Served with homemade bread and a variety of cheeses. Slow-cooked meatballs, artichoke dipandcackers, and a French-Canadian tortiere made with ground pork, beef, sage and cloves in French pastry. Guacamole and tortilla chips. Vegetables and dip, shrimp cocktail, assorted cookies and nut brittles. This is just for Xmas eve socializing. Christmas dinner is prime rib with potatoes mashed with chives and sour cream, spinach casserole, and spiced mashed sweet potatoes. Dessert is usually some sort of fruit pie or perhaps pineapple upside-down cake.

Both meals are accompanied by generous but not copious amounts of the alcohol of your choice.