Your Traditional Christmas Foods

[debodun]

Turkey is usually eaten for Thanksgiving and lamb or ham for Easter, but what is your "go to" Christmas dish?

I remember my mom would usually have some roast of beef with appropriate accompanying side dishes like mashed potatoes. Some people in the U.S. like to have turkey again, but I feel (for me anyway) it's too soon to have again after Thanksgiving. When I was working, my supervisor said it wasn't Christmas unless he had goose. However, he was from South Africa, so I think people from English colonies probably like goose form Christmas.

 

[Supernatural]

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with savoury herbs or roasted potatoes, sweet potato/turnip mush, sometimes broccoli florets. Cranberry gravy. Wee warm buns with butter. Cranberry jelly too!

Both meals at Christmas and New Year's.

One meal followed with Chocolate Christmas Log Cake, the other with a Sherry or Chocolate Triffle.

Served with ice cold Champers!

 

[CallMeKate]

When we had bigger family gatherings, it was mostly always ham for Christmas. I agree that it's too soon for turkey in my case. For the last few years, though, just a light meal. I do the bigger traditional meals for Thanksgiving and Easter.

 

[Blaze Duskdreamer]

Same here. A beef roast. Mashed potatoes instead of the yams I tend to have for Thanksgiving. Peas instead of green beans. Cherry pie instead of apple. (I hate pumpkin.) It really is too soon to repeat Thanksgiving.

It's Easter for the ham.

 

[CallMeKate]

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with savoury herbs or roasted potatoes, sweet potato/turnip mush, sometimes broccoli florets. Cranberry gravy. Wee warm buns with butter. Cranberry jelly too!

Do you have anything like our American and Canadian Thanksgiving, @Supernatural ?

 

[Supernatural]

Do you have anything like our American and Canadian Thanksgiving, @Supernatural ?

I observe the Canadian Thanksgiving as well as UK 's Harvest Festival (which varies from year to year) link below explains

Harvest Festival

As a Wiccan, it's important to celebrate Harvest Moon...

 

[PeppermintPatty]

Traditional turkey dinner
A whole minus the feathers
Gravy made from turkey stock & fat
Roast potatoes, carrots, broccoli, turnip, stuffing, beets, mustard pickles, cranberry jelly or sauce, buns
Crackers so we can wear goofy coloured paper hats
Gingerbread cookies and ice cream for dessert as well as assorted chocolates including chocolate covered

It’s one of my favourite meals

 

[Georgiagranny]

Turkey for Thanksgiving with dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, ambrosia, pumpkin and peanut butter pies.

Ham for Christmas and Easter with hash brown casserole, corn pudding, deviled eggs, ambrosia, green bean casserole, and usually a lemon pie or cake.

And whatever all else that sounds good

 

[dilettante]

Christmas was more of a home thing. No organized holiday meal, often visited part of the family in the afternoon.

Thanksgiving was usually turkey and venison. Some years pheasant. Or sometimes there was ham in the mix. Usually a bigger family do with cousins crawling in every crevice, climbing the roofs, etc.

 

[IrisSenior]

Turkey for Thanksgiving, mashed potato and whatever veggies I feel like.
Turkey for Christmas, mashed potato, corn, squash (winter), green veg (peas, broccoli or green beans).
Easter is ham and if we celebrate with daughter add chicken.
I also do turkey for son in law on his birthday in February.
It is hard to get a whole big (10-15 lb) an other time of the year.

 

[jujube]

Usually it was ham, except for the year we had goose.....and that was a disaster never to be repeated again.

 

[Jules]

Since I didn’t have a turkey for the guests at Thanksgiving, I’ll have a small turkey breast for Christmas. I used to buy a turkey with the back removed so there was less work. Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, a green vegetable, my special dressing, and homemade gravy. I usually make cranberry sauce too. Brussel sprouts were also a given with the meal until the price skyrocketed a few years ago. No specific dessert anymore. It used to be cheesecake.

Sitting around the house, there used to huge bowls of nuts to crack and a dish of those hard, hideous Christmas candies. Appies prior to dinner, if there’s company.

 

[debodun]

a dish of those hard, hideous Christmas candies.

If this is what you're referring to, they're called cut rock candy. My dad liked them.

 

[Jules]

Those are the ones, Deb. They’d get stuck together and finally get tossed.

 

[Tommy]

During the '90s we established a family tradition of having Alaskan king crab legs for Christmas dinner. Pricey, but hey . . . it's just once a year. Once the kids moved away, that tradition faded. Now it's whatever sounds good at the time.

 

[Jules]

Thinking about this, I don’t think I’ve ever asked my husband what his childhood Christmas dinner was. The family was vegetarian so definitely no turkey. Probably they had their ethnic favourites and I’m not attempting any of those.

 

[Georgiagranny]

If this is what you're referring to, they're called cut rock candy. My dad liked them.

View attachment 316765

Some of those tasted like school paste. I thought the "pictures" in the center were fascinating! I liked the filled ones best and looked for them online, but all I could find are individually wrapped. Nope. Not the same.

Yup. They stuck together after a while and usually got tossed in the trash by Valentine's Day.

 

[Llynn]

Gruel was always a big deal at Christmas. Ebeneezer's Edibles was a popular purveyor of this particular delicacy at the workhouses and poorhouses when I was a boy. Can't get good gruel these days.

 

[hollydolly]

I hate turkey *screams* I HATE Turkey..I would eat mud for Christmas dinner before turkey...

 

[hearlady]

We don't have a specified Christmas dinner. I think this year I'm going to do a pork loin roast with trimmings.

 

[Bella]

For Christmas dinner, start with a butternut squash bisque, then a boneless lamb roast, or a bone-in center-cut pork loin roast. With either, I serve a sun-dried cherry sauce, a side dish of scalloped potatoes, asparagus, sauteed wild mushrooms, and a salad of sliced fennel, red onion, Cerignola or oil-cured olives, and mandarin oranges. Dessert is a flourless chocolate tart with fresh raspberry sauce, whipped cream, and a lovely plate of Christmas cookies. Perhaps espresso or an after-dinner liqueur with dessert, if anyone is interested.

 

[bobcat]

For Christmas dinner, start with a butternut squash bisque, then a boneless lamb roast, or a bone-in center-cut pork loin roast. With either, I serve a sun-dried cherry sauce, a side dish of scalloped potatoes, asparagus, sauteed wild mushrooms, and a salad of sliced fennel, red onion, Cerignola or oil-cured olives, and mandarin oranges. Dessert is a flourless chocolate tart with fresh raspberry sauce, whipped cream, and a lovely plate of Christmas cookies. Perhaps espresso or an after-dinner liqueur with dessert, if anyone is interested.

Well, I'd be lying my ass off if I said I wasn't interested. It sounds absolutely amazing, and I have no doubt it would be, given your expertise. I'm quite certain that if Santa stopped by your house first, no one else would be seeing any presents for a while, so best not to send him an RSVP. However, if you can handle driving the reindeer team while Santa sleeps off the food hangover in the sleigh, then perhaps it could work out. You may need something to keep you warm though. Flying through the clouds in late December could be a bit nippy I would imagine.

 

[debodun]

I remember my mom would usually have some roast of beef with appropriate accompanying side dishes like mashed potatoes.

I might add that we usually had the "big" meal on Christmas eve. That way mom would be less busy on Christmas day and we'd eat leftovers.

 

[terry123]

seafood gumbo with white rice and cornbread. sweet tea for drinks.

 

[RadishRose]

For Christmas dinner, start with a butternut squash bisque, then a boneless lamb roast, or a bone-in center-cut pork loin roast. With either, I serve a sun-dried cherry sauce, a side dish of scalloped potatoes, asparagus, sauteed wild mushrooms, and a salad of sliced fennel, red onion, Cerignola or oil-cured olives, and mandarin oranges. Dessert is a flourless chocolate tart with fresh raspberry sauce, whipped cream, and a lovely plate of Christmas cookies. Perhaps espresso or an after-dinner liqueur with dessert, if anyone is interested.

You're gonna kill him @Bella, you know that right?