9 of Our Favorite Recipes for a Christmas Feast!

Christmas is almost here—and, well, we simply couldn’t resist sharing a few of our favorite Christmas recipes! 😉

While guest lists may look a little smaller this year, there’s no reason we can’t still celebrate big! (After all, how often do we get a reasonable excuse to binge mashed potatoes and Christmas cookies?!)

So here it is: our Christmas menu, from our family to yours!

Setting the Stage

First things first, we love an opportunity to create an experience. Staging your table is a fun way to get creative, look around your home, and put together a special dining experience.

For this feast, we created a tabletop that pulls the entire Christmas dinner setting together. You won’t be able to get enough of the timeless red accents mixed in with the gorgeous bold greenery. Here are a couple pro tips that Lyndsay and Tina (our resident design experts!) used to pull this look together:

1. The tablecloth is actually a plaid throw blanket that was a gift from a family member!
2. The placemats were formerly a normal roll of burlap that we cut and folded into squares. Pro tip: it is usually more cost effective to make your own.
3. The bells on the place settings are from a wreath that Lyndsay cut off and placed onto each setting and tied together with cinnamon sticks and pinecones.
4. Can’t forget the eucalyptus stems! These were separate from the original garlands in the centerpiece. We added them in to bring a little variety to the heavy pine look.

TABLE TOP DECOR

Placemats (cut from burlap roll) | Candles | Eucalyptus stems | Plates | Pinecones | Bells (similar) | Cinnamon sticks (local grocery) 

Christmas Dinner Menu Recipes

Ingredients

• Costco ham w/ glaze packet
• Meat Churches Honey Hog seasoning
• Mustard
• 3 apples, chopped
• 2 cups apple cider
• 1 tbsp. apple butter
• Bourbon, to taste

Instructions

• Take Costco ham and rub with mustard for a binder, then liberally apply Meat Churches Honey Hog.
• In a roasting pan, chop 3 apples (in larger chunks) and add about 2 cups of apple cider (should land about 1/2 way up apples). Place ham on top of apples. It should not touch the apple cider.
• Wrap the ham tight and cook on Traeger grill at 275 degree for just under 90 minutes.
• For the glaze, warm 1 tbps apple butter over low heat in sauce pan. Then add the Costco glaze packet per instruction. Add bourbon of your choice to taste. Boil glaze down to thicken.
• Once ham is done cooking (inner-temp 135), bring inside to counter, uncover, and pour glaze over ham. Let rest for 10 minutes and serve.

2 | Slow Cooker Lemon Thyme Butter Carrots

Ingredients

• 2 lbs carrots, cut into matchsticks
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tbsp. freshly chopped thyme + more for garnish
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. lemon zest
• 2 tsp. brown sugar (optional)
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

• Add carrots and onions to a 6-quart slow cooker (4-quart works, too! Just stir a bit more often.) Combine butter, thyme, zest, and lemon juice in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. Pour over carrots. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook on high heat for 3 hours, stirring halfway through.
• Near the end of cook time, stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar depending on tartness of lemon juice (I prefer no sugar!)
• Garnish with additional thyme if desired and serve!

3 | Old Fashioned Stuffing

Ingredients

• 12 ounces dry bread cubes
• 2 cups diced celery
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/2 cups turkey broth or 2 1/2 cups chicken broth

Instructions

• Saute the onions, celery, herbs, salt, and pepper in butter until soft.
• Combine with the bread cubes by tossing lightly, adding enough broth to make it wet but not too soggy, and place in an oblong baking pan.
• Cover with foil and bake at 325F. for 45 minutes.
• Uncover and bake 15 minutes more.

4 | Mac ‘n Cheese w/ Breadcrumbs

5 | Crispy Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Garlic

Ingredients

• 10 small brussel sprouts
• 2 bacon rashers, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup (60ml) olive oil
• 2 tablespoons rock salt, sea salt or “Kosher” salt
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Peel off any bad leaves from the brussel sprouts
2. Bring a pot of water to the boil. Add rock salt.
3. Blanch brussel sprouts for 4 minutes then drain and refresh in cold running water.
4. Cut sprouts in half lengthwise.
5. Heat olive oil on high. Add bacon and cook 1 minute.
6. Add Brussels sprouts and fry until they start to brown around the edges and the bacon crisps.
7. Add garlic slices and fry 1 minute until softened.
8. Drain brussels sprouts to remove excess oil. Serve hot.

6 | Delicious, Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

• 5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes
• 3/4 cups Butter
• 1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened
• 1/2 cup (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half
• 1/2 teaspoon (to 1 Teaspoon) Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon (to 1 Teaspoon) Black Pepper

Instructions

• Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.
• Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.
• Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash, mash, mash! Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.
• Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through.

7 | Colette’s Christmas Crack 

Ingredients

8 | Lyndsay’s Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar for rolling (optional)
• 1/3 cup jam or preserves (flavor of your choice!)

Instructions

1. Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (you may instead use a large bowl and an electric hand mixer) and beat until creamy.

2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add sugars, and beat, gradually increasing mixer speed to medium-high until ingredients are well-combined (about 30-60 seconds).

3. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat well.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt.

5. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients until completely combined.  This dough will seem very dry and crumbly, so be sure to pause occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.  If it starts to strain your mixer you can use your hands to finish working the dough together.

6. Scoop cookie dough into 1 Tablespoon-sized balls and roll very well (so that the dough is round and there are no cracks/seams in the cookie dough — this will help keep your thumbprints from cracking).

7. Roll in granulated sugar (if using) and place on a wax-paper covered plate or small cookie sheet.  Use your thumb or the rounded back of a teaspoon to gently press an indent in the center of the cookie dough.  Repeat until all of the dough has been used.

8. Transfer cookie dough to freezer and chill for 30 minutes.

9. Once dough is done chilling, preheat oven to 375F (190C) and place your jam in a small microwave-safe bowl.  Heat briefly (about 5-10 seconds) or until jam is not hot but is no longer firm and is easy to stir.

10. Spoon jam into each thumbprint, filling each indent to the brim.

11. Once oven is preheated, place cookies at least 2″ apart on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and bake on 375F (190C) for 11 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn golden brown.

12. Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before enjoying.

9 | Lyndsay’s Peppermint Bark Pretzel Bites

Ingredients

• 1 bag (10 oz) Hershey Candy Cane Kisses (unwrapped)
• 1 bag white chocolate peppermint M&Ms
• Square pretzels
• Christmas sprinkles, optional

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or tin foil.
2. Lay out 63 pretzels on the cookie sheet and place an unwrapped candy cane Hershey kiss on each pretzel. Cook for 4 minutes.
3. Immediately press a peppermint m&m on top of each Hershey kiss. If wanted, sprinkle some Christmas sprinkles on each one.
4. Let the cookie sheet sit out on the counter for 2 hours so the hershey kiss has time to harden up. Eat & enjoy!

Happy Holidays from us all at Lamb & Co.! We hope they are full of much joy & laughter.