HOLIDAYS
HOLIDAYS
For me, one of the great joys of being a parent is playing Santa Claus. This Christmas, leave "Santa Clues" for the little ones so they know St. Nick was there. While you are finishing your Santa preparations, don't forget to Celebrate! Indulge in Lobster Bisque and sip a glass of Riesling while leaving the Clues for the kids to find on Christmas morning.
Since it takes forever for the kids to go to sleep, the first presents land under the tree around midnight in my home. Celebrate while on Santa patrol with prankish behavior, by leaving "Santa Clues" for the kids, and enjoying some late night snacks!
Christmas Eve Fun for the Kids
Santa's Midnight Snack
If you're looking for inspiration, visit our Christmas and Holiday Party pages to find festive food and seasonal decor ideas.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pound cooked lobster
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 (8- ounce ) bottle clam juice
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 Cup celery, finely chopped
- 5 tablespoons flour
- 1 Cup milk
- 1 Cup cream
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 Teaspoon salt
- 1/8 Teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 Cup dry sherry
Steps
- Remove the lobster meat from the shell, and chop meat; set aside. Place lobster shell in a large pot with water, clam juice, and bay leaf. Cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes. Strain liquid and reserve stock; discard solids.
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and celery and saute for 3 minutes. Sprinkle flour over mixture in pan and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add reserved stock, milk, cream, tomato paste, salt and pepper and cook, stirring constantly, on medium for 10 minutes to thicken. Stir in lobster meat and sherry and serve immediately. Makes about 4 cups
- For A Christmas Eve Snack: Prepare bisque on the morning of Christmas Eve, and cool to room temperature. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Warm in the microwave or in a saucepan on stove top.
Ingredients
- 4- ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
- 1/3 Cup Gruyere cheese shredded
- 1/3 Cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1/3 Cup mayonnaise
- 1 Teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons basil leaves
- 1 loaf French or Italian bread
Steps
- Coarsely chop prosicutto and add to a mixing bowl. Stir in Gruyere, Parmesan, mayonnaise, lemon, basil leaves, and a dash of salt and pepper, until thoroughly combined. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- When ready to serve, preheat broiler. Cut thick slices of bread and toast. Place bread on broiler pan and spoon prosciutto-cheese mixture on top. Broil for 30-60 seconds, until lightly brown. Serve hot. Makes about 8 to 10 pieces.
- For A Christmas Eve Snack: Prepare the prosciutto-cheese mixture on the morning of Christmas Eve. Cover and store in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, prepare and broil as instructed.
- Of course, eat the Santa cookies. Leave plenty of crumbs!
- Take a bite out of Rudolph's carrot.
- Make Santa's boot prints with soot from the fireplace.
- Make reindeer hoof prints on the driveway or pathway with dirt.
- Leave a North Pole snowball in the freezer.
- Leave special cookies or homemade fudge from Mrs. Claus, in place of the cookies that were left for Santa.
- Tear off a piece of Santa's "Naughty or Nice List" with your child's name in the "Nice" column.
- Drop an elf's business card on the floor with an appropriate toyshop job description.
- Leave a personalized letter from Santa under the Christmas tree in a pile of faux snow.
- Drop a small pouch with "lumps of coal" candy by the fireplace. Attach a tag with a child's name on it. Don't put your child's name on it. Say, "Santa must have dropped this for another kid. I guess he does leave lumps of coal for the naughty ones!"
Let a festive Reisling complete your Christmas Eve.
- 2006 Chateau St. Michelle Eroica Riesling
- 2005 Poet's Leap Riesling
- 2006 Pegasus Bay Riesling
- 2005 Trefethen Dry Reisling
- 2006 Chateau Montelena Potter Valley Riesling
For more holiday wines, read my piece on Holiday Chardonnays!
Let Santa know that he's welcome with a sign painted in the snow!
Never knew you could paint the snow? Well, you can and its so fun, you'll want to get in on the action with your kids.
Preparation
- This environmentally safe Sno-paint from Plow and Hearth will bring out the Arctic artists in your kids, as they mark the front yard for Santa and his reindeers to land.
Steps
- Decorate any area covered with snow with these "spray" cans. The paint melts away with the snow for easy clean up.
On Christmas Eve, many families read "Twas The Night Before Christmas." The children are so enraptured by the thought of Santa sliding down the chimney, that this is the perfect opportunity to create a little "St. Nick" mischief outside. My husband always slips out the backdoor and jingles sleigh bells near the kids' windows.
Track Santa's Route!
Let the anticipation of Santa's arrival build by tracking his whereabouts around the globe. NORAD Tracks Santa is an ingenious website that shows a satellite view of Santa's progress on Christmas Eve. Notable people and celebrities narrate the "live" video of Santa's flight on a world map, with regular updates throughout the night.
Christmas Santa Claus is a website with a brief, interactive "Naughty or Nice" quiz, that kids can take to see where they stand! After taking the quiz, they can print a certificate as official proof of their ranking. The website also has a cute "letter to Santa form" and a lot of fun holiday stuff.
Getting the house Santa-ready with the kids is a tradition they won't soon forget.
Cookies and milk are obvious for Santa, but don't forget those eight reindeer!
Preparation
- Whether your baking your own from scratch, or starting with pre-made cookie dough, you'll need enough cookies for Santa and the kids.
Steps
- Baking and decorating cookies for Santa is a wonderful Christmas Eve activity. You can buy ready-to-bake cookies in the refrigerator section of the grocery store, and then embellish them with decorations.
- Offer your cookies on a special snowman cookie platter with a warm mug of milk. Set the cookies on a table near the Christmas tree and don't forget a carrot for the reindeers to munch on!
- Set the cookies on a table near the Christmas tree.
- Don't forget a carrot for the reindeer to munch on!
Steps
- We like to warm up the chimney for Santa and wind down by a cozy fire. A personal tradition in my family is for each person to open one gift from a family member on Christmas Eve. We gather by the hearth, sip eggnog, and open our gifts. The kids roast marshmallows and drink hot cocoa with candy cane stick stirrers.
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Trimming Party
