Christmas and Hanukkah dinner will look different this year. Going to Grandma’s house might not be a possibility. For many of us, it might well be a holiday at home with only our children. With this in mind, rethinking the holiday dinner is on the menu for a lot of families. If you have kids, it might be a great time to get them in the kitchen to help with the festivities.
What might dinner look like from the perspective of a child? Let’s break it down by age. For families with children younger than 6, keeping them engaged can be an exciting task but don’t expect it to be a neat affair. Simple and easy is the route for this holiday meal. Most 7 to 12-year-olds can handle several cooking tasks, including cooking a whole dinner. Depending on the household, think expansive, introducing meals that are different from the norm. For the teenagers creating a cultural dinner could allow them to explore what others eat during the holidays.
Involve them in planning
One of the best things about a holiday dinner is planning the meal, choosing what you don’t usually eat the rest of the year. My family starts with a Christmas Eve feast. This is our big dinner. By Christmas night, the family is tired, and dinner is no longer the main event. In the past, I forgo dinner with the family and prepare Christmas dinner for 25 to 30 friends, but this year that won’t happen.
Asking the kids what they’d like to help prepare a fun way to celebrate. This year, we start with French onion soup, kale salad with goat cheese, walnuts, and pomegranates, and a lemon dressing (India, the 12-year-old in our family, loves kale), and linguine and clams with garlic bread. Hot Italian grinders with roasted vegetables are also on our menu. It’s served open-faced with roasted red onions, red peppers, zucchini and portobello mushrooms. I drizzle Italian dressing on the bread and water mozzarella, pepperoncini peppers and marinated artichokes. Everything gets warmed and melted in the oven. This appeases the vegetarians in the family. The 8-year-old carnivore in the family requested double-dredged fried chicken or a burger for Christmas dinner. He makes excellent garlic bread.
After planning out the Christmas Eve menu, dessert is India’s passion. This year, she’s decided to make cannoli for dessert (last year, it was a yule log). Our family loves food, so we tend to get a bit out of hand with our menu. The key for most holiday dinners is keeping it simple. Teaching young people the virtues of preparing a celebratory meal is fun and educational.
Easy ways to help
Keeping it easy isn’t that hard. Pigs in a Blanket appetizers are tasty and fun to make. Italian is a wonderful holiday dinner to prepare for all ages. Meatball parmesan is generally a kid-friendly meal, and rolling meatballs is a great way to engage kids from ages 3 to 13. A pasta dish is also a perfect meal for young palates from baked ziti to lasagna or simple spaghetti to accompany meatballs. For a vegetable, something green, and definitely let your children pick and cook their side vegetable. I recommend chocolate mousse for dessert. Hand over those beaters and let the whipping of cream commence for dessert.
Involving teenagers
With teenagers in the house, appetizers like bacon-wrapped dates, buffalo chicken wings or fried zucchini sticks with ranch dressing are easy to prepare and delicious ways to get them involved with dinner.
For the teenagers with developed tastes, try a prime rib, seafood cioppino with mushroom risotto, and roasted asparagus with grated parmesan Reggiano cheese. Want to create an elegant and memorable dinner for the teenage vegetarian? Consider a vegetable Sheppard’s pie, vegetable paella, vegetarian cioppino or potatoes latkes with sour cream. Many teenagers lean toward simpler foods. If you lean toward a more casual dinner, homemade pizza, steak or chicken nuggets could be the way to go.
For dessert for kids of any age, making Christmas cookies is always a winner or try a holiday ice cream sundae bar with lots of toppings. However you celebrate this year, all of us at the Tahoe Weekly wish you a happy holiday.
Super easy Chocolate Mousse
From the kitchen of Priya Hutner
1 C dark chocolate chips
1½ C heavy whipping cream
½ C fresh raspberries
Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or microwave, stirring every 25 seconds until melted and set aside, allowing to cool while whipping cream
Beat whipped cream until you have stiff peaks. Set aside a ½ cup for topping.
Fold melted chocolate into remaining cream, fold gently.
Place into a glass dish or individual dishes and chill for 1 to 4 hours. Top with additional whip cream and raspberries.
