We used to do the BIG Dinner thing and we found we spent the whole day cooking, wearing ourselves out. Now I fix a couple of soups a couple of days ahead and let them season up for a few days. On Christmas day I fill the crockpots, set out several kind of crackers, summer sausage and a variety of cheeses. My DIL makes deviled eggs and ham roll appetizers. We are finding we actually enjoy the day much more. We set everything out on the counter and eat buffet style. Oh, forgot to mention, it is also our daughters BD so we have cake and ice cream. We dedicate the day to her or she would be totally forgotten. We have our Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve with deep fat fried shrimp and all the fixings that go with that. Now that Santa doesn't come anymore we open all our gifts on Christmas Eve.