Christmas dinner around the globe

[onlyMark]

As we are a bit of a mix we decided long ago to follow the British system of having a turkey on the 25th. It is in the oven now. But we also follow the German tradition of having a special meal together as a family on the evening of the 24th. Even though our kids are no longer teenagers and are more German than anything, they said it isn't Christmas unless I do a turkey, roast potatoes and especially a lot of gravy today. So no matter which country we happen to be in, my duties a few days before are to search high and low for the bird.

[cheerypeabrain]

Love your broccoli tree Mark! I hope that your turkey dinner is delicious..I'm sure that it will be.

Happy Hogswatch everybody btw

Today we have thinly sliced ham, fried eggs and chips (fries)with pickles and bread and butter. There will just be Jeff and myself here (and the dog!). Our son will be home on January 3rd so I'll cook up a turkey crown the following weekend, pigs in blankets, cauliflower and broccoli cheese, shredded brussel sprouts and bacon with Worcestershire sauce, roast taters, carrots, peas, sausagemeat stuffing and gravy...I'll probably invite my sister and one of the nieces as well.

[mickthecactus]

I see some Aldi turkeys have started to rot before people had a chance to cook them.

Doesn’t surprise me. Haven’t shopped there for ages.

[Kimby]

We had so much turkey at Thanksgiving that I decided to do a beef roast for Christmas. (The traditional meal +2 leftovers meals, 3 meals of Turkey Tetrazinni, 2 meals of turkey carcass soup...)

Since we had hoped to ski today, I planned a crockpot beef roast recipe that’s outrageously rich and delicious. But the snow hasn’t cooperated for skiing so we went for a walk instead. Came home to mouth-watering aromas.

BTW, I also bought a small “breast turkey” (no legs or wings) for later this week, just because.

[kerouac2]

It's only about a month away. I'm wondering if anybody has planned any major changes to their Christmas feast.

[bjd]

I can't be bothered thinking about Christmas yet since I don't know whether we will be able to have any family with us or not.

[kerouac2]

I think it will be just dinner for two for large numbers of people. I saw that duck production was reduced by 30% in southwest France, because the producers are very much aware that there will be a lot less demand for large birds and/or their diseased organs.

[onlyMark]

We may well have our kids round but not sure yet.

[cheerypeabrain]

Already got what I need pretty much, will just need fresh veg. I've even booked my Christmas week grocery delivery because the delivery slots were filling up for xmas week. I've got a turkey crown from M&S, little chipolatas sausages, streaky bacon, fancy stuffing and some goose fat all stored ready...got them ages ago. We actually like turkey. I'd love to cook a whole bird but it would be a waste.

[kerouac2]

I had to look up turkey crown on Google to find out what it is.

[cheerypeabrain]

Sorry....they've been selling them here for years, a lot of folk don't like the dark meat.

[kerouac2]

Cheery, I was just evoking my own ignorance and not at all implying the you had given insufficient information. I confess that I was never a turkey fan even in my childhood when my mother would comply with the tradition of the region, even though it was not to her taste. I will never know if she found this to be an interesting challenge or a sort of cultural punishment. No matter, that's just the way it was.

People are funny. My brother always loved the white meat and I always loved the dark meat, which was sort of convenient. I didn't know what my mother and biological father preferred back then, because children don't care as long as they get what they want. In later years, I discovered that my mother preferred the dark meat (particularly wings) and my stepfather got the white meat. I was distressed to learn only about 20 years later that he ate the white meat only because that is what he was given. It wasn't at all what he would have liked.

Luckily, we abandoned turkey already around 1970 after a general consensus that none of us really liked it even if it was sort of unpatriotic not to eat it for Thankgiving and Christmas (what an ordeal to have to eat it twice only a month apart!). we moved on to seafood, and that is still what I eat when I want a special meal at any time during the holidays.

[lugg]

I am not sure yet how Xmas will pan out - my daughter may be in her new home , we ( the wider family) may not be able to meet up Covid restrictions dependent.

Consequently, my food planning will have to wait.

[Biddy]

Have not yet decided Xmas dinner for this year. Sometimes I roast beef with all the trimmings but I always have cold cooked ham available. The last few years on Xmas Eve we have had spaghetti and meatballs using old family recipes. It's a huge hit. I do get alot of raised eyebrows when I mention it - but who gives a rat's .... Thanksiving is next week and I abandoned turkey a couple of years ago. Nobody really liked it and I found looking at the carcass in the fridge depressing. Now we roast a chicken but still have the same side dishes. It works for us. It's usually just the 4 of us.

[cheerypeabrain]

On Christmas Eve I send Jeffers to our local fish and chip shop. White fish fillet in a very light, crisp batter and chips. We usually just get one portion of chips between the three of us but Jeff and I love the fish so much that we don't share that.

This year I'm not sure what will happen.

[kerouac2]

That sounds like a perfect Christmas Eve dinner to me.

[Biddy]

Agreed fish and chips from the local chipper delicious. If only I had access to one!

[mich64]

I have a whole chicken in the freezer that I will now keep just in case we go into lockdown during Christmas. Toronto is entering a lockdown on Monday for a month.

We do prefer a roasted chicken versus a turkey. I will be doing a grocery shop on Monday so I have begun to think of things I should get just in case the stores run out of fresh products again. So far on my list I have frozen vegetables, white potatoes and an onion and some buns I can put in the freezer. For dessert a fruit cake, I think I will plan to make a rum sauce to pour over it for Christmas day, that will make the house smell like Christmas. My mom makes a rum sauce every year for her pudding but we find that too rich but enjoyable over a slice of fruitcake.

[kerouac2]

I have frozen scallops on hand. I am leaning in that direction.

[mich64]

That sounds good Kerouac, I know you enjoy seafood at Christmas time.

[Biddy]

Mich64 - I do enjoy traditional fruitcake. I have made a few over the years. I usually make it in October and then feed it weekly with a little whiskey.

[whatagain]

We were supposed to go to Martinique this year, but i resisted long enough to be proven right that it would have been foolish to go.

We will spend Xmas in sourhern france.
Probably with all daughters and our lovely neighbours. Who can both cook well, which make 3 out of yhe four of us...

As for dark and white meat, i concurr to Kerouac's story. I prefer it white but often end up with dark, when everybody is served.
A fact that mostly goes unnoticed.

[bjd]

We'll be in southern France too. But whether it will be with children or not remains to be seen. It depends on how far we are allowed to go once lockdown is eased up.

[patricklondon]

I'm not expecting any family get-togethers over this Christmas. I'm usually asked to my brother's, but even if the lockdown is lifted, the numbers of their children and grandchildren would most likely rule out a mass assembly, even if we all felt okay with it. Seems to me it'd be better for us oldies to stay at home anyway.

As for food, I'll play that by ear. Nothing too complicated, that's for sure, and nothing that'll have too many leftovers.



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[kerouac2]

I need to find something new or Christmas might be grim.

[bjd]

Just today I sent around an email asking for meal suggestions for Christmas. 6 adults and 4 kids, two of whom are in a "picky about food" period.

For a few years we made a Norwegian salmon soup on Christmas Eve and ate smaller things afterwards but I feel like it's time for a change. My son-in-law suggested poulet normand, which is chicken pieces cooked in cider with small onions and mushrooms, cream and slices of apple put in towards the end. My daughter suggested a mild curry or chili con carne -- some big thing that can be prepared beforehand. Am waiting for other input.

[mickthecactus]

Tapas for us this year. Looking forward to it.

[bixaorellana]

Sounds like your family is good at thinking outside the box, Bjd!

Ohhhh, tapas, Mick! Are you all making them at home or going out?

[mickthecactus]

At home. Daughter’s speciality.

[mickthecactus]

Poulet Normand sounds nice.