https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/beef-braised-in-red-wine-2...

Mashed potatoes, steamed baby carrots and dinner rolls.

We end up having three (!!!) Christmas dinners.

My mom and SF, et al, do a spaghetti dinner. My SF makes his delicious spaghetti sauce, and the rest of us pitch in bread, other sauces, salads, and desserts. Last year I made Alton Brown's sour cream cheesecake.

I make prime rib with potatoes of some sort, rolls, a vegetable, salad, and amaretto cake for lunch with DH's family.

My dad usually comes on January 1st, so I make corned beef and cabbage. I may add black eyed peas this year, but haven't been entirely sold on that.

If we have dinner at my house, I make a prime rib roast with either roasted red potatoes or au gratin potatoes. I round it out with salad and dinner rolls, and then pie for dessert.

If my mother is in town and hosts dinner, she makes ham and prime rib, along with sides of potatoes, salad, rolls and then dessert.

Our traditional orphan's Xmas dinner is usually bone-in prime rib, roasted beet salad, double baked potatoes, creamed spinach. We usually do a pumpkin and a pecan pie.

Not sure what we're going to do this year as DH is in chemo and not enjoying much of an appetite. We will be laying low. Might be our holiday dinner is middle-eastern take out, lol. Easy peasy!

We used to have a Christmas eve get together with great grandparents and would have clam chowder and chili, and then there would be all the Christmas snacks out- the only one I can really remember was oyster crackers with some dill/garlic powder all over them, white chocolate pretzels, divinity and stuff. We always made sugar Christmas cookies with homemade frosting in all colors, and then decorated them with all kinds of different sprinkles.

In the morning we had my mom's chex mix (my favorite), ate candy out of our stockings, and had this slush my mom made in paper cups that was red with pinapple chunks....I have no idea, but she made it yearly.

There was some kind of weight watcher's Christmas pie that was all white and fluffy, but not cheesecake, or coconut.

Later in the afternoon we'd go the grandparents house and have a dinner much like Thanksgiving.

I no longer do much for Christmas. I love seeing what other's make- great for ideas!

Our family get together is Christmas Eve and we do heavy hors d'oeuvres (such as ham on sweet potato biscuits, thinly sliced roast beef on soft yeast rolls, grilled shrimp) with a hot spiced wine (hot chocolate for the littles). Lots of finger foods.

We're heavy on apps and finger foods.

Other than the usual spread of paté, crackers, baguette, brie, various cheeses....fruits and veggies on trays... deviled eggs and pickled everything..... I'll be making Chocolate dipped bacon, Olive penguins, and snowballs

For actual dinner, we'll either be having turkey, duck, or individual pheasants/quail - haven't decided yet.

Probably with mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, maple carrots, honey mustard brussel sprouts, and macaroni salad.

My suggestion is to not over complicate it for yourself. Don't try to do a new recipe with multiple ingredients or complicated techniques.

Do a HAM... A turkey.. a roast.. Add easy made ahead or simple things like cheese platter apps.. chilled shrimp.. crescent rolls... mashed potatoes and gravy. Shoot.. get a Stoufers lasagna and add some extra oregano and extra mozzarella and have that as a 2nd main dish.

cola or root-beer or dr. pepper glazed ham, with au gratin potatoes, peas, applesauce, and nice, squishy rolls.

LOL. Since we have the SDs every Xmas dinner, I don't cook it.
Nope! I'll make dessert but that's it.
OR if DH has the idea I'll help but I'm not in charge.
This changed last year when the prior year he and I bought a LOT of expensive things (with SDs input) and we made a huge meal that took a lot of time and then...they ate two bites and declared themselves done. I was soooo mad but ended any holiday time then and there. I think he did a roast chicken or something simple last year. I'm usually working until the eve so I can't spend a lot of cooking/baking time anyway.

Oh, I do remember I was going to make a bread pudding this year for dessert.

For Thanksgiving though, I'll do some thing for just DH and I if we don't travel.
Last year I made tourtierre with fresh brussels sprouts. I cannot remember what dessert was but I did make it.
The prior year was a chicken roasted with proscuitto, fresh basil and rosemary. And I made a lemon/almond cake filled with lemon curd. I remember than because I dropped half of it on the counter.
This year we'll be in London so no idea. I'll probably make something for New Year's though...have to start scouring my recipies!