Holiday Dinner Like A Pro

Hello friends! Today I want to do a recap of our holiday dinner and how to host like a pro. I know this post is a little late to the game, but I’ve been soaking up every single moment of the holidays and neglecting my social media in the mean time. I gathered up all the recipes I used for our holiday dinner menu this year, and let me tell you they are ALL winners. From start to finish, with exception of the brisket, this whole menu took less than 6 hours. Read on if you want to know how to host holiday dinner like a pro. I hope each and every one of you had an absolutely wonderful holiday and made a ton of memories that will last a lifetime.

We hosted for Christmas this year and it was so much fun! I’m no chef but I love to experiment with new recipes when I can. This year Jared smoked a 14 pound brisket while I ran around like a crazy person in the kitchen preparing our Christmas Menu. Which I unfortunately didn’t get enough pictures of, so the one below will have to do. The trick to making these 6 dishes in 6 hours on one stove/oven? Prep prep prep! I carefully laid out all the items needed for each dish on Christmas Eve and then prioritized by what takes the longest. So, I started with the risotto and ended with the lobster tails (they only take about 15 minutes). When it came time to serve, nothing was cold and the brisket had just finished! Our brisket took about 12 hours on the smoker.

holiday-dinner-menu

For hors d’oeuvres I served Persimmon Bruschetta and a festive cheeseboard with way too many items to say, except bacon jam. I will always mention bacon jam because that stuff is THE BOMB. I picked it up at Trader Joe’s, they always have a great selection of unique and eclectic products.

Our main course included:

Spinach, Feta and Walnut Salad

Brown Butter Broiled Lobster Tails

Prosciutto Wrapped Green Beans

Sweet Potato Risotto

Smoked Brisket

Pork Shoulder Lettuce Wraps

And finally for desert I made a Cherry Cheesecake Chocolate Bundt Cake that turned out pretty well. Except for the fact that it stuck in the pan and then broke in half and turned into a gooey mess, but it tasted amazing! Next time I’ll make sure I grease that pan like my life depends on it.

I’ve linked all the recipes I used with the title of the item with exception of the pork shoulder because my girlfriend brought that badboy over. I pretty much find all my meals on social media and tweak from there. I will say for each of these dishes, they all taste better with a little truffle salt or oil. 😉 Except for the bundt cake, but who really knows I didn’t try.

What are you favorite holiday dishes? Lobster tails have turned into our tradition, and I think we may have sealed the deal this year with the brisket too. Making new family traditions is so much fun and something I can’t wait to share with our future family.

All the love from my family to yours, thanks for reading.

xo

-Emily

5 thoughts on “Holiday Dinner Like A Pro

  1. This all looks so delicious, Emily. Such a variety! Here in England it’s pretty traditional to have a turkey with stuffing, brussel sprouts and yorkshire puddings (along with much more). My French boyfriend also traditionally has lobster tail for Christmas! Sounds like I need to pimp up my dinner haha. I can’t wait to host like this one day, it seems so exciting. I love putting everything together, organising the table – and choosing the menu! 😉 Also loving the site, it’s very cute, looking forward to reading your future posts 🙂

    Kim
    thecaramelchronicles.com

    1. thetraveler says:

      Hi Kim!
      Thanks so much for stopping by. I love hearing about what other traditions are! To be honest I’ve never had Yorkshire pudding, but I’m definitely pudding it on my list of things to try. 😉 Hosting really is fun, I love that it gives me an excuse to decorate our table and break out the nice serving ware. Wishing you a very happy and healthy new year!

      Emily

  2. This food looks amazing. You’ve inspired me to put a little bit more thinking into my food art. I usually am just a hurry and get it done kind of girl, but I really enjoyed reading this. I appreciate the time you took to write it and giving us all the recipes. The pictures and displays were absolutely gorgeous!

  3. Wow Emily! This spread looks amazing! I new you to come cook for me!

  4. Oh my gosh this spread looks incredible! Brisket is one of my favorites and something I don’t have too often, but when I do- yum!!!

    I couldn’t agree more with taking some time away from social media- I did the same and it felt so good, but at the same time I’m excited to be back! Our family definitely feasted as well – lobsters included too 😉

    Happy Monday!
    XO,
    Kim

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