. The Christmas Kitchen

Note:  This post was written in preparation for the Christmas holidays.

My company has started to arrive.  I’ll be feeding larger numbers of family for the next 21 days and I need to be ready for it.  How?  Well, I’m going to let the company fix their own breakfast using the pantry’s stock of cold cereals, iced fruit juices which I will prepare each morning, and the fresh fruit kept in a bowl on the island.  Special holiday breakfasts, including for me Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, will be more elaborate and hot, but the rest will be left to my company’s fancy and mood.

A Holiday Eating Plan

This will allow everyone to arise at their leisure and I won’t be stressing because the scrambled eggs are growing cold or the fresh muffins are drying out.  We’ll all be on our own until lunch.  I will set the breakfast table with stacks of paper plates, dishes, silverware, napkins and condiments the night before and then set out the chilled juice, various cold cereals, and the fruit bowl when I arise in the morning.

Easy-to-Serve, Simple Lunches

For lunches I’m going to follow a revolving seven-day lunch plan:  roast beef sandwiches on Sunday, five-hour Primary stew on Monday, toasted cheese/tuna sandwiches on Tuesday, turkey hoagies on Wednesday, “hot breakfast for lunch” on Thursday (which will be a holiday eve meal two times during the three weeks), tacos on Friday, and hamburgers on Saturday.

Fancier Dinners to Please

That leaves me twenty-one dinners to put together.  Spaghetti sauce and three varying pastas can be served on Fridays, roast beef and gravy on Sundays, turkey and the trimmings on the two holidays (Thursday this year), hot turkey leftovers on Saturdays.  That leaves Tuesdays for Mexican meals, and Wednesday for more exotic cooking adventures (as it will be the eve of the two holidays).  I will serve fish and a side dish on Mondays.  With that, I’m done with my planning.

A Big Shopping Trip to Stock Up

A couple of shopping trips with my company will be great as we love to visit and I’ll let them pick out their favorite kinds of ice cream.  I’ll need seven cartons or so and will use the cookies, cakes, and pies from neighbor’s offerings to compliment the frozen treats.

Wow!  Why have I been so worried about this?  The company doesn’t really care much past getting their stomachs full and if I ask each of them to help me with either lunch or dinner each day, I will have help setting the table and clearing up afterwards with little trouble and lots of “visiting time” with those I love most.

May your Christmas Kitchen also serve you well.  Remember, make your decisions, draw up a written chart, and maybe even POST your menu on the frig (to save a lot of questions and keep everyone to the schedule, which will get the meals on the table without that “do I or do I not feel like cooking this tonight?” challenge which so often besets us).

Happy Holidays, my many friends!  Next year will be tough but we will work through all the issues together, one by one, day by day, and continue to find order in our everyday lives!  Take care now.

Find more helpful ideas in my House of Order Handbook.