We hosted Christmas at our house this year. In attendance were Chris, April, Carissa, Carleigh, Casey, Kurt, Melanie, Ashton, Briella, Brent, and Cathy. I made my roast beef in the oven roaster (see recipe for notes), my macaroni and cheese, corn souffle, glazed carrots, 2 packages of Nickels Brown and Serve Rolls, and glazed sweet potatoes. April got an 8 pound honey baked ham that she waited 45 minutes in line for. We also made marshmallow fluff, but forgot to put it out, so I’m not sure how it turned out. I also had shrimp for an appetizer. Normally I get 2 lbs and have too much left over. This year I only got one and it was just right. I got the shrimp out of the freezer Monday night and they were thawed perfectly. I also made sure to rinse them before serving.
Carleigh got us up at 5:00 AM so we were done with presents with plenty of time to get the meal started. Carissa also got engaged, but that doesn’t have much to do with the meal. About 7:00 AM I began prepping dinner. I had the roasts in the roaster at 8:10 AM. I then set about making the marshmallow fluff so that it could sit in the refrigerator. I then made the macaroni and cheese. Once it was done I covered it with foil and let it sit. I then made the corn souffle while the macaroni was baking. By the time the macaroni was done, I had the corn ready to go in the oven. I covered it with foil once it was done as well. April made the mashed potatoes with 2 large packages of Bob Evans potatoes, and added about a cup of sour cream, a stick of butter and 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. I then worked on the glazed sweet potatoes using the recipe from the Bruce’s yams website and baked them. While they were baking was the perfect time to get a shower before everyone arrived. When the yams were done, I removed them and baked the mashed potatoes for about 20 minutes at 350. After 20 minutes I removed them and covered the yams in mini marshmallows and turned the oven up to 400F to brown the marshmallows. It was now 11:30 AM and I turned off the beef and removed it to let it rest while I blended the juices for a gravy. I also did the glazed carrots on the stove while that was happening. Once the yams were done, I removed them and turned the oven back to 170F and put the macaroni and corn and mashed potatoes which now had a layer of more shredded cheese on top to bring them back to temperature. About 10 minutes until noon, I turned the oven up to 375F and put the rolls in, leaving the other dishes in as well. The corn and macaroni got a bit brown on the bottom, but were otherwise fine. Probably shouldn’t have had them in at the same time as the rolls. The mashed potatoes were runny, but as they cooled the cheese solidified and they were fine. While the rolls were baking, I sliced the beef and once they were done we were ready to eat. We served the ham cold as was directed by honey baked ham.