Davidson Disney Dining Christmas

Well, it was going to be hard to compete with 2006's Cereal Christmas and last year's Magic Bullet Christmas, but I think we came close. The plan this year was for everyone to choose a Disney recipe, either from the cookbooks we have or on the Internet. We also devised a typical convoluted procedure for giving gifts. With our two main objectives set, off we went!

Item Number One: The Usual Complications.

Molly (whose assigned dish was dessert) has been out of town for two weeks, opening a Sonic in some little town close to Cincinnati. She drove into town this afternoon, found her Disney dessert recipe book missing, so we had Mickey push-ups from Kroger.

Molly also was hosting her Christmas party for her peeps at her house, so time was at a premium.

Maribeth had been called in to work at Walgreen's, so our Christmas gala had to begin, transpire, and end all within her dinner break. Guess it was good that Molly didn't have some fancy schmancy dessert after all!

Item Number Two: The Meal

Every family member chose a part of the meal to create but the recipes were of their own choosing. Of course, every meal required many ingredients that nobody had, so it got to be a game of finding a meal with everyday ingredients, a task equal to that of finding hidden Mickeys.

Maribeth and I spent 30 minutes looking for Gruyere cheese. It would have been less had I been willing to accept the cheese dip she suggested that listed this cheese as ONE of its ingredients.
Nevertheless, everyone found a dish. I should have just suggested that everyone bring a "white" dish, since we had potatoes, couscous, and mac and cheese. The mac and cheese listed no real measurements for anything, so it came out sort of soupy. My choice was to cook a pot roast, roasted with burgundy wine. I think I should have just drunk the wine and ordered McDonald's. In the end, Sam had the best idea - just lump it all together and eat.

Of course, no Disney meal would be complete without our Disney dining ware. Yes, these are technically Thanksgiving plates. But only because I haven't found any Christmas ones I like!

Item Number Three: The Gift Exchange

Without causing an Excedrin headache, let me briefly describe our system. Each person had every other person's name. However, there were five categories that each person would receive a gift in. The categories were food, entertainment, wild card, make-it-yourself, and charity (there are five people each person had to buy for). It all worked out sort of okay until it was time to pass out the presents, and nobody could remember what category they drew the name for. So, it was kind of like a game - "Who had Sam for food?" And the giver would ponder then say, "I did." Really - it was sort of pathetic! But everyone got neat gifts - mostly - and the whole party was over in time for Maribeth to return to her register and Molly to party hearty.

In the end, it was another Davidson early Christmas. We think we'll leave the Disney cooking to the Disney chefs and think harder for a more complicated gift giving for next year. As for next year's theme? I can tell you the front runner tonight - Liquid Christmas Dinner!

See you in 2009!