So what will you be eating this holiday season?

[game-lover]

So this started off with a question that I was going to ask you. But I didn't think it would have a whole lot of discussion after a page or two. So I decided to spread it out by adding this really big general question and seeing just because.

What will you be eating or prepping or both? Will it be something new? Or just the same old you've had before?


Our family will be newish sameold. That is to say this dinner we're having has been the same going for more than two years now. But it's pretty new in general. I believe it was mostly to accommodate my oldest brother's wife. Who's not too keen on poultry and stuff.

And that brings me to the question that inspired this thread. Consider it a BONUS: What would you pair with lasagna or what do you think goes with it? I have no idea. Except maybe corn or green salad... that's pretty much all.

My mother tried to hit me up for ideas and all I could do is shrug and stare blankly.

 

[FalloutJack]

A traditional Italian meal: Seven forms of seafood, minimum. I believe the usual suspects are...

Two kinds of shrimp
Crab cakes
Clam Chowder (White, not Red)
Muscles in a wine sauce
Calamari
Fried clams
Stuffed oysters

I can cook and I have offered to help, but I have not been asked yet.

 

[Ryotknife]

Ham
mashed potatoes
german and regular potato salad
indian corn
croissants
green bean casserole

While I do cook for my parents sometimes, I stay the hell away from the kitchen during the holidays. I like my limbs.

A traditional Italian meal: Seven forms of seafood, minimum. I believe the usual suspects are...

Two kinds of shrimp
Crab cakes
Clam Chowder (White, not Red)
Muscles in a wine sauce
Calamari
Fried clams
Stuffed oysters

I can cook and I have offered to help, but I have not been asked yet.

...well I know whose party im crashing for the holidays.

 

[piinyouri]

Probably peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

 

[Little Woodsman]

BONUS: What would you pair with lasagna or what do you think goes with it? I have no idea. Except maybe corn or green salad... that's pretty much all.

My mother tried to hit me up for ideas and all I could do is shrug and stare blankly.

Lasagna goes well with with green salad, garlic bread, fried or baked zucchini, sauteed mushrooms, bean salad and vivacious Mediterranean ladies.

 

[Little Woodsman]

For the holiday I will be making roast chicken wingettes (marinated in a pineapple juice & teriyaki sauce), fresh baked bread, pork & mushroom buns, mashed potatoes. Along with what I make I will be serving a nice selection of olives from the olive bar at the local Whole Foods, cantaloupe, apples & avocado. Once enough of the "real" food has been consumed I will open up the chocolate & salt water taffy banks (a reasonable amount) and tell my kid to ask for whatever she wants from what we have in the apartment. Which means we'll have ramen later too.

 

[Elfgore]

My mother will make her annual breakfast casserole. It's a special thing she only makes once a year.

It has french bread, egg, sausage, mushroom, and ham. It is amazing.

 

[FalloutJack]

Ham
mashed potatoes
german and regular potato salad
indian corn
croissants
green bean casserole

While I do cook for my parents sometimes, I stay the hell away from the kitchen during the holidays. I like my limbs.

A traditional Italian meal: Seven forms of seafood, minimum. I believe the usual suspects are...

Two kinds of shrimp
Crab cakes
Clam Chowder (White, not Red)
Muscles in a wine sauce
Calamari
Fried clams
Stuffed oysters

I can cook and I have offered to help, but I have not been asked yet.

...well I know whose party im crashing for the holidays.

The ten people currently slated to sit at this dinner table might object. Just sayin'.

 

[Amir Kondori]

Ham, potatoes, and whatever other side dishes we whip up.

 

[Prime_Hunter_H01]

From October to January we have a meal that is tradition for every holiday, Halloween is Pizza, Thanksgiving is Turkey as expected, Christmas... is what we forget every year, I think it alternated between Pizza or Sub Sandwiches, as we have Sub Sandwiches on New Years. So I have no idea what we are going to have this year.

 

[DanielBrown]

Same as always.
I mainly go for the ham and julvört(best fucking bread in the word) with Edam cheese. Since I'm the only one in the family who can't stand pickled herring, which is a Christmas classic in Sweden, I'll be getting meatballs and prinskorv(tiny sausages) instead.
A lot of stuff on the side as well which I can't be bothered trying to find out the English names for. We used to prepare bigger meals when I was little, but these days there's only three of us left in the family so we can't really be bothered.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Because this dinner will only have three people, I have opted for the following menu:

Duck served on what I'm going to call a Chard salad (the Chard is lightly cooked in duck fat along with shallots and will be paired with a vinaigrette of some sort)
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Sausage Stuffed Rolls
Green Bean Casserole
Caramel Apple Tart

I wanted to do a traditional christmas goose but with only three people it is hard to justify buying a fairly large (and fairly expensive) bird.

 

[Scarim Coral]

It will be the same thing as every other christmas-

Duck, lamb or beef
Fried rice
Roast potatos and gravy
Brussels sprouts, parsnip and carrot
Peas and sweetcorn
And lastly trifle

This year however could be different so I may have something new or different but I an't complianting what I get eat at Christmas anyway.

 

[LongAndShort]

Off to the grandparents and delighting in the joys of my dad's side of the family being *PERSONS OF MIDDLE EASTERN APPEARANCE*. Top of the list will be dolma, which is most easily summed up as meat (normally lamb), rice and an assortment of spices wrapped in vine leaves or stuffed into vegetables like zucchinis, capsicum or tomatoes. Served with yogurt, and a spicy chunky tomato sauce (I usually skip the sauce, so as not to clash the flavours, but the rest of my family loves it).

There should also be differently prepared rices, perhaps a stew with a name I can't spell, and hopefully my aunt will make chicken schnitzel and roast potatoes. She does the best fucking schnitzel, interestingly enough for a *PERSON OF MIDDLE EASTERN APPEARANCE*. Puts Germans to shame.

I'm gonna eat so much damn food.

 

[Pyramid Head]

That's an excellent question. Christmas is usually takeout or something from a diner since we can't cook at home, but we may be traveling to visit family.

Since i'm a cook in training i'd like to prepare the food myself, but there's guaranteed to be some...
...diet issues. There are vegans in the family, more than one veggiephobe, and my grandmother may also need to watch what she eats. I definitely will make fresh focaccio, probably will make risotto, but past that? No clue. A lot of details are still being worked out.

 

[Frothy Gibblets]

There's some interesting stuff being prepared, certainly more interesting than the nearly traditional English Christmas Dinner I will be having.

Turkey Crown - I don't like eating bird meat off the bone and seeing as it's just the Mother and myself there's no point going big with it.
Roast Parsnips/Potatoes - Standard really.
Peas/Carrots/Sprouts - Again standard, although bollocks to tradition I don't have the sprouts they are simply for my mum.
Pigs in Blankets - Now we get to the good stuff, if my dinner could just consist of these and stuffing balls I'd be a happy man.
Batter Pudding - If done well, really nice. I tend to cook both this and the roasties as I seem to make them better.
Onion Sauce/Gravy/Cranberry Sauce.

For Boxing Day my brother and his gf are coming round and we have a Gammon Joint that will be cooked Christmas Day and left to go cold overnight which will be eaten with salady stuff.

My family has never really been super close, so we've never done the whole "have 10-15 people round" thing. I've had to attend a couple with "Step-Family" when my Dad has tried to be good Patriarch and bring everybody together, which then leaves my mum on her own but that's a different topic. I'm sure it's great if you actually like the people involved, although from what I've noticed on forums Americans tend to go more with the whole extended family thing.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Going by each special meal:

Christmas Eve dinner:
A Roast Beef thing, not really sure what to call it.
Fig Pudding
Corn
Potato slices with cheese, it's better than it sounds.

Christmas Day Dinner:
Basically a Turkey dinner you would find on Thanksgiving with a few differences.

New Years Eve Dinner:
See Christmas Eve list. We only have this meal twice a year about a week apart. Sounds weird, but I love having it twice so close together.

New Years Day dinner:
Ham
Reagan's macaroni and cheese, named after President Reagan since it was his favorite food I believe.
Bread Rolls
Corn

For all four of these meals we have Martinellies(not sure I'm spelling that correctly) sparkling cider as the drink. I can't forget to mention all the candies and cookies I eat in this time of year.

 

[Artina89]

Turkey crown, sprouts, carrots and potatoes, plus there is a vast array of snacks, such as Pringles (sour cream and chives, salt and vinegar and salted), Quality street chocolates, Celebrations chocolates, Dorito's (chili heatwave flavour), Terry's chocolate orange and After eight mints. There are more things, but I can't be bothered to list them. Needless to say, come New Year's I am going to have to loosen my belt.

 

[deathzero021]

The usual, whatever i have in my fridge, which isn't much. I have pretty much no money this year due to hour cuts at my job. I'll probably end up eating hot dogs and pasta or something.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

We shall feast upon the Christmas ham. And there will be much rejoice.