Dining in: Christmas Eve dinner

225 writers Tracey Koch and Stephanie Riegel have delicious Christmas recipes to share.

Most years, when we were growing up, we spent Christmas Eve having a quiet night with just the immediate family—our parents, the two of us and our younger sister. Our mother was always up to her ears in stuffing and pies, getting ready for a big Christmas Day feast for extended family and friends. So we watched reruns of It’s a Wonderful Life and ate takeout Chinese before heading to midnight mass.

Now that we have families of our own, our Christmas Eve tradition has evolved. With seven children among the three of us Riegel girls, our side of the family does our gathering on Christmas Eve, which includes evening mass, dinner and the exchange of gifts. Our cardinal rule is to keep the dinner menu simple and make dishes that can be prepared in advance. This allows everyone to relax and relieves any one person from having to shoulder the entire burden. We also like to keep the menu somewhat light. That said, we also like it festive and elegant enough for the occasion. Click here to read more. —Tracey Koch and Stephanie Riegel