Plans for Christmas Dinner?

[McGurk]

I'm not doing much for the meals this year, as my Mom has some deeply entrenched traditions that we follow. One of them is "Pigs in a Blanket" from an ancient recipe that was lost but my parents has worked very hard to resurrect. It was difficult as it had very specific ingredients that they have to get mail order or from specialty grocery stores including a certain kind/brand of pork sausage and Dutch Rusks. They were originally made by my Dad's Mom, and they had them for Christmas for years and years, but no one got the exact recipe before she passed. Just last year they think they have it perfected, so I am looking forward to them!

My Mom also has a Lasagna recipe that she has used since my youth that I compare all other lasagnas to, and they just don't add up.

So, what are some holiday traditions that you have in the kitchen?

[reinhard1]

when i was a kid in germany i remember [being very poor] we had blood sausage in the ring with mashed potatoes and sourkraut. a long standing family german meal on christmas here was chuck roast, real potato dumplings, sourkraut with onions and fried bacon, red cabbage with apples and apple pie homemade. this christmas i will make three chuckeye roasts tied together [closest thing to a prime rib] and all of the above except the blood sousage and mashed potatoes. once you master the potato dumplings they will become addicting. oh, and most important-good home make gravy. good luck.

[harvey lee]

My Mother in Law has alway's made fruit cake for desert. She goes to a great extent to make this using pork and other items. It is the best desert I have every year.

I asked my wife to make sure she has the list of ingredients and knows how to make it so I will always be able to enjoy it.

[Chef]

Lots of Old Fashions...

[delcecchi]

Fruitcake with Pork? Sounds good, although I have never heard of any such thing. What is it like?

[deerminator]

My mother in law always makes lutefisk and swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes and gravy on Xmas eve. Being staunchly German, the lutefisk is growing on me but I still like the meatballs first. On Xmas day, we're making a ham(s) (glaze tbd), cheesy potatoes, and sweet potatoes as the base meal and lots of extras for about a crowd of 30.

[Dark Cloud]

Christmas eve dinner is the big one for our family. It was always at my grandmothers on my fathers side and it was meatless. She always made wild mushroom and barly soup, homemeade mac n cheese with diced tomatos in it, breaded and fried walleyes, boiled whiteing with onions, and homemade perogis...

That has turned into dinner at my parents with me cooking most of the day! And I love it!

I still do the wild mushroom soup but I make it with rice and usually 4-5 kinds of shrooms. Fried walleys for tradition. Also the mac n cheese both with and without tomatos. Homemeade perogis two ways - butter n onions and with a roasted red pepper n cream sauce. Sauted scallops, usually two ways. Some chilled shrimp and usually some crab legs also round out the table.

Christmas day is leftovers and we'll also cook up some kielbasi and a small ham.

[reinhard1]

excelent menu. so, congradulations on the upcomming marriage! who will do the cooking? good luck.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Potato dumplings--mashed potato, eggs, and flour kneaded together, or is there a type I am unaware of?

[Mike89]

OK Dark Cloud, I have a question? You say "meatless". I read serveral good tasting meats in your post. But all I can say is your meals sound really good!

[Dark Cloud]

OK Dark Cloud, I have a question? You say "meatless". I read serveral good tasting meats in your post. But all I can say is your meals sound really good!

Seafood/fish is "meatless"...

reinhard1 - Nah, I do 95% of the cooking but she does make a good sous chef! X-mas eve dinner takes a ton of prep and timeing to have all that done at the same time. Untill last year nobody was allowed in the kitchen. It was easier to do it myself than tell someone something and have then do it wrong. Guess it was my "chef nazi" personality comming out. She helped alot last year and will be allowed back in the kitchen this year, lol.

[fishinchicks]

McGurk - we used to get the ingredients for Pigs in a Blanket when we would visit Orange City, Iowa. Those were good meals!

reinhard - our exchange student talks about having a type of fish on Christmas, sort of like carp with teeth. Her dad does something to it to make it blue. Any hints as to what that might be? I won't attempt to cook it, but she has us curious.

We will be having Cider-brined turkey with stuffing for our Christmas day meal. Christmas Eve will probably be Swedish meatballs, which is tradition in my husband's family. Later in the week we are hosting the abbreviated version my family this year (only 13 out of 21 can make it), but we always have an evening of appetizers...cheese ball with assorted crackers, marinated chicken wings, herring, assorted cheeses, salamis, lefse, and tons of Christmas baking. I bake most of the cookies, and all of the lefse while the rest of my family brings their specialties. Works out pretty well!

[McGurk]

McGurk - we used to get the ingredients for Pigs in a Blanket when we would visit Orange City, Iowa. Those were good meals!

That's exactly the region my Dad grew up in! Sioux Center, Hull, Lemars; Funny how small of a world it is! Technically I'm half Iowan, Half Nebraskan, and born in Minnesota. A mutt if there ever was; A French, Dutch, German, and Bohemian Catholic transplant!

[fishinchicks]

My mom grew up in Sibley. She was half Dutch, half German. My dad was mostly German, with a bit of Swedish and English/Irish mixed in. Made for interesting holiday meals - a little ethnic flavor from all over Europe.

My sister went to college in Orange City, so we would go down for different events - and stop at the bakery and butcher shop. Great memories!

[reinhard1]

sounds close. you say mashed, i would say this- i cook the potatoes with the skin on. wait till they are done. pour out the hot water. wait till they are cold. peal the potatoes and put them through the risser. this is on a flour'd counter top. i add depending on the amount you want to make] a couple of eggs, flour, little salt and knead them like bread dough as you said. the tricky part is the dumpling "dough" has to be just right, other wise they could turn out to mushy or too firm. i take sections of the dough and roll them like a stick of summer sausage shape and cut 1in. chunks off and drop a dozen or so in salted boiling water and wait till they rise to the top. when they do i usualy take one out to test for doneness. they are also great the next day sliced and fried with eggs and sausage. good luck.

[reinhard1]

yea, same with me. i do all the cooking and stay out of the kitchen policy. i do all the dishes and cleaning as well. everyone is used to this after years and years. i do allow sampling as i'm cooking. nice guy huh. have a great christmas. good luck.

[KEN W]

Turkey

Whitefronted goose from Saskatchewan

Sage dressing

Mashed potatoes from the garden

Frozen sweet corn from the garden

Cole Slaw with cabbage from the garden

Sunspot squash from the garden

Cresent rolls

Apple pie from my trees

Blueberry pie from wild blueberries from Minnesota

[reinhard1]

i wish i could help you on that one. makes me curious as well. never have eaten or seen this. i left germany in 1957 when i was 8. so maby it's something new. we lived in a small villiage much like a commune and raised our own livestock and ate the fish from the river [lots of eel]. have a great christmas.

[tacklejunkie]

yea, same with me. i do all the cooking and stay out of the kitchen policy. i do all the dishes and cleaning as well. everyone is used to this after years and years. i do allow sampling as i'm cooking. nice guy huh. have a great christmas. good luck.

It sounds like you're burning all your calories before you sit down to eat

[reinhard1]

my wife works, so i clean the house as well and laundry. usualy on holliday dinners i'm half full from sampling during prep and cooking. good luck.

[Jackpine Rob]

A ham

A wild turkey

Twice-baked potatoes

Lima beans

Wild Rice

Fresh bakery finger rolls

Appetizers include the obligatory veggies/dip, and sliced/fried kielbasa on crackers. Other than the turkey, the menu is lifted directly from what my Grandma served every Christmas Eve while we were growing up.

With all of the kiddos and in-laws, I'll be serving 17 on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day we will trek (or waddle) over to my sister's for Prime Rib.... The feasting is only a week away!

[archerystud]

Gotta have da lefse don't ya know!

[waskawood]

Tom and Jerry's, oyster stew, prime rib.

[Tripleplay]

Appetizers are the new tradition on Xmas Eve. This has become so popular that we have in-laws on both sides of the family that are now doing the same thing. Every family member gets to pick one and then we have some of the old faithfuls like Little Smokies in BBQ, Rotel as well, cheese ball, shrimp cocktail, etc.

Christmas Day is typically ham and either twice-bakes or cheesy potatoes and all of the other good stuff.

Growing up I had a German side that also had some Swedish influence but meatballs, potato sausage and sometimes Fin and Hattie (spelling probably wrong but some type of concoction similar to lutifisk). Other side on Christmas day usually involved lutifisk but a turkey or ham as well. It is no wonder that I'm not a huge fan of lutefisk anymore after two days of it!

[Ralph Wiggum]

sounds close. you say mashed, i would say this- i cook the potatoes with the skin on. wait till they are done. pour out the hot water. wait till they are cold. peal the potatoes and put them through the risser. this is on a flour'd counter top. i add depending on the amount you want to make] a couple of eggs, flour, little salt and knead them like bread dough as you said. the tricky part is the dumpling "dough" has to be just right, other wise they could turn out to mushy or too firm. i take sections of the dough and roll them like a stick of summer sausage shape and cut 1in. chunks off and drop a dozen or so in salted boiling water and wait till they rise to the top. when they do i usualy take one out to test for doneness. they are also great the next day sliced and fried with eggs and sausage. good luck.

We do the same, except with leftover mashed potatoes. I'll try it with the ricer sometime! Slather some butter on them...Mmmm!!!