CHRISTMAS DINNER (breaking traditions)

[Gary Byrum]

For the last 20 or so years, I have refused to cook what our family considered traditional Christmas dinner. It was usually a remake of what we ate at Thanksgiving and I got tired of that instant replay every year. My older brother still cooks this way but fortunately, his Christmas dinner is usually a week or so after Christmas.

Since it'll be just my daughter, her BF and the grand baby, we decide at Thanksgiving what we want for Christmas dinner. Usually it's something different every year and so, we decided on German Schnitzel, baked Brussel's sprouts with Balsamic vinegar and honey and either stuffed baked squash or mashed taters. I always make a nanner bread because between Jake and I, we can't seem to get enough of my recipe on that. Might even bake some Butterscotch morsel cookies too. Although that's not set in stone.

So what are you having this year? Got a special recipe you want to share? OH, and FWIW, it'll still feel like Christmas even if you ditch that egg nog. Who said it was a "must have" anyway?

 

[dhbarr]

I'm thinking about trying Оливье Cалат -- Olivye Salat -- Olivier Salad this season to see if it goes on the rotation.

We like to stay in the same neighborhood as traditional fare without slavishly reproducing an exact replica at major holidays.

 

[Andy Greene]

Every few years or so, the wife and I skip the family dinners (both families are in town) and do our own thing alone.
Normally I pick up a couple nice steaks for the grill , some crab legs and scallops- twice baked potatoes and a nice salad. Thats this years plan
but I will admit , having worked this Thanksgiving, I miss me some leftover turkey samiches :wink:

 

[Gary Byrum]

I'm thinking about trying Оливье Cалат -- Olivye Salat -- Olivier Salad this season to see if it goes on the rotation.

We like to stay in the same neighborhood as traditional fare without slavishly reproducing an exact replica at major holidays.

I just saw some variations on that recipe. The original calls for Bologna, which I loathe, but the smoked ham option sounds pretty interesting. I might have to brew one of these up for my brother's dinner. I always take something a little nontraditional to his dinners. Few years back, I made Hummus and it was a huge success. Less the lemon juice of course.

 

[Peartree]

As my Mom has gotten closer to her 90th birthday (89 this year), the less cooking she was interested in doing so while we still retain some traditional (for us) side dishes like salad with Mom’s special homemade dressing, and corn, we’ve added new traditions like having a large shrimp platter at the table and the main course can be pizza, chicken, or wings from Pizza Hut or KFC, or some local place. If we want something specific, we’re welcome to bring it. I’ve been experimenting and try to bring candied pecans, date nut balls, stuffed dates, and other things that Dad used to make. The point for us is to be together and the menu isn’t that critical.


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[Bat-mite]

Sorry, but I could eat roast turkey with stuffing and gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce an pumpkin pie everyday for the rest of my life. Twice a year is simply not enough. We will have a traditional meal and hope there are lots of leftovers.

 

[dr wogz]

We started a tradition a few years ago. the wife can't cook. She tries, but doesn't really get it. and one of eth first Christmases we had together, she (and I) were dreading cooking a turkey.. A work colleague mentioned getting a turkey smoked.. "How do we smoke a turkey?" she (the wife) asked.. Easy, her colleague replied. Buy one here (a really good local butcher) and take it here (a local Hungarian Butcher). he'll smoke it for you, give him about a week, then just heat it up in the oven Christmas day. So, we always get a great smoked turkey from Christmas!

 

[Ravenex]

We do traditional Jewish Christmas every year, Chinese Takeout and movie.

 

[pondman]

We are nontraditional: ravioli, meatballs, and sausage. Yes the ravioli & sauce is from scratch.

 

[Gary Byrum]

I’ve been experimenting and try to bring candied pecans, (snip)

Now this is something my Mom used to make and everyone thought they were to die for. Honestly, I didn't because I don't care for sweetened nuts. Nor do I like nuts in my cakes & candies.

As far as the other comments go, I really understand folks not wanting to fuss over cooking so much during this time, especially if your crowd is fairly large. But by the same token, I'm always a go for something someone hand crafted. That's why I do it. Those kinds of compliments go a long way. I'm fortunate that my crowd will be small here and I won't mind crafting everything. For those of you into taking the easy route on this, I will say this, Please don't settle for store bought cakes and pies. Learn to make one the right way. They can be 10 times better if you do. Go the distance on at least 1 item. This year I plan to make a sweet tater pie because I know mine will outright kill what the grocer sells. In fact, My sweet tater pie would make my grandmother jealous. (god rest her soul)

Bat....You go ahead and chow down on that given double dip turkey dinner. I remember well how I could never eat enough turkey sandwitches the rest of the week. You can keep that cranberry sauce (canned version) if you like. I out grew that stuff years ago....ick!

 

[Gary Byrum]

We are nontraditional: ravioli, meatballs, and sausage. Yes the ravioli & sauce is from scratch.

Mmmmmmm......

 

[Exactimator]

My parents had the same idea when I was growing up. Two turkey feasts in a month is a bit much. We changed it up a few different ways:

Ham, twice baked potatoes, asparagus. When HoneyBaked Hams got popular, we’d get one of those.

When we got older, we’d get dressed up and go out to a nice restaurant for a fancy dinner.

Our third option, speaking of German food, was Sauerbraten. A beef roast marinated in vinegar and spices for three days. Ever see a beef roast marinated in vinegar for three days? It looks absolutely awful. Like a spoiled chunk of beef lurking in the back of the fridge. But it cooks up extra delicious and tender. After cooking, you mix the juices with gingersnaps to make a gravy (gingersnaps balance out the vinegar flavor). Dinner was the roast, potato pancakes smothered in ginger snap gravy and a spinach salad. Delicious and a worthy departure from the turkey/stuffing repeat. My oldest brother who moved out of state would request it when he came home for Christmas and we all benefited. Alton Brown has a recipe and did a show on it. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sauerbraten-recipe-1944490.

 

[J Blatz]

Last year we had wine and garlic braised beef short ribs atop mashed potatoes. Served with horseradish for the ribs. Sauted kale veggie side. Heavyweight 15.5%ABV Cali Zin. Short ribs are fantstsic IMO.

This year the kids are advocating for homemade pizza. Homemade dough, garlic/cream sauce, topped with mozz, parm, mushrooms, and sausage. Cooked on stone in oven, since I don't have a pizza oven. Nice rose' to go with I reckon.

 

[smugglervt]

This year it's slow cooker beef roast, French dip style with beer and French onion soup, and homemade rolls and what ever side dishes we're in the mood for (for me that would be mashed potatoes). Maybe throw in a shrimp cocktail ring for appetizer. When I was growing up my Dad would make what everyone liked so with 4 other siblings we would end up with a feast of turkey, ham, lasagna, and baked stuffed shrimp. My Dad was a cook by profession so he was happiest when he was in the kitchen cooking for everyone. Boy do I miss him this time of year.

 

[Gary Byrum]

Did any of you ever have pork brains and eggs for breakfast on Christmas? My dad always made em and we all liked it. Granted, it's not for everybody because a lot of folks are squeamish about eating exotic or "out in left field" dishes. I'll label this one as "left field" because I was the only person in my family into exotic food. Brains btw, aren't really topping the list as a healthy food source seeing how the % of cholesterol is through the roof on those things. That's why I only have them once a year.

 

[djkingsley]

The kids and I are doing the homemade pizza thing, sounds like this year we have an uber veggi, extreme meat, and a plan old cheese pizza on the list. I have no idea what that means since the kids are doing the grocery shopping this year.

BTW - None of us are turkey kind of people.

 

[T-Rex]

Wife and daughter are going out of town. I will be manning the homestead making sure the livestock get fed. I'm planning on splurging with Chinese buffet....

 

[Crash-n-Burn]

I've been cranking out loaves of my grandmother's super secret fruit cake recipe. The problem is that the family is eating them faster than I can make them.

 

[Gary Byrum]

I've been cranking out loaves of my grandmother's super secret fruit cake recipe. The problem is that the family is eating them faster than I can make them.

In my neck of the woods, you aren't spoze to eat those. They're a table decoration.

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

We still do pretty much the traditional feast. I am usually in charge of smoking the ham and turkey. My dad did them both for Thanksgiving and that was a load off my plate. Having to get up at 4 to get the smoker ready is a PITA. But smoked meat is oh so good. It may be my turn for Christmas, we'll see. I love turkey and ham so I have no problem eating it twice so close together. Every year I say I am going to get a goose to try, but haven't yet. Since I have been out on waterfowl hunting since becoming a father, the goose is even farther out of the picture. Not that I ever killed one.

I have been making my own pecan pies (pronounced PUH-khan) for a few years now and my dad says they the best he has ever had. Poor mom can't have pecans and such so I have to come up with something else for her this year.

 

[Bat-mite]

In my neck of the woods, you aren't spoze to eat those. They're a table decoration.

They make good boat anchors.

 

[Bat-mite]

We do traditional Jewish Christmas every year, Chinese Takeout and movie.

Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra ... ra-ra-ra-ra!

 

[Andrew_ASC]

Lone Star Tamales has some cool stuff. If you need an appetizer Tex Mex style heat and eat. My mom hates Habernaros. I love Habernaros. I also bake Swedish Apple pies. Tons of butter. Because Swedes. My stepdad's mom is German and she always sends these crazy good cheesecakes and toffee bars when she isn't cooking the whole dang traditional meal. Black Eye'd peas and rice with cornbread on New Years. Craziest Thanksgiving I had was when a neighbor shot a wild turkey then asked us to eat fried turkey. Southerners. Lol. I cooked fried Shark one time for the neighbor as a here try this.

 

[Andrew_ASC]

ShArk has a steak like texture. Cutting it is like cutting a rubber ball when raw. You can beer batter fry it with jalapeños and it isn't bad at all.

 

[farsidius]

I'm almost 50 years old and I've never had a Christmas dinner. The tradition in my family when I was kid, and I've continued it with my kids, is Christmas breakfast. A huge Christmas breakfast that we eat all day. In the morning after gifts are opened and the kids are off playing, the parents (and sometimes the older siblings) will make a large breakfast. Lots of eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, French toast, ebelskivers, ham, fresh fruit, OJ, eggnog etc... Put this on a few warming plates and leave it out for people to eat for a few hours. Leftovers eventually get put in the fridge and get snacked on throughout the day. No more cooking.

 

[Andrew_ASC]

One of the crazier non traditional dinners was at a Dad's friends house on Martha's Vineyard where they offered us a deep sea fishing trip. I caught a 13 lb sea bass and we literally at that for several days served grilled with lime and lemon juice and lightly peppered them salted. We ate fish because that guy is a fishing dork. He wasn't going to buy a turkey store bought. Naw.. You had to go freeze your arse off on the cold North Atlantic Ocean beyond visual sight of shore for seven hours and return shivering cold in salt water. His boat had like special built cabinets to hold more fish and fishing gear than places to sit.

 

[Andrew_ASC]

Then others were as humble as camp stew on camping, cabbage, potatoes, sausage, tomatoes, corn, onions, and more
sausage. Seasoned with Camp Stew seasoning. We cooked it over the campfire in a Dutch oven when the power went out. Then had dump cake cobblers where you take a insta mix cake and dump it on the canned fruits. It Carmelizes.

 

[Andrew_ASC]

You can take an onion and core out the center the put bleu cheese and bacon and wrap in Tin foil toss in campfire or fireplace. Very good snacks.

 

[Andrew_ASC]

I'm almost 50 years old and I've never had a Christmas dinner. The tradition in my family when I was kid, and I've continued it with my kids, is Christmas breakfast. A huge Christmas breakfast that we eat all day. In the morning after gifts are opened and the kids are off playing, the parents (and sometimes the older siblings) will make a large breakfast. Lots of eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, French toast, ebelskivers, ham, fresh fruit, OJ, eggnog etc... Put this on a few warming plates and leave it out for people to eat for a few hours. Leftovers eventually get put in the fridge and get snacked on throughout the day. No more cooking.

My family does this too except they wind up cooking or bring stuff to friends. Every freaking year.

 

[Dave47]

We switched to enchiladas, beans, cornbread, Mexican style rice, and tamales. I have a good enchilada recipe that I like to make occasionally.

David


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