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Show Spread Christmas Cheer Over The Dinner Table Christmas Dinner Menu Grapefruit and Pomegranate Salad Baked Ham Parsley Buttered Potatoes Baked Squash Squares Crisp Celery Olives Spiced Crabapples Hot Rolls Butter Plum Pudding with Hard Sauce or Hot Mince Pie with Cheese Coffee Christmas dinner is an Occasion, Occa-sion, particularly for the young hostess who is preparing and serving the meal herself for the first time. A carefully planned menu will go a long way toward making the task a pleasant one, and the meal a real success. There are two things to keep in mind, when planning the Christmas menu, says Jessie Alice Cline, home economist. First, the meal wants to be as festive and colorful as possible. This can be achieved partly, of course, with table decorations. But the foods themselves and the way they arc served count for a lot in the appearance of the table, and make for greater enjoyment en-joyment of the meal. Secondly, the menu should be planned to avoid unnecessary hours spent in the kitchen on Christmas Day. A streamlined menu is in excellent taste, and simple dishes can be just as glamorous as fussy ones. Plan to do part of the preparation the day before. Above all, try to a-void a-void having to many details to be attended to at the last minute. A simple schedule of work will help to ease the preparation and will make for smoothness in serving. serv-ing. The menu above is offered as a suggestion. To simplify the meal, the salad is served as a first course, and only one hot vegetable besides potatoes is included. in-cluded. Either the plum pudding or mince pie is made in advance. The focus of attention is likely to be the meat course, and for this the noble ham is a superb choice. Not only is it traditional for the holiday feast, but it is also easy to prepare. And for popularity of flavor and allround goodness, baked ham cannot be surpassed. The new tendered hams do not require any soaking or boiling; they're ready for the oven. Place on a rack in an open, shallow shal-low pan. Bake in a slow oven (300 deg. F.), allowing 15 to 20 minutes per pound for baking. Either a whole or half ham I may be decorated very easily. , About half an hour before the ham Is done, remove any rind except for a "collar" around the bone. Add a brown sugar or fruit glaze, and any decoration desired, desir-ed, then finish cooking. For the small family, a center cut ham slice is a good choice. While this is not decorated, it can be garnished attractively on the platter. |