I'm hosting Christmas this year. Christmas Day will be spent with my beloved NakedTeddyBears and my best Real Life friend Alison and possibly some other friends dropping past.
So this is all new - none of the traditions I've been brought up with are required to be included. We have a fantastic opportunity to create new traditions.
So what do you do in your house for Christmas Day?
What foods do you prepare?
What activities do you do?
If you were in the same situation - which of your traditions would you get rid of and why?
How would you prefer to spend your Day?
Most importantly: What foods would you serve?
And for those in the Northern Climes:
What food would you serve if it was the middle of Summer?
28 comments:
I would get rid of the heavy religious overtures because Christ wasn't really born on Dec 25. We all know Christmas came about as the result of early European Christian kings trying to win over their largely pagan subjects, and melded Yule with a celebration of Christ's birthday (which in all likelihood, actually occurred in the spring - how many shepherds are watching over lambs in the winter?). I do enjoy the foods served (CHOCOLATE!), though not the calories in them! Since Christmas for you is in the middle of summer, I'd make a nice roast beef on the barbie with salad and fresh bread. And a nice glass of Aussie wine! I usually collaborate with my MIL who's a pretty fair cook, though FIL traditionally makes Peking duck for Christmas Day dinner. MIL and I will do side dishes and desserts. Since I recently took a 1-day class in French basics, perhaps individual cheese souffles and a tarte tatin, with homemade baguettes. And of course, STITCH while things cook and while those who did not cook, clean up!
Pig out on a traditional roast followed by Christmas pud. Then probably crash in front of the TV and wish the diet fairies would come and deal with the excess stones gained.
And that's different from every tradition how ????
Never said I was different. Indeed I'm boringly conventional. lol
I guess it has always been really casual here - all grownups, no kids and no religious observances.
My family always cooked a few days before, so Christmas Day itself was spent eating cold salads and cold meats, no cooking on the day - everyone spent time away from the chores.
Other friends I know wheel out the BBQ and cook some seafood with salads.
My ex-MIL always did the full English Roast with all the trimmings in 40 plus degree heat.
Some of the people at work are going out. There are restaurants here open on Christmas Day specifically to cater for this crowd ....
My Mum will spending Christmas with my sister and her new baby (due any day) and my Dad will be spending Christmas with friends of his. So no family for me this year. Except the family of my choosing :)
I guess Jen and I are building our own traditions. For the last two years we've been in Wales with her family, this year we're staying here. Got my Mum coming round for dinner and all that stuff. Good thing about traditional English roast in England at Christmas, it'll be bloody freezing outside! lol
I'm kinda hoping that's what we will be doing - am I sappy or what ???
Somehow the traditional English roast wont be quite appropriate around here - especially as I do *not* have air conditioning.
Mind you it *is* Melbourne! Would be just my luck to get a cold snap on Christmas Day.
Sappy? You? Nah!
Oh it happens every now and then - mostly to surprise people :)
Since DH and I lost the grandparents on both sides, there is no 'huge' family get together anymore. There are traditional get togethers with smaller chunks of the families, and they are always pot-luck. Dish to pass. BYOB. On his side and mine. Every person brings a different dish, often a signature dish. His aunt brings home-made rolls, his mom brings deviled eggs, I am a lousy cook, so I am always asked to 'bring a veggie' ("have her bring green bean casserole, she can't possibly mess that up"), his SIL does baked beans, and usually whoever hosts it does the meat and that has ranged from deep fried turkey, to ham, to prime rib. So no real traditional foods. One year his aunt and her family were on a group diet and instead of mashed potatoes, they mashed cauliflower. I wasn't bad, just a little strange. So you never know what you will end up with when our families get together.
Under the circumstances I would be inclined to do a cold buffet including festive items such as turkey! You already know about dietary requirements, just add fun drinks if wanted
We have been away from family for 14 years now, so basically our traditions are ours - one of them being, we don't go home for Christmas, because it's just too cumbersome to drag kids and their presents to a house that can't accommodate them, then drag all of that back home.
We do the early-morning present thing - the 11yo still expects Santa, unless he's outgrown that and hasn't told us - I can't believe his brother hasn't blown it for him. Then we have breakfast, and I get the dinner started - turkey into the oven, ham into the crock pot, and bread into the bread maker. Then we lounge around amidst all stuff, I put stuff together for kids, listen to new CDs. We eat around 1-2 (basically we have the traditional Thanksgiving meal all over again - the above, mashed potatoes and assorted other veggies - I usually make enough for 12 people, so we'll see how the dog fits in and throws off my food-to-people ratios. After we eat and get it cleaned up, we throw in a new DVD, and we are usually all asleep in front of the TV around 6:00 :) When we wake up, we have apple and pumpkin pies with whipped cream.
If I were in the southern hemisphere, I would be inclined to throw something on the grill, have potato salad and other summer veggies. One of our German-side traditions is to have pork & sauerkraut on New Year's, so for Christmas, I'd have beef or some kind of fowl - seafood if you are so inclined.
As a self confessed Christmas-hater, I have managed to avoid a 'family' Christmas for the last 15 years and it is so nice.The first couple of years after the family split, I went to friends. After that I have been on my own for all bar two occasions. No compromises on TV watching, no compromises on food and no enforced jollity. Jut me and Phoebe to cater for. Last year I skipped the entire Christmas meal thing dining on Jaffa cakes and a peanut butter sandwich! Believe me, it is far too much effort to cook a full Xmas dinner for 1.5 so we tend to fridge raid. Before anyone starts to think this is sad it really isn't. This is my choice as I have at least three invitations to spend the day but there is too much noise and fuss.
Well, bearing in mind that we're in winter during Christmas, our foods are probably different. But Christmas Eve my parents have an open house - and folks drop in and out between church, other visits, etc. It's all quite casual. We've been having a "chili cookoff" each year for the past several years. My mom, my sister, my BIL and I all make our own versions of chili - and they're all quite different. We do them in crockpots, so they stay warm easily and are easy to serve from. And we have the various garnishes available as well. Other food items include cookie platters and candy assortments (I like to bake and my sister enjoys candy making - so we use it as an opportunity to do something we enjoy).
Christmas morning we get together for presents (definitely required with two wee ones!). I usually make a breakfast casserole that I put together the night before and then bake at my sisters. We also have bagels or something similar.
Christmas dinner is the full sit-down affair - turkey in our case. My aunt will not tolerate any suggestions of anything else, and since we eat at her house, well, she does most of the work.
New Year's Eve we do a pot-luck buffet; it's game night and everyone grazes the evening away. I think that might suit your situation well, especially if you do items that don't necessarily need to be kept refrigerated or warmed. Ham works well for a meat in that situation, a potato salad that has a vinaigrette dressing rather than mayo, a veggie and dip platter.. and some cookies or such for dessert. Things that are easy to snack on... and won't make the house unbearably hot, plus won't be a huge amount of work for you.
We've always had Christmas dinner in the evening in our house. Small breakfast and then smoked salmon and garlic on muffins topped with a fried egg for lunch.
Dinner usually consists of roast veg julienned, surrounded in a roll by filo pastry and with a chestnut stuffing as a buffer between. Bit like a strudel although veggie. Roast potatoes done with garlic and thyme, sprouts with chestnuts, roast parsnips and garlic, roast pumpkin and a thick mushroom sauce. Pud usually is a choice of home made christmas pud (I always put 3/4 of a bottle of whisky in them when I make them) or lemon syllabub.
Presents get opened in the afternoon after lunch.
However, in a summer climate I would probably do tuna on the barbie or steak for meat eaters together with a green salad, tomato and coriander salad and baked potatoes, followed by syllabub or barbied fruit and cream and of course lashings of wine etc.
Can I come?
Of course! You and everyone else here is most welcome See the line about "possibly some other friends dropping past" :) :) :)
I do have some practical considerations this year that I wont have in future years: Alison is arriving 8pm Christmas Eve. Stephen is arriving 6am Christmas Day. I have no grill or BBQ. I have a *very* small fridge. Basically whichever of us plays Tetris the best gets to be in charge of the fridge.
So I'm thinking of getting pissed as a newt with Alison Christmas Eve. Hauling my carcass out of bed Christmas morning and collecting the boy from the airport. Home to a cooked breakfast of bacon and eggs by Alison. Stephen then crashes out for a few hours (keeping the red eye flight in mind). Alison and I read the papers and linger over coffee, cold drinks, wine etc until Stephen re-emerges. We are again drunk as skunks and he gets to put dinner together for all of us from whatever he can find in the fridge :) And then we open presents :) :)
What do you mean "not an optimum solution"?
{grin}
Well at least I could get there quicker than that bloody parcel. I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to write it off which makes me pig sick especially as there was a special hand stitched item in there:((((
Christmas food sounds ideal. Certainl,y my idea od a good christmas
The skein of floss I was waiting on from The Stitching Post should have arrived overnight - it took six days. And that's just from the next major city over.
Mum hasn't received anything else in the mail either - and I *know* of at least two parcels that should have been there by now!
The post here is really really screwed! Stephen and I were discussing getting a Post Box when he returns here. But if my mail *is* going missing I might have to get one myself sooner.
I sent your Mum a birthday card at the same time I sent the package off and I see from her blog that she received that on her birthday. Perhaps its the Customs people who are holding things up.
I'll give it a couple more weeks and then I'll put in a claim form
I've just received an email overnight telling me *your* very late very overdue birthday present should be back in stock in a couple of weeks.
Its not as late or overdue as yours is.
Looking forward to receiving it but you REALLY SHOULDN'T have spent all that money on a Porsche
It was self indulgence really - I figured I could borrow it when I visited next year :)
And you can borrow my mug if you ever visit here. Heck, I might even wash it out first. With soap! :)
Oh don't do that !!! Destroys the flavour :)
Alright - I'm outa here - catch you guys in 12 hours or so ....
Do you have a big pot? A special treat for us was always steamed shrimp. If we were feeling really flush (or foolish) we added crab legs or crab cakes. Before the divorce we always hosted the holiday dinners. Now, the boys, mom and I go to his family for holiday dinners, which seems a little odd.
Lots to tell you :-)
When I was small Christmas Day was never Christmas but the birthday of my older brother (born on the 25th December -> horrible birthday). Also, in Switzerland, the main celebration of Christmas takes place on the 24th December.
About 15 to 20 years ago we decided among us siblings (four of us and spouses) to forego the gift exchanges and to just enjoy getting together for a good family meal.
There is no food tradition for Christmas in our family. In the German speaking countries one of the food traditions would be to serve a roast goose - like the roast turkey in the US/UK. In our family we had a number of favourites and one, which could also do for the summer Christmas is a thing we call Fondue Chinoise.
Meats are cut to thin slices, which can be rolled up with a longish fork. Usually it's done when the meat is frozen, by help of a cutting machine. It can be anything, veal, pork, horse, beef, lamb, no matter, it's all very nice.
You prepare a broth, which will have to simmer over a small stove. The meat is then rolled up on the fork and placed in the broth to cook.
That's the basic. Now you need loads of sauces, based on either mayonnaise or yoghurt or fresh cheese - basically just things you'd also use as dip sauces. Add sticks of veggies to the meat as well.
We either serve a plain white rice, potato chips, bread or whatever with it, it's practically all nice.
You can also make one course with fish, but then you should make a special fish broth (with some white wine).
AFTER
Same dish is also known as shabu shabu in Japanese restaurants. The broth is quite tasty after all the things that have been cooked in it.
Steve and I started our own traditions years ago.
Annoyingly it's all to do with the food.
We cook the turkey each year and then cart it over to Mum's.
This ensures that we get a good dinner LOL.
We try to include as much family as possible and those who would be alone on the day are also invited along [coughs quietly, Rosanne], but only if they want company :)
We have the big present giving session, sometimes before lunch and sometimes after.
It's terribly self indulgent and always contains some luxuries that we might not think to buy for ourselves.
There's usually some gag gifts in there too, usually for Steve or my Dad.
Mum and Dad will have the traditional argument in the kitchen, I'll get the raving hump and wish for more alcohol and then dinner will be served LOL.
I would love for dinner to be a good fillet steak, salad and a delicious desert of my choosing but that's not what Christmas is about for us....
Mind you, Boxing day, apart from the traditional "lights drive" is all mine this year, roll on the steak and salad :)
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