The colossal creme brulee is same as regular but in a large serving dish. I have a perfect round dish for it. I will decorate with sugared berries and rosemary sprigs

Other dishes claimed:

• Some variation of french potatoes
• Vichy carrots
• Buche Noel
• Boudin Sausage

ETA: I am heading out soonish so dont be annoyed if I dont reply until much later :)

That dessert looks amazing! No French recipes to share, but love that your family picked a theme!

NJmomma we used to always do italian -- as it pleased the kids and even the pickiest eaters. A few years, including last, it was "heavy appetizers". I think the theme this year is to honor an ailing grandfather on the French side of their family (not mine-- we are scottish, irish, swedish and ukraine)

I loooove creme brulee but can only have a bite ... this allows me to do that and feed the family :)

Pots de creme is even easier than creme brulee? I find the timing of creme brulee can be tricky vis a vis the burnt sugar and transport, storage.

Yummy menu.

I thought about pots de creme also .. must they be served in small containers? I think the kids would love little small desserts. Maybe if I put them on a tier? Actually I could do both on a tier.

I was planning to burn the sugar on site .. good idea? bad?

If you don't mind doing it last minute on site, that is the best IMHO

with apologies for talking soup, I liked this video

https://www.google.com/search?q=yutube+video+comapring+fenhc+onion+soup+reicpes&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS1006US1006&oq=yutube+video+comapring+fenhc+onion+soup+reicpes&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQIRgKGKABMgkIAhAhGAoYoAEyCQgDECEYChigATIJCAQQIRgKGKABMgcIBRAhGKsCMgcIBhAhGJ8FMgcIBxAhGJ8FMgcICBAhGJ8FMgcICRAhGJ8F0gEJMTEwMjJqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:3b10f85e,vid:nqQDVzA0uUo,st:1160

Ratatouille? Keep it warm in a crockpot for transport.

French fries! oh no, potatoes have been claimed.

Pate’

Crepes Suzette

I thought about ratatouille also .. or a ratatouille pie .. but trying to avoid much cutting/slicing. I am not seeing well at all .. French fries-- or truffle fries would be awesome but hard to do ahead. The whole meal theme is hard to prepare/transport

Mtn .. I looooove French Onion soup but the link isnt working for me. It goes to a blank page. I am going to make either french onion soup or lobster bisque for Christmas Day (with our now traditional fancy pance grilled cheese)

French champagne and foie gras? Or canapes? Or caviar? I like a non traditional set up with Lays potato chips and sour cream.

No help here but how timely, I decided on a French ”concept” for decorating this year and had just started thinking about if I could do a menu. But DH likes to have a say in the cooking since he does it, so we shall see.

Time to pull out Mom’s Mastering the Art! Bon appétit!

How about parisiene gnocchi. The gnochi is basically poached pate a choux (cream puff dough) then served in a sauce. I have seen recipes done in either bechamel or a tomato sauce. I have not made it in a while to be able to remember what recipe I used but it would be a good candidate for transporting and reheating.

A crepe cake is also dramatic and delicious, reasonably easy to do.

I would check out Julia Child and Ina Garten recipes. Appetizer, side, or dessert.

An onion flambe! aka tarte flambee, or alsatian flambe. I made one last week, but sans bacon. I’d make it on pizza dough (this one is homemade GF) or for a party you could make it fancier on puff pastry.

Ooh, that looks delicious!

I have made some of Anina Giannini"s recipes and thought they were good. Here is a link to her tomates á la provençale which sounds yummy. I have not made this yet, though.

Tomates à la provençal

Julia’s Boeuf Bourguignon-prepare the day before and reheat on arrival. The most difficult part is peeling the pearl onions, but I’ve cheated and used sliced onions. It’s not a hard recipe to make and is always a hit.

Escargot with lots of garlic butter.

cheese board with french cheeses and baquette.

coq au vin

coquette st jacques

The hosts (nephew and his wife) are covering main dishes.. traditionally poultry/turkey but since so close to Thanksgiving, they are doing Beef Bourguignon and Chicken al l'orange

I love the idea of a tarte .. particularly alsatian .. and I forgot how much I love Parisian Gnocchi until you mentioned them, Tishtosh!

So many great ideas! Thank you all!

Sounds like a fabulous feast, Funky!

Maybe this will work.

Again, sorry, as it is soup but I thought this concept of comparing three recipes for the same thing was intriguing.

French Onion Soup CAGE MATCH: Julia Child vs. Anthony Bourdain vs. Paul Bocuse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqQDVzA0uUo

We have had Julia’s boeuf bourgignon for Christmas Eve, and for Christmas Day (different years). Yum.

Thanks Mtn .. and NO reason to apologize.I WILL watch and likely make french onion for Christmas dinner with SO.

Local, that sounds delish!

The biggest challenge here is finding dishes the kids will eat ... and some of the grownups lol. I tend not to eat much Christmas eve because I fly out at the crack of dawn Christmas Day. I don't really care what we serve ... as long as everyone is happy!

Niece is making "cochons dans une couverture" (pigs in a blanket ... not *my* translation) thinking the young ones will fill up on those.

So funny about the kids! My kids ate what we ate, and when we went to my aunt’s for holidays she’d say ”well, I know your DS doesn’t like potatoes so I can make him rice to go with the boeuf bourgignon” or ”I have chicken nuggets in the freezer I can make”. Gee, we weren’t catered to as kids. I always said, they can go without a starch for a meal, or there will be plenty of protein, no worries. Adults? Well, there are things I won’t eat, but I never go hungry. (I don’t like brussels sprouts, others and DS do, so he is welcome to bring them. No one notices who doesn’t like what,)

It is a different world.. but not sure my parents made us eat grownup meals at 4. The 10 yo will do fine but there is so much excitement .. Christmas Eve is our big celebration and presents come after the meal. I dont really blame them!

There is one adult who will not eat anything green and a good number of us are very lactose intolerant. We'll see how it goes ;)

Frisee salad with roquefort dressing. Sharp, fresh, don't need to reheat.

Also make your creme brulee. Your need for no knife cutting is important and creme brulee fits the bill.

I watched the FO video -- interesting!

I have been making a Molly Katzen recipe but now I want to make Julia's recipe.

Do you have a favorite recipe you make?

@Funkyart, since you are trying to avoid knives, have you thought of slicing the onions with a food processor? You will still need to cut the tops and roots off the onions and peel them, but the tedious work of slicing them can be done by the FP.

LOL Thanks, Bbstx, but for French Onion soup, I will be at SO's house-- he has a slicer and he can slice (though he will admittedly complain about slicing 8!)

And just to be clear so you all dont think I am crazy, I am not avoiding knives-- but yes, I am avoiding knife work.

Funky, I don’t blame SO. Slicing 8 onions, even with a mandoline is tough. Get him some swim goggles for Christmas! 😁

P.S. I avoid knife work whenever I can!

I have not made it in years but I have always made homemade beef stock, which I think it very important.

LOL BBstx. I will be making lobster bisque either way-- it is one thing SO has requested. I just don't think I want it on my first day there. First, that will require that he purchase lobster before I arrive and without me -- I can see all kinds of problems with that lol.

I hear you, Mtn .. homemade stock makes a huge difference but I will be using store bought on Christmas Day. I arrive early but not early enough to make stock-- and Id have to bring the bones with me lol. Or.. I freeze the stock and bring it with me.

Back to French Dinner .. I say no soup because of how we will be seated. It isnt ideal for what I would call a sit-down meal and definitely not good for a plate and a bowl of soup.