Here in the UK it’s pretty much standard – right after the Queen’s speech on tv, it’s roast turkey, skinny sausages, sprouts, roast potatoes, and flaming fruitcake soaked in alcohol and served with brandy butter.
We substitute goose and just say no to fruitcake.
What’s your/your family’s go-to meal?
Growing up I seem to remember something similar to Thanksgiving dinner, but it’s possible I’m conflating Xmas and Easter. The food I remember having on Christmas is soufflé for breakfast.
Tomorrow we’re having homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and stuffed shells for dinner.
Filet Mignon, lobster tails and a massive mixed greens salad! Same as Thanksgiving. About 10 years ago my mom asked us if we really liked turkey and ham and a resounding no was heard so we voted on what we like and said ‘why not eat the meal we all love?’. So, 2x a year we do awesome surf and turf!
Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and veggies. Dessert is different every year. Most in my family like cranberry sauce. I don’t.
Turkey. And other minimally important stuff.
When I was growing up, Christmas Eve was all Scandinavian…lutefisk with boiled potatoes, and potato sausage. Christmas day was turkey.
Now, we do fish Christmas Eve…doing fish tacos tonight. And Christmas day will be our standard standing prime rib. Thinking about doing it on the Egg this year.
Spot
Turkey.
We have a huge storm scheduled to hit on Xmas Day, so this year it might have to be done on the BBQ. Hopefully not, because that will mean that I’ll be outside doing the turkey in the wind and rain…
Growing up it was Turkey and stuff (Thanksgiving redux).
My wife’s family always did steak and lobster so I’ve been doing that for the last 20 years or so.
This year my sister got a fucking turkey so it’s back to that. Damn it!
My mom has usually gone the pseudo-thanksgiving route subbing Ham for turkey. That’s so much work for her that this year we are switching it up to pulled pork and brisket catered from the best (in my opinion) BBQ place in the world and assorted homemade sides.
Prime rib that I’ve aged for 5-7 days, everything else is just fluff.
Growing up, my mom, who is Polish, would always cook the holiday meals, so Christmas eve was a matter of borscht, cabbage rolls, perogies, rouladen, various veggie dishes and usually a baked fish (salmon around these parts). Christmas Day we would go to my aunts and do a more traditional North American dinner.
Always a turkey! Just picked ours up from a local farm, that sells fresh free-range turkeys. We discovered the farm on a bike ride ounce when we had a flat right in front of it!
In these days with complicated, extended and mixed families, a number of years ago my immediate family started an on-year off-year tradition of alternating our family get-together on Christmas day proper, vs another day in the Christmas - New Year’s week. This seemed to take the steam and stress out of dealing with in-laws and also where their had been divorces and having to deal with who-gets-the-kids on Christmas.
This year is an On-Year for the Fleck’s on Christmas Day so we’ll be having a dinner at my sisters house for about 17, I think.
No traditions, but my wife is making stuffed squash and lobster bisque tonight. Looking forward to it.
Growing up, my mom, who is Polish, would always cook the holiday meals, so Christmas eve was a matter of borscht, cabbage rolls, perogies, rouladen, various veggie dishes and usually a baked fish (salmon around these parts). Christmas Day we would go to my aunts and do a more traditional North American dinner.
Throw in the Polish sausage and that’s close how my wife’s family rolls . . . .Very different for me, although I do love homemade pirogi.
Polish food turned in to serious comfort food for me over the years, largely because of those early holiday meals.
And thanks, you post reminded me I need to pick up polish sausage on the way to dinner tonight!!
Eve- posole, tamales, lumpia and bread pudding
day-turkey etc
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Christmas Eve was always shepard’s pie
Christmas Day for the last 20 years or so at my parents either Beef Wellington or horseradish encrusted tenderloin. It will probably be Beef Wellington going forward once we stop going to my parents when we have kids.
We did ham for a few years growing up, when things were a little lean, but the past 15-20 years it’s always been prime rib. Mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, mushroom casserole, gravy and other assorted crap I never notice.
I like the Christmas dinner better than Thanksgiving, personally. Prime rib > Turkey + stuffing.
Growing up, my mom, who is Polish, would always cook the holiday meals, so Christmas eve was a matter of borscht, cabbage rolls, perogies, rouladen, various veggie dishes and usually a baked fish (salmon around these parts). Christmas Day we would go to my aunts and do a more traditional North American dinner.
Throw in the Polish sausage and that’s close how my wife’s family rolls . . . .Very different for me, although I do love homemade pirogi.
x3 on the Polish Christmas. My family is at my house this Christmas and for Christmas Eve my mom is baking fish (salmon or trout) as I type.
For Christmas day we’re having Ham as I dislike Turkey and Goose. We’ll also have some tom yum soup, and butter chicken - just coz we like it.
Polish food turned in to serious comfort food for me over the years, largely because of those early holiday meals.
And thanks, you post reminded me I need to pick up polish sausage on the way to dinner tonight!!
I know we have good Polish sausage and pirogi in Chicago. We had the most Poles outside of Warsaw when I was growing up. It just seems weird to me to not eat the stuff I ate growing up. Do you make your own pirogi or buy them? I have been co-opted into rolling the dough, which I don’t mind since that means I get to take home some pirogi of my favorite flavors.