Real butter is bad for you, though, so I prefer the faux stuff. I can eat a little more of it and be guilt-free.
Piffle. All things in moderation, especially moderation itself. A little salt, a little butter, a little sugar, these things aren't bad for you unless you overdo them. Quality of life is good for you. When food is satisfying, you eat what you need, and can walk away, fulfilled.
we have Turkey (always turkey) mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, bread stuffing, oatmeal(scottish) stuffing carrots, broccoli/cauliflower cheese sauce gravy mmmmmmm
We always have turkey for Thanksgiving, about 4 weeks before Christmas in the United States, so our family isn't ready for turkey again so soon.
We always got to the Grandmother-in-law's house. She prepares the best seafood gumbo. All of the side dishes blend together in my memory except the potatoe salad. And of course, who can forget the chocolate pie, coconut pie, and lemon meringue pie. We all end up in a food coma while the kids play video games.
I am officially head cook for every Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year's Christmas menu is: Honey/Brown sugar basted ham...spiral-cut, bone-in Apple/Cinnamon sauce for the ham Roasted turkey with my secret dressing Turkey gravy made from the roasting pan drippings Baked potatoes and sweet potatoes Lemon jello with carrot shavings and crushed pineapple Cranberry sauce slices (of course) Three different roles: crescent rolls, flake rolls, and whole wheat rolls String beans and wax beans cooked with lean bacon chunks Corn on the cob Butter, margarine and apple butter (pick your favorite) Homemade Chunky Applesauce with Cinnamon glaze Deep dish Apple pie with French Vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream topping Hot Pumpkin pie with toasted, almond-slice topping (or ice cream or whipped cream) Drinks include Hot Chocolate, Warmed Apple Cider, Milk, Water, Soda, Beer or Sparkling Cider. Cooking starts the day before Christmas and doesn't end until the rolls come out of the oven just as family members are sitting down. Nothing frosts me more than cold rolls...LOL Thank God for double ovens and microwaves. I don't know how my mother ever made do in the old days.
You come here? It wouldn't even make a difference (since I've got 7 sisters, 7 brothers and... -no way- 2 parents ). I love Christmas deserts... we usually have Christmas pudding, ice cream cake, tiramisu, and lots of other cookies and chocolates and such... I love it. I'm secretly hoping I get to stuff the turkey again this year... oh, and I may not forget to make that gingerbread house... I love Christmas food!!
Yes, big family. There will be at least sixteen for dinner this year. My 80yo mother, wife, bunch of kids, grandkids, significant others. Ironically, my wife and I rarely have goodies for the next day after sending home leftovers with all the kids, and they usually argue (playfully) about who get dad's dressing leftovers...not enough for everyone. I guess this is a good time to tell one of my favorite holiday stories if you folks will indulge me. The tradition of me cooking holiday dinners began during my first year of marriage. Sue was pregnant at Thanksgiving and confined to bed due to premature separation of the placenta. It was a scary time for me with my wife and first child at risk. If we were going to enjoy turkey, it would be up to me to cook it. Made a long distance call to mom with a desperate plea for help and she walked me through the entire process over the phone. It came out excellent. Thus began the tradition of Dad does Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. That was 37 years ago. In 1999, my wife's mother was dying of cancer and she was confined to a skilled nursing facility at Thanksgiving. She loved my cooking, especially the dressing. That year, we had around 15 kids/grandkids over for the holiday meal, but I shocked everyone. The table wasn't "set". Dishes and silverware were stacked on it, as were a dozen hot Pyrex cooking bowls, each with it's own potholder underneath. One of my daughters offered to help set the table and I told her to leave everything alone. Moments later, I dumped hot rolls into a deep bowl lined with hand towels, pulled the big black turkey roasting pan from the oven and yelled to my kids..."Everybody grab something and follow me!" You should have heard the clamor as I headed out the front door with the sizzling hot turkey in the cooker. "Dad's gone mad!" "What the Hell's going on?" "Better hurry, I don't think he's going to wait for us!" Everyone, grabbed something and hopped into their cars, trying to keep up with the crazy man who stole their bird. Ten minutes later, I led a parade of family past the nursing station and into my mother-in-law's medical room. She had no roommate, so we set up Thanksgiving right on the empty bed. Her eyes twinkled with joy as loved ones surrounded her. My wife had promised to stop by later in the day with a Thanksgiving plate for her. She cried in happiness...as did all my daughters. Truth be told, this tough old recon guy might have choked up a bit, but I'll never admit it! The head nurse blustered that no patient was allowed more than two guests. I told her if she was nice, I'd bring her a big plate of Thanksgiving dinner. She shook her head in mock defeat and left us alone. Yes, I made sure she and the other nurses got fed too. For the prior week on chemo, my wife's mom had been struggling to eat and was losing weight fast. Her appetite suddenly returned. She actually ate all her meal and sheepishly asked for seconds. The experience was one of the most joyous moments in my life. And, to this day, it was the very best Thanksgiving ever. We lost Grandma Mickey on Christmas eve a month later.
That's a great story, NaCl, made me smile. Very sweet... Here both my Mom and Dad take care of the Christmas cooking, and all the kids love to help.
I'm so jealous of you both right now. The most people I've ever had was twelve, and now there's going to be like seven. My family is a dying breed haha. And also NaCl, that's a great holiday story.
I'm probably going to be ignored again, as I was in the Christmas pictures thread, but I would like to suggest that this be the HOLIDAY dinner thread, because there are Jews here, i.e. ME. Anyway, I love latkes.
I've never had those before, probably because my family is Christian, but I don't know. I've never even heard of them before.
Well, they are Eastern European in general. I know some Polish people who are Catholic and love them.
EF - they are potato pancakes fried in oil representing a Jewish miracle of oil that lasted eight days when it should not have lasted one. They are quite tasty and a tradition during Hanukkah, although many Jews enjoy them throughout the year. I don't believe that the original latkes were potato. I think they were made of egg and cheese that was deep fried.
Yes. They are something everyone has to try once in their life. A few days ago, it was very amusing hearing an eight-year-old who isn't even Jewish try to correct my pronounciation. It's a Hebrew/Yiddish word, so the A is pronounced as in "father" and she tried to tell me it was pronounced as is "hat".
I family has recently been skipping Christmas Dinner in favor of Christmas Brunch. Since most of us are married with our own familes and in-laws and all..it is easier to get everyone together in the morning. We do french toast and eggs and bacon (for the carnivores) and dad makes cider. We have even picked up doughnuts in the past.
I had latkes today. And we made fun of one woman in the group, the most strictly observant one, claiming that she couldn't possibly be truly Jewish because her family is Polish/Russian, which is where latkes come from.
My family goes with a traditional christmas dinner consisting of Turkey, sausages wrapped in bacon, peas, roast potatoes, sprouts, a ham, gravy. We usually have a desert of Christmas pudding and homemade mince pies washed down with home made mulled wine. Can't beat it