I love fresh fruit, so I usually try to have apples and oranges sliced up, sometimes some berries if I can find fresh ones for sale that look decent. I make a dip for the fruit out of 1 – 8oz pkg of cream cheese softened, 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Whipping it up with an electric mixer makes it pretty light and fluffy. 

Along with those staples, we usually do some sort of bread, sometimes we have spinach dip, and jams/jellies that we made throughout the summer. The guests who come usually bring a dish to share as well, so there’s no shortage of food. 

I love the holiday season, and over the years I’ve come to realize it’s not because of Christmas morning, but all the stuff leading up to Christmas. One of my favorite parts being Christmas Eve, seeing all the people, visiting, enjoy, watching the kids grow up, playing games, etc. It’s always fun and I’m excited again for this year!