We don't always have a sit-down formal holiday dinner, as my son lives three hours away and my daughter also has in-law holiday obligations, as well as needing to have her own immediate family time. I refuse to stress either one, with a written-in-stone dinner time, so try to keep things more flexible.
There's usually either a beef roast (sometimes w/carrots & potatoes) or chicken breasts, in the slow-cooker. In addition to that, I may have some deli meats (turkey, ham), in the fridge. In the past, we've also had baked fish. I try to have potato salad and fruit salad, in the fridge. Once people are here, I'll bake some yams (my bunch can't stand the marshmallow recipe, so I bake them with cinnamon, a bit of sugar, a dash of lemon juice, a touch of vanilla, and pecans, if I have them). Then I fix (all or some) green beans and/or peas, corn on the cob, broccoli w/cheese. We almost always have a request for Stove Top Cornbread dressing, so that's always in the pantry, just in case (very quick, to fix). Sometimes we have beets (pickled or not).
Bread is usually French bread type rolls (in case someone wants a sandwich) and Brown & Serve rolls.
Desserts vary. I usually make almond biscotti, around the holidays, so there's almost always some of that. There's usually a pie of some sort (home-made or store-bought), maybe a cake or cupcakes, usually assorted cookies, and ice cream.
My daughter & SIL usually bring wine.
Back when the kids were small (and we lived closer to our families), we had the huge family holiday dinners. I'd bake a humongous turkey, with all the trimmings. Guests would bring casseroles or whatever. The most popular dish was almost always the homemade potato salad (made with 10 lbs. potatoes and at least a dozen eggs).
This year, I may make finjuna (the Italian grandpappy of pizza). Haven't had that, in a while.
Last edited by Neesie; 10-18-2012 at 09:31 AM.