Christmas Eve Menu
I’m feeling nostalgic this year about Christmas Eve. The traditions of my husband’s family and my family are so different. This Christmas Eve menu belongs to the Larsens.
For my family’s Christmas Eve, we had kind of a strange tradition. We would roast hot dog on the fireplace, and eat them with baked beans and potato chips. That may sound weird, but it was an easy dinner for my mom in the midst of hectic Christmas preparations. And it was a huge treat for us, because hot dogs and potato chips were not on our regular menu. At all.
My husband’s formative years were spend in Germany. His father was the head of a division of Honeywell over there. They started living there in 1962, and that time was fraught. World War II was only 17 years behind them, and the country was still recovering. His mother was scared of many of the German people, and so he was too. And can you imagine how terrifying it was living overseas when President Kennedy was shot? Early rumors were that it was the Russians. They had to get ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
At any rate, they always went to Switzerland to go skiing at Christmas. And the traditional Christmas Eve dinner, or one of them, in that country is fondue. So that’s what they had.
This is a lovely menu, festive and communal. The fondue is served with a wonderful fruit salad enveloped in a lemon cream. And of course Christmas cookies are the dessert.
Christmas Eve Menu
Cheese fondue isn’t difficult to make. It just takes some patience and time. Never buy pre-grated cheese; it is coated with starch so it won’t melt evenly. You must stir constantly once the cheese is added to the wine.
If you don’t want to go to this much trouble, there are some prepared fondues that you can buy in the refrigerated section of the supermarket; Swiss Knight Fondue is the brand I have used. All you do it melt the blocks, and voila! Fondue.
I like to serve this fondue with some sturdy bread. Cut the bread so each piece has some of the crust. It’s also wonderful with cubes of apples, and with small sausages or sliced, browned sausage like kielbasa or Polish sausage.
I always thought this was the strangest name for this salad. Yes, it has to sit for 24 hours in the fridge, but that is a completely unromantic name that doesn’t describe the salad at all.
You make a custard with eggs, marshmallows, sugar, lemon juice, and pineapple juice, then fold in crushed pineapple, and fruits like strawberries and grapes., along with more mini marshmallows. The original recipe uses bananas, but I refuse to use bananas in my recipes, so they are out. And I fiddled with the recipe so the custard isn’t runny. Melting some marshmallows into the custard while it’s hot, as well as cooking thoroughly, are key.
This salad is cool, creamy, delicious. and the perfect complement to the rich and hot fondue.
This is all you need for dessert. Eat them as you unwrap presents (the German tradition is to unwrap presents on Christmas Eve). The cookies that Doug’s family required included Mexican Tea Cakes (also known as Daddy cookies, since they were Ted’s favorite), preferably wrapped around a Hershey’s Kiss, and Starlight Mint Chocolate Cookies.
Merry Christmas!
