Christmas food made easy

Christmas menu

Fruit Christmas Tree

Here is my take on a sample festive Christmas Menu to make Christmas in your RV, that is both easy and interesting. Because it is so simple and easy to do even in a caravan, then it is fantastic for all who lead busy lives or have kids or are carers etc. I have a few suggested alternatives. I don’t mind taking shortcuts by using prepared foods to simplify or speed things up especially at Christmas time in an RV such as tart cases, frozen or tinned fruit, pavlova bases etc.

I have noticed noticed with the advent of shows such as Master Chef & My Kitchen Rules as well as the great food magazines that are around now, that party foods and other meals are getting more and more beautiful and tasty for sure but this often is more complicated and needs time and effort, something that is not always available. Personally I prefer simple and easy, especially when travelling in an RV. There’s nothing wrong with fancy foods, and we are being introduced to a wonderful array of foods and taste combinations.

 

Summer Christmas

Surfing Santas Photo

In Australia, we are blessed to have Christmas in the summer. So there doesn’t have to be any slaving over a hot stove, especially in a caravan! Make the most of the abundant fresh fruit and seafood that is available right now. Decide your meal type: for me it basically comes down to 2 choices; a BBQ or a cold buffet. Of course being Christmas I try to make it as fun filled or unique as possible. For example if you are doing a cheese ball, why not make it into the shape of a candy cane with small diced capsicum in diagonal stripes as seen here on my Pinterest Board.

Early preparation is the key

Start your planning and preparations for a terrific Christmas party now. Don’t put it off and leave it until the last minute if you want a stress free time. Obviously, the more you do ahead of time, the more you will enjoy the day with your loved ones, after all this is what makes the meal special.Scour the recipes in books, magazines, pinterest and TV for lots of ideas.

 

My appliances in the RV

Just to let you know, in my RV I have just 1 convection microwave, 2 gas burners, an electric fry pan and a very small fridge with an even tinier freezer. This tiny fridge/freezer is my biggest disadvantage to advance food preparations.

 

My menu suggestions

Make any changes to the menu to make it truly your own feast.

 

Nibbles or canapés

• Cheese platters be inventive like from Beauty and Bedlam or the Cheese Ball shaped as a Candy Cane as seen here. This can be made a day or two ahead.
• Spinach Cob is always yummy. Quick & simple recipe from Leave room for dessert. You can make the dip part one or two days ahead.
• Mexican Dip is another favourite
• Vol au vents with Chicken & Mushroom. You can find the recipe here on Darjeeling Glamour
• Mini quiches made with packet hash browns (For the Aussies, you can buy packet hash browns at Aldi's) See the recipe here Pizzazzerie
• Salmon & avocado tartare is a  wonderful simple recipe & can be found here at Jeanette's Healthy Living
• Prawn cocktails (or shrimps for my American friends) can be found here at Cakes, Craft & Quilts blog. I add some diced avocado on top but otherwise I follow this recipe here on Life Martini. Or you could do a lovely large display as seen in the photo here.

Salads

• Pasta or potato salads can easily be made ahead. I have also sometimes bought them from a deli and added little touches such as crispy bacon and sliced hard boiled egg. A tasty recipe can be found here at Dishing with Leslie.
• Pineapple salsa is a great side dish. I might use fresh pineapple and salsa though. This recipe asnit is, is great for campers as it is made with ingredients straight out of the pantry so you can always have it on hand for unexpected guests as well!!!.

Main Meals

• Sticky Chicken Drumsticks is a different taste for Christmas and comes from Lauren's blog
• BBQ Ribs are yummy from Babble
• Chicken kebabs from Jono & Jules is simple and looks divine
• Salmon is always a favourite. Just make sure not to overcook it which is where people might make a mistake. 4 minutes each side is generally plenty.

Santa Strawberries

Desserts

• All out family favourite is the no bake Lemon Cheesecake as found here 
• Fruit salad. If you want to be super inventive try this Fruit Christmas Tree as seen above.
• Super easy Strawberry santas are so cute from Stay at home mum
• Whilst at Stay at home mum's blog, I discovered these Tim Tam balls, I have yet to try them. But my kids LOVE Tim Tams, I am sure they will be a hit. Tim Tams  biscuits (cookies) are  unique to Aussies, but I know that they can be bought at stores in USA and Canada that stock Australian foods such as Vegemite.

 

Drinks/cocktails 

Peach Bellini is great for Christmas especially for those of us that depend on our pantry tinned foods. I us this recipe from Cupcakes and cutleryexcept I used lightly chopped canned peaches.

Schedule

Work out your menu & then your schedule order. Your cooking schedule and pre-planning pays dividends! You will be glad you went to so much trouble. Do as much of the cooking and preparations as much as possible ahead of time. Use the freezer if you have the space as much as possible to make the cheesecake, marinate your meat and freeze it make biscuit dough etc.

Last Year's Nibbles table

This link will take to the post that shows you our last year's coffee table.

Enjoy!

Lastly but certainly not least: Don’t worry, relax & enjoy. Christmas is a time to enjoy our friends and family. If something goes wrong or doesn’t quite come out the way you planned, relax, take a deep breath and work around it. Your guests will probably never be the wiser.

What are your suggestions for an easy Christmas meal?