|
|
| Post Number: 1
|
JimInMD 
Group: Members
Posts: 3112
Joined: Feb. 2011
|
 |
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 12:39 pm |
|
   |
For those of you that have a special meal for Christmas Dinner, may I ask what you serve? My mother always served a repeat of her Thanksgiving menu, which was unfortunate because that woman could dry out a turkey with the very best of them, and her stuffing was actually bitter due to some bizarre seasoning imbalance.
For the last decade, I've tried a few different "big" meals, but I haven't hit the right one yet. I've made roast beef, I've fried chicken, I've made lasagna. None of those really felt appropriate. The Missus has sworn that she will not eat goose, so that's not an option.
I know we have some cooks amongst our ranks, help a man out here.
--------------
Checking out for a while, find me on FB.
|
 |
|
|
| Post Number: 2
|
bad knees
Group: Members
Posts: 2382
Joined: May 2007
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 12:46 pm |
|
 |
A big ham is always nice and traditional, for some. Being Greek, a leg of lamb was always on the table.
--------------
There's a story behind that!
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 3
|
reubenstump
Los Cuernos
Group: Members
Posts: 926
Joined: Sep. 2011
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 12:53 pm |
|
|
Brine the bird. That should avoid drying it out unless it's just plain overcooked to death. Cut at the leg joint - it's it's mostly clear (remember you're cutting near dark meat) then it's done. I've cooked up to 28 pound birds that turned out super juicy.
After the first time I tried it, my wife won't let me cook a bird without brining it.
My wife's awesome mashed potatos. Filet beans, lightly cooked. Maybe her awesome blackberry cobbler and/or my creme brulee. She likes Pepperidge Farm stuffing. Gravy.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 4
|
JimInMD
Group: Members
Posts: 3112
Joined: Feb. 2011
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 1:01 pm |
|
|
A well brined turkey will be served at Thanksgiving. I use Alton Brown's brine recipe.
Leg of lamb... Never thought of that one.
--------------
Checking out for a while, find me on FB.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 5
|
TDale
Group: Members
Posts: 13147
Joined: Jun. 2005
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 1:04 pm |
|
|
Standing rib roast. Always a hit.
--------------
"Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again...They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave."
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 6
|
|
|
| Post Number: 7
|
|
|
| Post Number: 8
|
ol-zeke
me in the Tetons
Group: Members
Posts: 10792
Joined: Sep. 2002
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 2:16 pm |
|
|
Growing up, we had the repeat T-day dinner. I have had turkey, ham, lamb, and the standing rib roast for Xmas. This year I have a guy in NM that is bringing me a coyote.
If you like ideas for the leftovers from the turkey dinner, I make turkey enchiladas and turkey quiche (using the leftover stuffing for the crust).
--------------
Everything I know, I learned by doing it wrong at least twice.
The easiest way to ruin a Friday is to realize it is only Tuesday.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 9
|
Firedancer
Colorado Dreamin'
Group: Members
Posts: 4219
Joined: Sep. 2007
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 2:18 pm |
|
|
Another vote for brining the turkey. My mother fights me on it every year, even though it's the juiciest turkey we ever had...I think because it wasn't her idea!
For Christmas, we do tamales on Christmas Eve, along with other Mexican fixin's like sopa, enchiladas and beans (no menudo, thanks!) I'm going to miss that this year and will be having airport food instead.
Christmas morning we have a breakfast casserole tradition - the recipe is always slightly different, but always involves eggs, cheese, sausage, potatoes, etc.
--------------
The future is no place to place your better days.
Dave Matthews
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 10
|
RebeccaD
Double Arch, Arches N.P.
Group: Members
Posts: 9864
Joined: Jul. 2004
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 2:49 pm |
|
|
Also tossing around variations for Xmas dinner. All suggestions so far sound good. Think I'll poll the attendees and then ask my BiL (who has training as a chef) to do the cooking, as I actually know little about cooking big hunks of meat (though I've been learning turkey).
--------------
Bits of writerly thoughts and random short fiction found at
The Ninja Librarian Blog
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 11
|
Woodswoman
Group: Members
Posts: 6440
Joined: Aug. 2002
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 2:50 pm |
|
|
Usually we had honey baked ham (spiral sliced), scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs, green bean casserole (I hate it), bread of some sort, fruit salad, and my mom's famous banana pudding. There was always plenty of appetizer type of foods, too. Plus cookies and candy galore 
--------------
"Ah, Colorado: the one place in America where people wake up earlier on weekends than workdays."
~Mark Obmascik
"In the high country that we love, trails are steep.
We climb each mile, breath by breath,
and at the threshold of pain, bliss overtakes us.
~Michael Hannon"
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 12
|
VAN
Group: Members
Posts: 3176
Joined: Nov. 2006
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 3:17 pm |
|
|
Chinese Food.
(Me <--- Jewish)
Honestly, we celebrate Christmas with my dad, but we still ate Chinese take-out last year
--------------
"Long you live and high you fly. And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry. And all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be." -Pink Floyd
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 13
|
ScotH
Group: Members
Posts: 1693
Joined: Feb. 2009
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 3:49 pm |
|
|
So the Turkey is totally submerged in the brine mixture? How long is it kept in the brine? An off the shelf mixture or your own recipe?
A lot of the suggestions sound delicious!
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 14
|
|
|
| Post Number: 15
|
ScotH
Group: Members
Posts: 1693
Joined: Feb. 2009
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 4:04 pm |
|
|
Thank you.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 16
|
Lamebeaver
trail? I don't need no stinkin trail!
Group: Members
Posts: 16223
Joined: Aug. 2004
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 4:21 pm |
|
|
Brine the turkey in a bag, that way you don't need two gallons. I'm using a buttermilk brine this year.
Christmas dinner isn't really a big deal for us, as there's just too much going on, and there's always plenty of food around anyway.
We ususally have ham for Easter.
New Year's day, we usually do some kind of seafood.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 17
|
Pathfinder1
Group: Members
Posts: 658
Joined: Apr. 2011
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 5:08 pm |
|
|
Hi...
A well made pot roast will always make good friends...!!
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 18
|
ponderosa
Group: Members
Posts: 3990
Joined: Jul. 2003
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 5:18 pm |
|
|
We do different meals for Christmas, with no set tradition. The only rule is that it must not be turkey. I really like turkey, once or twice a year, and at least six months between meals.
Some of our Christmas menus have been shrimp, lasagna, salmon or halibut, ham, enchiladas, roast beef, and one of my favorites that we've repeated a few times is just a nice variety of good homemade soups and breads. That one always has clam chowder and 2-3 other kinds.
And whether it's Thanksgiving or Christmas, pie is the real star of the show. We generally have more pies than people, and at least half a dozen varieties. We've considered just having pie for Christmas and forgetting the rest of the meal altogether.
--------------
The harder the toil, the sweeter the rest.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 19
|
Echo
Group: Members
Posts: 6378
Joined: May 2008
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 6:07 pm |
|
|
I love turkey the way Ol-Zeke made it with me once and I just wrote how that works on my "echo's voice" blog. The link is in my sig line.
--------------
If Light is in your heart, you will find your way Home. (Rumi)
The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth. Chinese proverb
http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/
http://duffybarkley.blogspot.com/
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 20
|
QCHIKER
Group: Members
Posts: 1728
Joined: Oct. 2009
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 6:10 pm |
|
|
I love Turkey, so I prefer it for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. HOWEVER my wife and her family prefer something else. I always bring up that most Christmas carols and songs talk about turkey for the meal not ham. Plus we do ham for Easter.
The one year my wife, being Italian, decided to fix a bunch of Italian dishes for Christmas. It was not a hit and we have since gone back to more traditional foods like mashed potatos and green bean casserole and stuffing. She suggested Mexican dishes too but was met with apathy by our kids and her family( parents and g-parents)
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 21
|
TDale
Group: Members
Posts: 13147
Joined: Jun. 2005
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 6:13 pm |
|
|
We always do turkey at Thanksgiving. So we don't do it Christmas. Unless mom's feeling nostalgic. And when mom wants to make dressing we all bow to her wishes.
--------------
"Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again...They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave."
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 22
|
|
|
| Post Number: 23
|
TDale
Group: Members
Posts: 13147
Joined: Jun. 2005
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 7:32 pm |
|
|
Standard order at my holiday house: My pies.
Chocolate bourbon pecan pie.
You should all lust.
--------------
"Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again...They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave."
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 24
|
Echo
Group: Members
Posts: 6378
Joined: May 2008
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 7:47 pm |
|
|
Yeah. The pies are what it is really All about.
--------------
If Light is in your heart, you will find your way Home. (Rumi)
The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth. Chinese proverb
http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/
http://duffybarkley.blogspot.com/
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 25
|
no_granola
minor deity
Group: Members
Posts: 12564
Joined: Dec. 2004
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 7:56 pm |
|
|
Not sure how lasagne doesn't seem right . . . unless you're not good at it. Then again, you're in Maryland so I'll just assume you don't know any better.
--------------
The difference between people who think for themselves and those that follow the herd is that thinking people aren't afraid of reality.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 26
|
|
|
| Post Number: 27
|
RebeccaD
Double Arch, Arches N.P.
Group: Members
Posts: 9864
Joined: Jul. 2004
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 8:27 pm |
|
|
I kind of like the idea of all pies. Could do a pot-pie or two for those who insist on something besides dessert.
--------------
Bits of writerly thoughts and random short fiction found at
The Ninja Librarian Blog
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 28
|
theo
Error 420
Group: Members
Posts: 1228
Joined: Feb. 2006
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 8:57 pm |
|
|
Growing up, we always had the traditional turkey dinner for Thanksgiving and Corned Beef and cabbage for Christmas. Not a real popular dish in the south.
Easter was either a nasty glazed ham that my Mom really liked or a more traditional hasenpfeffer.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 29
|
DukeFan
Group: Members
Posts: 979
Joined: Jul. 2011
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 9:31 pm |
|
|
Spaghetti 'cause momma was tired after all the activities of the day. If us girls were hosting the festivities it was usually leg of lamb and roasted potatoes...in fact that is now our own tradition when not working.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 30
|
Ohiohiker84
ohiohiker84
Group: Members
Posts: 627
Joined: Jul. 2006
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 18 2012, 10:26 pm |
|
|
Before we were empty nesters the in-laws would come over for breakfast and watch the kids open their gifts. Dad passed in December 2010 and mom isn't too mobile so now we have a quiet morning. For later, if kids or family want to drop by I'll have a honey baked ham, homemade mac n cheese and a potatoe casserole available.
I also host Christmas Eve now for the in-law side of the family and I like to change it up. We've had pizza, homemade shredded pork BBQ, City BBQ, lasagna, a bunch of mixed hors de oevers, and ham. I don't think I've ever had turkey for Christmas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Survival Skills 101 • Eat Better
