What Are You Going To Serve At Christmas?

If you're cooking, that is. We will probably have a big baked ham and turkey, cheesy broccoli casserole, Grandma' s baked barbecue beans with hamburger, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, fruit, rolls, and pies and cakes for dessert. That is the old standard menu. Hoping to get some other ideas so maybe I can switch a little this year.

 

Christmas Eve is at our house...we don't cook any meat, just fish and seafood. Christmas Day my mom is making a prime rib roast...I think this will be the very first time I have not had turkey for Christmas...my feelings are mixed regarding this decision.

 

If I was in Detroit, breakfast at the grandparents (we got o spend thanksgiving with them this year)....fruits, toasts and jellies, ham, bacon, and eggs. Dinner at my aunt's (father's side of family) with my cousin's dessert experiments and lots of side dishes and i think turkey or some type of beef. But i don't remember because i don't eat beed and only filled up on all the delicious sides. Too many desserts to count though.

If we were in Bostons, it would be Christmas at Tom's aunt and uncles with turkey, enough pies and cakes to have one whole one for each person, and his uncle's ill begotten soupy mashed potatos that he makes every year and painstakingly takes all day to make.

We are yet to come up with some traditions of our own down here.

 

Let's see, I'm on Atkins but am probably going to make an exception for Christmas day! We'll have turkey, gravy & cranberry sauce, potato, carrot & turnip, maybe cabbage. To make life easy I usually just bung the veggies in the pan with the turkey, I love roast veggies. The type of yorkshire pudding that my grandmother used to make, that isn't really yorkshire pud and is slightly different every year as I experiment with the ingreds!

And stuffing. Yummy stuffing. And our traditional Christmas pudding for dessert, except instead of raisins I use frozen blueberries and instead of suet I use butter. It's a steamed pudding and has molasses. With hard sauce that is so sugary it crunches in your mouth!

Deb

 

Oooh, that all sounds good! Found a recipe for some pecan pie cookies. Mmmm. Should we start a new thread on recipes? By mistake, we found a great way to prepare ham last year and it was so yummy.

I would love to know how to do a prime rib roast.

 

I'm getting hungry reading this thread!

BTW - does anyone really like fruitcake? My hubby saw a tv show about that the other day, and this older lady called in to say that people used to have much less sugar in their diets in the past, and fruitcake was a treat because it was sweeter than normal stuff in your diet. But now, it isn't because our diet is so full of sugar that it doesn't taste so good.

Deb

 

My husband's older cousin and her family (a lot older because they have grandchildren now!) used to send his family a fruitcake every year and he didn't have the courage to try it until he was in his late teens/early 20s. He actually liked it, but it was actually a really pricey one where you could see the real nuts and fruit on the top. he recognized the actual fruit cake his family used to get everyyear on a show the other night.

Well, i think in some areas that is true, but i always thought the brits and russians were known for chocolate and sweets. maybe they are talking about colonial america before they figured out how to find the sugar.

 

After T-giving and my back going out trying to lift and serve the turkey, we are having xmas catered. A little italian market here has amazing roast beef with gravy, baked ziti, CANNOLIS, breads etc. Just going to make up the hot pans and have everyone take what they like, buffet style.

everyone = 4 people -at most- besides us. very small affair.

I however, will be tending bar with the martini's slinging and the blender whirring so if you don't hear from me the week after, it's because i'm still sleeping it off ... probably under the tree.

 

ooohhh! catering!!!! yum!!

My husband is a great cook so the food is always delicious at my house, but there is nothing like just tossing away the cartons when you are done!

 

Getting really hungry here, I want everyone else's feast too!

I'm planning to cook my *favourite* dish in the whole wide world. It's one of those that I dream about eating, along with proper spaghetti alla vongole and good Thai.

It's called 'Feysanjan' and it consists of chicken with a rich pomegranate and walnut sauce. It's a Persian recipe & properly you're supposed to cook it with some wild duck that you've personally shot down on a hunting expedition with the Shah on the shores of the Caspian...

I just use chicken! Incredibly rich, you feel an explosion of warmth heading up the top of your spine as you eat it. *Warm* food, in a kind of traditional food philosophy way.


MMMM :P

 

I have never had pomegranates.

My husband is making chicken cordon bleu with steamed veggies for dinner tonight. He made escaroole soup the yesterday with garlic toast to dip in it, and is making some type of dessert involving almond mascarpone in another day or so that he has never made before which i am looking forward to.

 

Well, Chris, my husband cooks, too, but not that fancy. Yours will have to teach mine some recipes!

Lin, that sounds so good. I LOVE pomegranites. I know what you mean about that rich creamy "comfort food" feeling. I just might have to have that recipe.

 

My hubby is a phenomenal cook too...but don't even get me started on the mess I have to clean up afterwards!!!!! Egads!!!!

 

Me too! Ceiling, floor, walls , stove!!! egad!!

 

Great topic! I love to cook and enjoy reading about what others are making to give me ideas for next year.

My sister always cooks thanksgiving dinner and I get to do Christmas. I love planning my menu and usually start in November. (i know, I'm crazy)

For appetizers I am making stuffed shrimp with crab meat and French onion soup.
For dinner I am cooking pesto w/ goat cheese Cornish game hens with dried cherry stuffing, Potatoes (not sure what kind yet--I keep changing my mind) sautéed escarole with white beans, and squash. For dessert I am making creme brulee (regular and mocha), peanut butter pie, Apple cranberry nut pie, and sweet potato pie....along with tons of cookie trays. I can't wait to get cooking. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday~;)

 

There is nothing like when someone really knows how to make French Onion Soup. It can be awful or divine...i am sure yours is divine.

and I can say one thing, where we live, if we go out, no restaurant can cook italian at all. all ligher fluid and acidic tomatos. very bad! But we CAN get the absolute best sweet potato pie. I never thought I would like it, but once I tried it, I was hooked!

And as far as potatos, what about garlic red potatos (leave parts of the skins on) yummmm. My mother always makes scalloped potatos and my cousins who make all the fancy stuff always want her to bring it.

 

Garlic red potatoes sound great~ Thanks for making up my mind!

I know what you mean about getting good Italian food down south, it's impossible. I'm really picky too, rarely go to Italian restaurants because the food never tastes right to me. My grandmother spoiled me from an early age :P

 

If my mum didn't serve up traditional British Christmas dinner there would be an out-cry, especially from me. So, it's roast Turkey (free range, ordered in advance and costs £30, about $60), roast spuds, peas, carrots, stuffing (mum makes 2, the usual and a rice and bacon one) plus gravy, then of course it is the piece de resistance...the Christmas Pudding, covered in brandy butter. My mum makes her christmas pud about 5 months in advance and it's full of currants, raisins and nuts, and she feeds it a regular diet of brandy right up until the big day. We all pull our crackers first though and we HAVE to wear the crown throughout the meal, then afterwards it off to the sofas to quetly slip into a coma until tea time.

 

My mom found this recipe a couple of years ago and we all love it. Makes a fabulous moist stuffing and the bird cooks faster without stuffing too!

SLOW COOKER STUFFING

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
1/4 cup fresh parsley
12 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
12 1/2 cups dry bread cubes
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups chicken broth
2 eggs, beaten

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DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, mushroom, and parsley in butter, stirring frequently.
Spoon cooked vegetables over bread cubes in a very large mixing bowl. Season with poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, marjoram, and salt and pepper. Pour in enough broth to moisten, and mix in eggs. Transfer mixture to slow cooker, and cover.
Cook on High for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to Low, and cook for 4 to 8 hours.


Note:

To make the slow cooker stuffing in the oven, prepare as directed using the full amount of broth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish or other large casserole dish. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

 

And these mashed spuds are fabulous too!!

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
Servings: 8

5 pounds red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon minced garlic, or to taste
3 cubes chicken bouillon
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook the potatoes, garlic, and bouillon until potatoes are tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving water. In a bowl, mash potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, adding reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.
2. Transfer the potato mixture to a slow cooker, cover, and cook on Low for 2 to 3 hours. Just before serving, stir in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.