This year for my fancy Christmas meal my theme was “White Christmas”. During the planning stage, whenever I told people my theme, they looked at me strangely. It was a little unusual to plan an entire meal with all the food mostly white but it was a fun challenge. 5 of us feasted on this meal: Carol, her son Mike, Dad, Mom, and me. My Mom made the beautiful white tree arrangement. I printed menus and made snowflake place cards. We used my maternal Grandmother’s dishes. I only recently acquired them (when I moved into this house).

Appetizers

• Dad’s Onion Rings
• Butter and Salted Popcorn

Soup & Bread

• Potato Leek Soup
• Coconut Milk White Bean Soup
• Aunt Dorothy Clover Rolls (see image below)
• Cream Cheese & Chive Biscuits – I love having these in the freezer ready to go on the day of a party.

Main Course

• Cabbage Apple Salad – I only used 1 tablespoon of sugar, did not use the onions or red pepper flakes.
• Smokey Roasted Cauliflower
• French Onion Tart
• White Lasagna – We mostly followed this – especially for the spinach filling. My Mom made her béchamel and added shredded Mozzarella.

Dessert Trio

• Coconut Cupcakes – Dolly Parton Coconut Cake Mix, Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting – We made it coconut frosting by sprinkling unsweetened coconut on top.
• White Chocolate Mousse – We did not serve with popcorn. It was supposed to be peppermint mousse but we forgot the peppermint.
• Snowball Cookies – This were inspired by my Aunt Lorraine’s recipe but this recipe uses butter and no egg.

My critique of the meal: 

We always enjoy my Dad’s onion rings. I was nostalgic to to make and eat my Aunt Dorothy’s clover rolls. They were a staple of big meals at my Grandparents when I was a kid but I rarely make them now. I started making them for the family when I was 12. All of the recipes for the Main Course were new to me. I would make everything again except for the cauliflower. It was not special enough. I loved the spinach lasagna filling and would like to try that method with a red sauce lasagna. The white lasagna was delicious but as part of my normal meals, red sauce lasagna fits better into my meal plan. We enjoyed the onion tarts but I especially enjoyed them as leftovers with some feta cheese. Dessert Course – I would not make the mousse again but it seemed to be enjoyed by all. The coconut cupcakes were a surprise hit. Dolly’s cake mix was fantastic and light. The cream cheese frosting with coconut on top was wonderful!