What is your family's traditional Xmas Meal

[B-Mental]

Ok, I know everyone has different meals. I grew up in Wisconsin, and both sides of my family (paternal and maternal) had different meals. My Father's side started with oyster stew, then laid out a plate of vegetable, cheeses, sausage and crackers, this was followed by Turkey, mashed potatoes, mashed rutabaga, onions baked in cheese sauce, green bean casserole, rolls, and for desert, Christmas Ice Cream Balls....(Mint or Strawberry ice cream rolled into balls the size of an adult fist, which were then rolled into different toppings...crushed nuts, chocalate sprinkles, coconut or multi-colored sprinkles.)

My Mothers side would have warm rolls, a ham, au gratin potatoes, steamed veggies, blueberry muffins, and for desert Lemon poppyseed cake with creamcheese frosting.

In Louisiana, my brothers in-laws have Gumbo, potato salad, boudin, and a million different different cookies, plus at least two desserts.


How does your family feast?

[Virgil]

It's seafood on Christmas Eve, fried shrimp, clamari, and bacala (a salted cod fish) and then a marinara sauce with shrimp, calamari, and mussels over sphegetti. On Christmas day, it's a meat sauce (with meatballs, sausage, and veal briciole) over raviole or some other fancy pasta thing. Oh and lots of side dishes and desserts both days. Of course, wine :) and expresso. It's very Italian.

[Weisinheimer]

Christmas morning we always have coffee with ice cream in it. For dinner we have "Brunch Eggs" - a casserole with eggs, cheese, meat, mushrooms and other veggies. For dessert we have a birthday cake for Jesus, which is some sort of apple cake. We have other stuff too, but the side dishes and stuff change every year, but the coffee, brunch eggs, and birthday cake is tradition. We almost didn't have brunch eggs this year, but there was a revolt a brewin so my Mom changed her mind. ;)

[kilted exile]

The traditional xmas meal is turkey with sausagemeat stuffing roasted potatoes, carrots, parsnips.

I dont like turkey overtly however so this year `i convinced to father to get a few quails instead.

[Niamh]

Start off with a Veggie soup, stock of which is made from boiling the bones of the turkey. Then on to dinner which is Turkey with sage and onion stuffing, Ham, Brussel sprouts, carrots, Roast potatos and creamy mash potatos with gravy made from the juices of the cooked turkey. Desert is generally a sherry triffle.

[amanda_isabel]

xmas meals vary in our family, but one thing is consistent: it's typically grand, in comparison with our average meals. i think most of us would agree with this :)

merry christmas!

[Annamariah]

In Finland we celebrate Christmas already on 24th December, which means that we just had the Christmas meal today (okay, yesterday, since it's been 25th December for an hour now :D).

At first we ate potatoes, "rosolli" (it is a kind of salad... potatoes, carrots, apples, onions, pickled cucumber, all cut into small cubes, and it's all red because there is a lot of beetroot), rawpickled salmon, cold cuts (turkey, reindeer, salted meat), liver pâté, "leipäjuusto" ("bread cheese"), olives and bread. Then we got ham (we had 10 kg ham this year and no, we didn't eat it all yet :D), it's the main course of a Finnish Christmas meal, and casseroles (potato-, carrot- and swede casserole). For dessert we had "suklaakiisseli" (chocolate fool? why is it called "fool"?) with jam and whipped cream. Then we had some coffee and tea with gingerbreads, cake and "joulutorttu", "Christmas tart" (they are small, star-shaped little cakes with plum jam).

And then, of course, we ate a lot of chocolate after opening our Christmas presents :lol:

(Almost forgot: The traditional Christmas breakfast is rice pudding with milk, sugar and cinnamon.)

[Nightshade]

Can I put my 2 cents in, even though its not xmas? ((my mum was influeneced by christmas as a child))

First thing is breakfast egg and pasterma ( kind of cured beef) and choclate milk
Then for the main meal is usually a roast ( beef if its one eid, lamb if it is the other) brussel sprouts, brocchli, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, roasted carrots, potatoes gratin, yorkshire pudds or rice with vermicelli , boiled veg/ steamed veg. sweet corn and we rarely have dessert, not very keen on desserts in my family.

[andave_ya]

Very traditional Lebanese food.

Spheeha (please do NOT poke fun at my anglicizing arabic words, LOL!): little dumplings stuffed with a mixture of ground beef and pine nuts.

Sabanagh: same as above, only with spinach and walnuts instead.

Warach Eghnab: Dolmas, for all those unfamiliar with Lebanese terms. Rolled grape leaves stuffed with a mixture of meat and rice and cooked in lemon juice with cloves of garlic. Ask any Middle Eastern/Mediterranean culture who stuffed grape leaves belongs to. They will all firmly declare that it is their own. However, I know better. It belongs to Lebanon :D.

Kibbe: My Mom nicknamed them footballs, for our American friends. They're football shaped thing(lol) made of an outer layer of meat and cracked wheat stuffed with a mixture of ground beef and pine nuts.

Tabbouleh: I really hope everyone knows what this is. Parsley salad with cracked wheat, tomatoes and the quintessential Lebanese dressing: lemon juice and olive oil.

Hummus: garbanzo bean dip with pita bread.

Then we have a big dish that varies from year to year. Today it was a ham.

For dessert --

Yule log that I make (I'll post a pic later today.) and baklava that my Mom and I make.

[Nightshade]

Waraq enib....is the most gorgeous thing in all the world :nod: and though of course I dont belive that the lebenses invented it... I will say the lebensees version is by far my favorite.... yummmms :D

[Niamh]

Oh Cheers Nightie! you reminded me that i forgot to mention Yorkshire pudding!

[B-Mental]

Can I put my 2 cents in, even though its not xmas? ((my mum was influeneced by christmas as a child))

First thing is breakfast egg and pasterma ( kind of cured beef) and choclate milk
Then for the main meal is usually a roast ( beef if its one eid, lamb if it is the other) brussel sprouts, brocchli, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, roasted carrots, potatoes gratin, yorkshire pudds or rice with vermicelli , boiled veg/ steamed veg. sweet corn and we rarely have dessert, not very keen on desserts in my family.


You can always put your 2 cents in Night...

[BulletproofDork]

Warach Eghnab: Dolmas, for all those unfamiliar with Lebanese terms. Rolled grape leaves stuffed with a mixture of meat and rice and cooked in lemon juice with cloves of garlic. Ask any Middle Eastern/Mediterranean culture who stuffed grape leaves belongs to. They will all firmly declare that it is their own. However, I know better. It belongs to Lebanon :D.

Kibbe: My Mom nicknamed them footballs, for our American friends. They're football shaped thing(lol) made of an outer layer of meat and cracked wheat stuffed with a mixture of ground beef and pine nuts.



DUDE!!! That's how they're spelled?! Warach Eghab and Kibbe!




I never knew that.

[Taliesin]

In Finland we celebrate Christmas already on 24th December, which means that we just had the Christmas meal today (okay, yesterday, since it's been 25th December for an hour now :D).

At first we ate potatoes, "rosolli" (it is a kind of salad... potatoes, carrots, apples, onions, pickled cucumber, all cut into small cubes, and it's all red because there is a lot of beetroot)

Don't you put herring in it? We always put herring in it. That's why we dislike it.
Anyhow, it is the same in Estonia, concerning celebrating - we celebrate on 24th. Christmas meal was yesterday.
The traditional stuff is black pudding, potatoes, meat jelly, sauerkraut, pork, ham , cold cuts, some sorts of salads like "rosolje" or potato salad.
Anyhow, our family got sick and tired of that stuff so we ate salmon.

[Chava]

Traditional danish is rather on the carnivorous side. An abbundance of meats, and several kinds of potato, all topped of with ris'alamande. Rice porridge with vanilla and almonds, etc. served cold with warm cherry sauce.
My family too got tired of that and now we only have one massive bowl of plain rice porridge with butter, sugar and cinnamon. there is one almond in it, and whoever gets it gets the present... Guess who's won the last 7 years in a row?

[Dori]

I don't think my family has a tradtional feast. This year was excellent so far (it is 6:20 AM
on Christmas morning right now). I will describe the several "feasts" which I have attended so far (warning: my famly is big!).

My family, that is my bro, two sisters and both parents, firs went to my grandma's house (on my mother's side) for lunch on Dec. 23. Chili as the main dish. It was ccompanied by all sorts of "snack" foods (we feast buffet style). There were tons of deviled (sp?) eggs, dill pickles wrapped in ham with cream cheese, those little sausages wrapped in cheese and crescent rolls, and last but not least we ate butter pecan ice cream.

Later that day (the 23rd), we went to my parents' friend's house, were we ate BBQ chiken sandwiches, shrimp, cookies, and several other "snack" foods. We also drank apple martinis (or something to that extent, they didn't have any alcohol).

Even later that day (still the 23rd), we went to another Christmas party at another friend's house. There, we ate anything and everything, including chips and dip (good dip, mind you, there was a taco dip and a chicken wing dip), sweet potato pie, some sort of cheesecake, and several other "snack" foods (true Americans never get tired of snacking :p ).

Yesterday (the 24th), we went to celebrate Christmas with my fathers side of the family. First, we went to eat lunch at my Uncle's and Aunt's house, where we ate lasagna (several dishes of lasagna, each made differently with sausage and/or hamburger), salad, shrimp (this seems to be common for special occasions), and garlic bread. This was the first actual meal we ate for Christmas. No snacks here. :( :lol:

Then we went to our other Uncle's and Aunt's house, were we ate mac and cheese, lasagna, garlic knots, mini eclairs, shrimp, chips and dip, egg rolls, etc., etc. Needless to say, there were more snacks than I could count.

That includes everything until now, Christmas morning. Today, we are due again at my grandma's house (on my mom's side of the family), where we will eat again. Tomorrow, my grandmother (on my biological father's side of the family; don't ask), will be taking my family to a new Chinese buffet. I can't wait!

In summary, we usually don't have any traditional meals. Just good ol'-fashioned American snacking at its finest!

[LadyW]

We usually have Turkey (gravy included), roast potatoes, brocolli and other veggies (ew ew ew), Yorkshire puddings and small sausages wrapped in bacon. With some wine of course... and diet coke for my brother. Pleasantly finsihed off with some after eights... THEN the snacking begins! :D

[Annamariah]

Don't you put herring in it? We always put herring in it. That's why we dislike it.
Some people do, and I guess that the traditional rosolli should have some herring it (sometimes it is called "sillisalaatti", "herring salad"), but we never do. I am glad about that, because I don't like herring either :D


My family too got tired of that and now we only have one massive bowl of plain rice porridge with butter, sugar and cinnamon. there is one almond in it, and whoever gets it gets the present... Guess who's won the last 7 years in a row?
We always have an almond there, too :D I'm allergic to nuts and almonds, and once I almost ate it accidentally when I didn't notice having it in my spoonful of porridge :lol:

[Idril]

Chava, we have rice porridge as well. We typically have it after the Christmas eve service. For Christmas eve supper we have swedish meatballs and mashed potatos, lefse, green beans with almonds, lutefisk, fruit soup and sandbakkels for desert. For Christmas morning we have caramel rolls and potato sausage and for our big meal, we have beef ragu, more lefse, various vegetable dishes and more sandbakkels. We also try to get some aebleskivers in while we're all together.

[SleepyWitch]

my parents usually have wiener sausage and potato salad on Christmas Eve.
that's pretty widespread. another Christmas Eve meal is battered carp with potato salad

the traditional German meal for Christmas Day is stuffed goose with dumplings, but my parents think that's too fatty and unhealthy. My dad made some Greek stuff today: beef with onions, carrots, wine etc for the carnivores and a rice dish with walnuts and raisins plus white beans with garlic, herbs and tomato sauce for the veggies.

[Chava]

Mmm.. æbleskiver and lefse, both my danish and norwegian heritage. Yummi stuff.

[papayahed]

We kind of have a tradtional meal. We always have Ham and Keilbasa and the rest of it usually changes. This year was a little different Christmas eve we had: Spaghetti, chicken, keilbasa, ham, cheesy potatos, cannoli, and salad. (I made the spaghetti just to do something different) Christmas day my cousin made: Chinese short ribs, Matzo Ball soup, Green Beans & Portabellos, Kugel, and Cracked Potatos.