christmas dinner inspiration

christmas chez nous is always rather... a big thing. i know this makes us sound a bit creepy and fanatic, (we're not...). we just love to plan it. we believe a christmas celebration should be unique. and that asks for a theme, one throughout, from the decor to the menue.

generally speaking, we are rather traditional oriented when it comes to christmas styles; normally there's a tendance towards greens, reds, whites and natural brown shades (like from pine cones or wood). for example, we once had a "forest inspired" christmas, with plates made of wood and simple evergreen everywhere (though when we were kids, there was also the occasional blue silver colored christmas tree - i guess those were the 80s...). last year we somehow ended up with a metropolitan theme, with classy blacks and whites, sleek, elegant silverware and simple white votives to create an effortless chic.

and here's a sneak peek to this year's inspiration*. it's inspired by deep red cherries, reddened cheeks, living on the countryside, in the midst of white snow. a theme of white food with deep red details and chocolatey dark accents. here's the christmas menue** we came up with so far (i'm almost sure this is not the final version, just yet...):

christmas menue chez nous

(draft no. 1)

beetroot chips

christmas lemonade & eggnogs

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red & green baby leaves with toasted walnuts

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roasted cauliflower soup with bread crumbs

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baked potatoes with black truffles

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poached spiced pear with stilton

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black forest gateau with amarena cherries

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various friandises

white chocolate covered marshmallows

home made dark & white chocolate cranberry truffles

tonka bean cookies

drinks

christmas lemonade

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pomegranate ice water

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red wine

darn, by now i'm drooling over this, merely by thinking about it. what do you think, fellow christmas lovers and foodies?

* hello, mom! don't be shocked, it's just a draft. 'm sure we will work on this for a few more hours, anyway, until we're happy. right? chuckle. and, of course, you have yet to give your blessing to any of it.

** many of the people in our family are almost-vegetarians - and equally as many are well-known meat-lovers too... so we usually make a vegetarian as well as a meat version, in order to please everyone. this here is the meat-less version, so far. how would you incorporate meat into this menue? i thought maybe with a lamb filet, a salmon terrine as a starter, or a tiny dried grison style beef plate with various (white and dark) breads?

picture sources from left to right: lemonade, pears, cauliflower soup other white soup, black truffles, beetroot chips, black forest gateau, white cake with trees, potatoes, white chocolate truffles, marshmallows