Sometimes one family might cook the entire meal for a dinner such as we had on Christmas Eve, but many families have the guests bring a dish that they have prepared or purchased.   This year we had my youngest daughter, Pamela, bring a relish tray of dill pickles, green and black olives, and other such things.  My elder daughter's family (meaning Gary her husband who does the cooking) brought sweet potatoes.  The Prakashes brought  three dishes.  These were vegetarian dishes - one a rice dish and one a "buffalo wing" made of soy and the third was a home made sort of salsa sauce.  Suneeta is a very good cook as is Gary, so as you might suspect these were wonderful dishes.     Joy in China had sent some foods from China which we used as appetizers.  The glass table was used as the appetizer table.     We bought a ham at our local butcher.      Martha made a macaroni salad.     Later, just before we serve the meal, we add pimento to the dish giving it a red coloring.  It has macaroni, peas, hard boiled eggs (cut up) and it is dressed with a commercial salad dressing.  Onions (cut up) are optional.   And I baked two cakes.  On Monday - two days before we would eat dinner, Martha and I baked a cheese cake.      This is the cake just out of the oven.  It will be put in the refrigerator until we serve it. I have included a recipe for that cake.  Notice that it requires a special pan called a spring-form pan.   The second cake is also a favorite of ours.  It is called an angel food cake.  The recipe for it is linked under recipe.  The cooling of this cake is a little strange.  Once it is baked, you take it out of the oven and stand the pan upside down on a bottle or something that will fit into the funnel shaped center portion of the pan.  It cools for a while that way.     Then when it is cool enough a sharp knife is run around between the cake and the pan, the pan is set right side up and the outer pan is removed.       It is now sitting on the bottom of the pan and cooling for a longer time.  After another interval, the cake is turned upside down and the the cake is stored at room temperature until it is time to serve it (in this case to be served the next day).       After we finished the main dinner course, we cleared away a table and set up the glass table as a desert table.  These cakes with sauces were put on the table.  We had a cherry and a berry sauce each of which were cooked.      The dessert may be eaten either with or without the sauce.  I prefer mine without the sauce, but also enjoy the cake with the sauce, very much.  Lia (Julia), Jenni, and Juhee are ready for Martha to cut the cake, and Prakash is his usual controlled self, waiting in the background.