Just~One~Donna

Today I want to share some Christmas dinner suggestions from the Just One Donna archives.  These are recipes that I have served for our family's Christmas celebration.  These menu ideas would also work for a special New Year's Eve dinner or any special dinner. Christmas or New Year's Dinner Recipes Beef tenderloin is a great place to start as your main entree.  It is surprisingly easy to prepare and can be served hot or at room temperature.  That makes it the perfect entree for dinners that may have an unpredictable timeline or buffets.  

When making a holiday dinner you often look for side dishes that are a little indulgent.  One side dish I like to serve is these cheesy twice-baked potatoes. Cheesy Twice-Baked Potatoes  How to Make Twice-Baked Potatoes for a Crowd These twice-baked potatoes are required on my holiday table.  The good news is you can just as easily make them to serve four or thirty dinner guests.

Have you heard that National Cocoa Day is December 13th?  That means it will be a good day to treat yourself to a decadent cup of hot cocoa with all the fixings.   The timing is perfect.  This is a busy holiday preparation week and you deserve to take a break, sit down, and wrap your hands around a steaming mug of chocolate. How to Make Indulgent Hot Chocolate at Home This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  When you shop using these links, I receive a small payment that helps support the costs of publishing this blog. A Mug of Indulgent Hot Chocolate Making delicious hot chocolate at home surprisingly is easy and you probably have all the ingredients you need in your kitchen right now.  The basic requirements are cocoa powder, sugar, and milk.  You'll want a little flavoring, too.  Vanilla extract is perfect, but feel free to add some Kahlua or Bailey's Irish Cream (or both) if you want to adultify your hot chocolate.

Chocolate ganache is one of those things that sounds intimidating but will surprise you because it is so easy to make.  I especially love to use it as a cake topping when I am in a hurry.   It takes very little time to make delicious ganache and it looks impressive. A chocolate cake topped with ganache is a delicious treat for the chocolate lovers in your life. Easy Chocolate Ganache for Cakes The chocolate ganache topping on this single-layer chocolate cake was so shiny it was like a mirror on top of the cake. Don't you love how the ganache drips down the side of the cake?  I added some chocolate sprinkles around the edge of the cake for a little texture, but icing this cake with ganache was as easy as one-two-three.