I did some reading to find out what might have been served for dinner on that amazing night before Christmas dinner and found that we have been eating many of the same foods they did. Long ago in Bethlehem,  Mary and Joseph may have dined on a simple meal filled with bread, a vegetable, fruit, a dip and maybe even a special treat.

 Here is what I learned about a Christmas Meal or Bethlehem Dinner:

My guys love to ish. The big guy in particular. I placed a few pieces of fish on the platter above along with placing  a few on each of our plates. Fish was plentiful at that time. I won’t be surprised if Mary and Joseph didn’t have some kind of meat. We try to have it twice a week.

I read that cauliflower and broccoli were served at that time too. JDaniel really prefers cauliflower so, he had that on his plate. My husband and I had the fresh broccoli. It was really delicious.

Dried and fresh fruit were server at meals back then. I found some dried dates at the store in the baking section and served them with fresh grapes. JDaniel loved eating a handful of the dates and grapes together. They were delicious he informed me.

Bread was a staple back then  and was served at almost every meal. We had french bread with spinach dip to dip the bread into. JDaniel wasn’t keen on the dip, but my husband and I liked it. It was fun to think that were dining on bread the same way Mary and Joseph had.

Our dessert  for this meal was created by our niece Emily. She brought baklava she had made to our family Thanksgiving reunion. I froze some of it and served it during our Bethlehem meal.  We all adored it. Emily told me it had been a lot of work to make. I am so glad she persevered through making the baklava. It was  the perfect way end our Bethlehem dinner.

Here are some more Christmas meal ideas:

Red and Green Layered Dessert

Christmas Soup

Chocolate Covered Cookie BallsThis post is linked to Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday.