I do like tradition, especially food traditions. I have to have a Thanksgiving turkey, but order the smallest one available. This year we also had a duck, a few days later but same holiday weekend. The entire holiday is traditionally all about food for us.

Christmas eve is always oyster stew or oyster pan roast. Crab cake or cod cake brunch Christmas day. Ham in the afternoon. Buffet help-yourself. Something to pick on.
If we can get a bushel of blue crabs we steam them outside and sweep the snow off the picnic table, bundle up and feast. Or good quality frozen soft-shells. A new tradition is Oyster Po-boys and Shrimp Squishy Christmas evening. Casual dinner snack, not formal sit-down. (no one wants to cook but me)
That is for my family. For my husbands family i make Bouillabaisse. Using whatever i can find in their area, SCarolina. (i miss the years they lived in Pensacola, Fla!)
New Years Eve is steamed whole lobster. New Years day, smoked salmon/brown bread/dill/capers/horseradish cream...ham/black-eyed peas/cabbage.

I mess around with apps and sides for fun, but i look forward to food traditions. Always a bit disappointed if we change it.

I have a new holiday favorite this year. Added a new tradition. We love artichokes and have only had them on the seasonal list when they are brilliant and fresh. Steamed. Our italian market has baby ones prepped and frozen. I found them fresh this past T-day and made an appetizer bake. (a pain to cut and prepare the fresh ones). So good, DH loves them any way prepared. I looked at a few recipes on-line and made a version with ingredients i had. I've never bought the frozen ones but a friend did and they were wonderful.

I do think traditional is nice, often expected? Comforting? But add something new.

I'll be doing xmas dinner this year for about 10. Last year I roasted a fresh ham.

This year, I have a recipe for a pork loin roast in the crockpot with cranberries that comes out so delish and tender. And pork goes good with all the other holiday fixings like baked beans, yams, mashed potatoes, rutabaga, broccoli, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cranberry pork roast

So for Thanksgiving I was looking for turkey legs and they were out. I bought a whole bird and took off the leg quarters which the boy and I ate on Friday. I deboned the breast and am going to cook it rolled with sausage stuffing. We'll have the fruit salad mom froze from Thanksgiving. We haven't gotten farther than that, but I do know there were some really sad family members when they learned I hadn't made chess pie or brownies, so those are probably on the menu. heavy sigh. I'd like to take what's left of the fresh cranberries and put them into turnovers, but three desserts?

I have so many people to cook for that menu-making early is imperative! For Thanksgiving, I had 37 people; will have at least that for Christmas, maybe more. I can't cook just "one" of something...as in the main dish....we had 3 turkeys and a ham last Thursday and had a little leftover, but not a lot! So, for Christmas, I'll do turkey again and beef tenderloin....plus Lebanese food. It would be a mutiny if I didn't do that! And desserts? I usually do 4 or 5...I'd better get on it....soon! To clarify, there are 22 in our immediate family....just our children and grands; busy around here! And I love it...every minute!

Love the artichoke idea! That would be a great treat. This year we will not have a shrimp season in Maine due to a massive decline in shrimp stock. I am crushed, Maine shrimp are tiny but oh-so-sweet. I would love to be able to serve a nice shrimp stew for Christmas eve. I myself love all seafood but my DH is not a fan of clams or oysters, sigh, so that's out. He'll eat lobsters, but they are not a fave. Can I come to your house?

Annie, the pork crock pot idea is very intriguing. I may have to trial it this weekend. I still have some fabulous local cranberries on hand.

Rob, three desserts is practically mandatory in my house! We have to have enough pie leftover for breakfast :-)

Lebanese food would be wonderful! I work in a town with a small Lebanese community, thus can get some terrific traditional meals for lunch, yum! Cooking for 37 would strain my tiny kitchen a bit, good luck!

There's always 30-40 family & friends here-- it's a whole day of just browsing & some dishes are "traditional" or just have to have. There will be a high heat roast boneless rib , roasted fresh Polish sausage and Doc always does a small fried turkey -- tho this year it will be done in the oil less fryer he got for Fathers Day. Also "have every year" that the kids bring -- Ann's cheese soufflé , a sheet pizza, a crockpot seafood or veggie soup, a Polish poppy seed bread, Debbie's deviled eggs & at least dozen other dishes. And we all do a big cookie exchange-- well some bring cookies ( 2 dz) & some bring some type of homemade candy.

Christmas Eve is always oyster stew or scalloped oysters & Irish Coffee and wrapping that last minute gift for someone one of the grandkids just informed us they're bringing tomorrow.

Diane.

Rob, I made 7 different desserts (cheesecake, tart and 5 types of pie) for Thanksgiving and only had 9 guests so I think 3 is just fine! :)

A turkey on Thanksgiving is tradition, but Christmas anything goes.

When the kids were younger we always did Crab Legs on Christmas Eve. Now they both have in-laws so we don't always get to spend Christmas Eve together. I still sometimes do crab legs just for Tim and me, tho.

We'll all be together on Christmas Day evening this year and I am either serving Chicken Cordon Bleu or going a totally different direction with my new found love of Indian food. Chicken Tikka Masala and maybe a Paneer dish...

Haven't decided yet.

Linda

We have a couple of different Christmas celebrations.

On Christmas Eve we have my family, somewhere around 40, usually more by the time teenagers bring girlfriends/boyfriends or just friends. I make pizza on those big half sheet pans and everyone brings something, it makes a wild combination usually. My hunting nephew usually brings venison sausage and cheese with crackers, I bake cookies and fudge in addition to the pizza or Stromboli, Mother has to have her vegetable tray and dip, we always end up with pasta, usually some baked beans, always chips, sometimes meatballs, taco salad, who knows what else. We rent the town hall and I just keep putting it together so my mother only has to drive to one function, I think all the kids/grandkids/great grandkids can come to her!

The week before we are driving to Elery's family at his son's house about 3 hours away. Another son is coming from California with his family, there will be 16 of us, I think. At this point we are taking the ever present cookies and fudge, some cupcakes because two of the grandkids have birthdays in December, and probably a rolled pork loin stuffed with dried fruit because his daughter is celiac and can't have gluten, so no bread stuffing.

On Christmas Day I think it'll just be Elery and I and that's when I get to have seafood. I have some wild caught sockeye salmon in the freezer just waiting for me to decide what to do with it.

Annie

Christmas Eve dinner is usually just immediate family so I do something a little more "elegant". For the last several years it has been Lobster Triangles (folded like Spanikopita but filled with a creamy lobster) and caviar with crème fraiche and blini. Main course is standing rib roast, Steakside Mushrooms, some sort of interesting potato dish and rolls. Dessert is either Buche de Noel or Christmas cookies and candy.

Christmas day we host an open house - anywhere from 20 to 40 people float in and out from early afternoon on. Usually I have a ham and homemade biscuits for small sandwiches and a variety of warm and cold appetizers. Cookie/candy trays are also served, so everyone can pick and choose. Beverages are mulled wine, mulled cider, hot cocoa and of course beer, wine, open bar, sodas, tea and coffee.

Alexa

I wouldn't mind having dessert for dinner! But man does not live by pies alone.

;)

Rob, dessert for dinner is good, but pie for breakfast starts your day with a smile and a song in your heart ;-)

I am leaning toward the idea of a buffet. I may invite a few more guests and make it more a casual open house thing. This would allow me to have a bit more fun cooking a variety of dishes.

Things to include:
Ham or the Cranberry Pork dish Annie D suggested
Vegetarian lasanga
Some kind of soup
Multicolored cauliflower casserole
Kale salad with dates and parmesan
Biscuits and/or homemade dinner rolls
Some warm and cold appetizers (ideas?)
Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake
Maple Pumpkin Pecan Pie
some other pie or Christmas cookies
Cranberry nut bread
Cranberry-pistachio biscotti
Homemade toffee

Homemade Eggnog
Non-alcoholic punch
Beer
Wine
assorted n/a beverages
coffee/tea

What am I missing? I'd love some suggestions for do-ahead appetizers and maybe 1-2 hot apps.

Getting excited!

Since Christmas out here at the farm is always a week before Christmas, we do a different sort of dinner. (The kids/gkids will have their regular Christmas' at their homes or homes of inlaws.)

We will have the Lasagna Bolognese (another thread), homemade cheesecake, a green salad and don't know what else yet. Want to have some appetizers but don't want to ruin appetites for the main course.

Mabeldingeldine, my Grandpa Traynor had pie for breakfast every single day for as long as I can remember. He told me that it wasn't all that different from toast and jam, really. He was right.

Annie

Annie, I think your grandpa and I are distantly related. I would have pie everyday if I could make it that frequently. Unfortunately, earning a living too often competes with living!

Our Thanksgiving dinner was mostly traditional with the turkey, potato filling, etc. but instead of pies, we had a pumpkin chiffon cake, cranberry-orange upside-down cake and individual baked coconut custards for dessert. It was a change for the better, since we eat pie all year 'round.

Except for one year, I have never had a sit-down regular Christmas dinner in my life. The women in our family thought the day should be for relaxing with family and friends rather than cooking so we always had a mostly make-ahead buffet.

We continue that family tradition by hosting a drop-in brunch on Christmas morning and early afternoon. The menu for this year will be:

Chambord fruit cup
Spinach-mushroom quiches
Sausage breakfast casseroles
Bagels, muffins and pastries (all miniature sized) with flavored butters and cream cheeses
Baked Durgin Park-style ham
Candied bacon
Rosemary roasted tiny potatoes
Marinated roasted asparagus
Captain Morgan carrots
Crabmeat-avocado cocktails (afternoon only)
Trays of Christmas cookies
Hot and cold drinks, including clementine mimosas

I will be making and freezing the quiches this week.

Ruthanna, several of those dishes sound intriguing. Care to share the recipes for Captain Morgan Carrots and the Durgin Park ham?

Mabel, for the carrots, I reduce 1/2 cup of spiced rum and 1/2 cup of water to about 1/4 cup and add it to taste to 1/2 cup of browned butter and drizzle over previously cooked carrots with a sprinkle of lime zest. They reheat great in the microwave.

DURGIN-PARK BAKED HAM

1 (5 to 6 pound) smoked ham
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup dry sherry
1 cup honey
Whole cloves
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 Tbs. dry mustard

Trim the skin from the ham, leaving a thin, even layer of fat. With a skewer, poke the ham all over at 2-inch intervals. Place the ham in a large resealable plastic bag, and place in a large shallow pan. Combine the orange juice, sherry, and honey; pour over the ham and seal the bag securely. Marinate in the refrigerator for three days, turning the ham every 12 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Remove the ham from the bag, reserving the marinade. In a shallow roasting pan, with the ham fat side up, score the fat in a diamond design and stud with cloves. Insert a meat thermometer, making sure it does not touch bone. Pour all but a tablespoon of the marinade over the ham.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until the meat thermometer registers 130 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard and the tablespoon of the reserved marinade and brush the exposed portion of the ham. Cover with a tent of aluminum foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 140. Remove from the oven and allow the meat to stand for 10 minutes; then thinly slice and serve. 10 to 12 servings.

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This post was edited by mabeldingeldine on Mon, Dec 9, 13 at 21:11

Well, it's just the two of us and we couldn't decide so we threw a bunch of ideas into a hat (literally) and picked one main, two sides and a dessert.

And the winners are:
Venison Wellington
Creamed Shallots
Roasted Carrots
Peach-Another Fruit Cobbler (DH didn't know what we had in the freezer, so that's what he wrote)

A bit of an odd combination, but that was the luck of the draw :-)

Actually tonight we're eating "Thanksgiving leftovers"...we didn't feel like having turkey, so we made a huge batch of tamales. DH made a big pot of something he's calling Southwest Black Bean and Corn Chowder (please note this started out as tomato soup and somehow morphed into something totally different - happens all the time around here). So a big bowl of that with a tamale or two on the side on this snowy, cold night sounds good to me.

Thanks for the recipes, Ruthanna! Your recipes always look so delish when you post photos.

Malna, Venison Wellington sounds amazing (wiping the drool off my chin). I also love cobblers of any kind, especially peach.

I still make DH's trad'l xmas eve dinner, though we've scaled back as it's just the 2 of us and I'm not fond of a lot of it.

Kapustnica...sauerkraut soup
Fresh Kielbasa
Smoked Kielbasa
Sauerkraut
Kasha (buckwheat groats)
Hurka (blood sausage)
Orechovnik (nut strudel)
Macovnik (poppy seed strudel)

Oh, my. Drool. Double drool... My kind of menu.

I love everything on your list. Especially hurka. Can't get it around here, so I splurged (big time) a couple of years ago and had it FedEx'd from Los Angeles.

Any chance of an extra seat at your table (grin)?

malna, you are welcome to my portion!

Actually, I don't mind the kielbasa and sauerkraut...though I'm used to the sauerkraut prepared more mildly than his family does it. But I hate even the smell of kasha cooking and hurka...fuggetaboutit!

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Wed, Dec 11, 13 at 19:19