Every year, alongside dinner preparations, what occupies the minds of children as their parents prepare dinner is whether their own personalized letter from Santa Claus was answered or not. Parents smile as they listen to children talk among themselves regarding their Santa Claus letter.
Christmas dinner usually consists of the traditional turkey or ham, mashed potatoes, a Christmas pie recipe that has been in the family for generations and chestnuts, which visitors roast in the fire place. Nowadays, chestnuts can also be roasted in the microwave for half a minute, but the traditional way of roasting does fill the air with a smell that is just priceless. Another Christmas dinner staple is egg nog. Every family has a different recipe for egg nog. Families that have small children usually make a separate egg nog for the kids which is non-alcoholic, while the grown ups enjoy the more alcoholic version. Fruit cake is another Christmas favorite which the family usually enjoys after dinner with a warm cup of hot chocolate.
The first thing you need to do for Christmas dinner celebrations is count how many guests are arriving about two weeks beforehand. Next, in the early morning of Christmas Eve (or the day before depending on when you plan to have your special meal), start preparing your Christmas table. You need to make a centerpiece which usually consists of red and green candles, holly, Christmas balls and angels. Depending on the number of guests you plan to have, you need to put bowls around the house filled with red and green or peppermint candy, preferably. If you put up a Christmas tree, children can gather around it and sing Christmas carols as Uncle Harry plays the piano, or plays his iPod on the speakers, whichever option applies.
Now that table is set, the house is neatly decorated and the centerpiece is intact, you need to begin preparing dinner around five in the afternoon. Dress and roast the turkey, bake the pie and create the egg nog. For delicious Christmas egg nog, you might want to use the following recipe.
You will need twelve yolks of egg, five whole cloves, four whole cups of milk, four cups cream, three cups of rum—you can also use light rum, two cups of sugar, which you can lessen if you think this might be too sweet and two teaspoons vanilla. You also need a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and one teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
Blend the cinnamon, cloves, milk and half a teaspoon of vanilla in a saucepan and stir until hot. In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar with the egg yolks. Transfer this to the saucepan and heat but do not boil. Strain the mixture into a bowl and keep it in the fridge for two hours. Stir in the cream, rum and nutmeg, and put it back in the fridge overnight. Serve in a Christmas cup and sprinkle with cocoa for the perfect Christmas drink.
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