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Oi, Gente!

Do you know what you're making for Christmas yet? Because my menu is still TBD... 😮‍💨

Over here we keep going back and forth between making something new (my vote) or repeating last year's menu that was a massive hit... and I'm over here like... 😵‍💫

So here's where I landed: nowhere... I still don't know what I'm making.

But I'm not stressing about it.

Last year's menu was SO good, and SO easy, that I could literally decide to make it again at the last minute - easy peasy.

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Last Year's Menu (That Has Everyone Begging)

We started with melzinho cachaça honey shots (a FESTAS exclusive). We weren’t planning on cocktails at all, but the menu was so smooth to execute that we had extra time... Besides, they're ready in like 3 minutes anyway, so they're always an easy yes.

Then we served a bacalhau salad (another FESTAS exclusive), which is basically a regular at our house because cod is non-negotiable here.

For the main, we made grilled lamb chops with mint chimichurri and served them with Brazilian Christmas rice. The rice is perfect with lamb because the raisins give you that sweet-and-savory combo that just works. There was farofa as well, of course.

For dessert, we served rabanadas with vanilla ice cream drizzled with dulce de leche, while we sipped on our tiny glasses of our homemade cachaça liqueur - pinga com mel (another FESTAS exclusive).

It was simple, festive, and so, so good.

It ended up being one of those beautiful spreads that look impressive but actually come together way easier than it seems.

The Best Part?

Almost everything on this menu is quick to make and make-ahead friendly, so you can spread out your work and keep Christmas day cooking pretty light. A huge plus if you ask me!

3 days before - Make the chimichurri. It takes about 10 minutes and honestly it gets better as it sits.

2 days before - Make the farofa. 15 minutes, done. One less thing to worry about.

The day before - Marinate the lamb chops... another 10 to 15 minutes of work, and they’ll be packed with flavor.

On Christmas Day - All you’re really doing is:

• Making the rabanadas (30 minutes)
• Cooking the Christmas rice (less than an hour, including raisin soaking time)
• Grilling the lamb (roughly 10 minutes!)

The ONLY thing that needs real advance planning is the pinga com mel - it takes 10 days to really infuse. So if you want it on your table, you need to start today... and be okay with it not being perfectly balanced if you open it before 10 days.

What I Know for Sure

Having an easy to follow backup plan that I KNOW works takes all the pressure off. So even though my menu is not 100% set, I have a plan that I love and know I can easily execute last minute.

What about you? Do you already know what you’re making for Christmas? Or do you keep a few easy backup recipes in your back pocket… just in case the menu suddenly changes?