by Jen
on December 29, 2012
Sullie and I finally made it home for Christmas yesterday.

We arrived at my grandmother’s house around 1:30 and I immediately got to work helping my dad with Christmas dinner. We fed 16 people last night!

Despite all of the sickness (my dad, mom and nieces have all been really sick this week) and back and forth on when to actually celebrate, last night really did feel like Christmas. We had a house full of family, the house was fully decorated like usual and the gifts overflowed under the tree. How cute is my grandmother’s half tree that she’s started using these days? Makes lots of room for presents underneath!

We opened stockings before dinner and then did presents after.

I had a good helper in the kitchen to finish getting the spread assembled. Mac and cheese and sweet potato casserole…yum!

The full spread…a whole baked ham, sweet potato casserole, macaroni and cheese, butter beans, crowder peas, roasted carrots and parsnips and…

My dad’s homemade buttermilk biscuits! These are heavenly.

My plate, round one. I ate the ham sandwiched in the biscuit. Everything was so amazing. I went back for seconds on the mac and cheese, sweet potatoes and ham. My dad has been using a new mac and cheese recipe lately. This was my first time trying it and OMG, it’s so addictive. Check it out. It was a definite crowd favorite.

It was so nice to sit down and enjoy a meal with my family after a long and kinda tough holiday season. I definitely felt more at peace and truly content last night than I have in the entire month of December.
This is going to be a crazy long post if I jump right into the rest of the evening so I’ll break it into two…up next presents and dessert!
What is a “must-have” Christmas dinner item for you? I love having prime rib on Christmas eve and ham on Christmas day. Especially when the sides are things like mac and cheese and sweet potatoes!
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