I recommend lutefisk, Swedish sausage, brussells sprouts, rice pudding, Mother Stamberg's pink cranberry relish, boiled potatoes with melted butter and white sauce, cranberry quickbread, Christmas cookies and bars, coffee and maybe riesling. Mom might demand that we buy some shaped ice creams.

Mother Stamberg's pink cranberry relish- and the recipe follows?

Rice pudding sounds good. I haven't made that for years. And bread pudding. I make that once in a while. I don't know why I don't make it more often.

I foolishly said I was thinking of making cut out Christmas cookies. so now I guess I am. Went to my cousin's Saturday and she unloaded a grocery sack of cutters on me. Now I have no excuse.

Sometimes I wonder if the new kitchen is a blessing or a curse.

florantha, I'll come to your house for dinner, sounds sooo good.
We are skipping the turkey this year and having Ribeye on the grill, lobster tails, smashed garlic potatoes and a cheesy veggie casserole of some sort. Not sure on desert except it will be a fruit crisp with ice cream.

mmmm, tiramasu! I have a friend who makes it...fabulous!
Funny, the thing that got rave reviews at my table the last two Thanksgivings was fresh green beans steamed lightly, then dressed with brown butter and toasted almonds. Even the non veggie eaters loved it, and it's soooo easy! :-) I might do a repeat performance for Christmas.

In my world, my kitchen is a huge blessing. For years I've wanted to host family gatherings, and now I can! :-) It may not be quite done, but all the important parts are functional. We hope to put the finishing touches on by Christmas. (ie, the floor!)

Cj

We have our big dinner Christmas Eve. We usually have a standing rib roast, au gratin potatoes, 24-hour salad, braised brussel sprouts, dinner rolls, and dessert (varies every year). But some years we've had spaghetti with pork roast (pork loin is cooked in the sauce--it was MIL's recipe), salad, and garlic parmesan bread.

Christmas Day I don't cook except for breakfast (make everyone their favorite breakfast). My mom brings hot German potato salad and I get a spiral ham and shrimp for shrimp cocktails. We have the leftover salad and rolls. And I make a pasta salad. Everyone munches whenever they want all afternoon & evening. We started this when our boys were little so I could join in on the fun of playing with the kids & their toys. We also shoot rockets off from the backyard and chase them down all over the golf course.

NY steak roast (medium rare, mmmm) w/ bernaise sauce; mashed potatoes using butter, cream, milk, salt and a bit of roasted garlic AND put through a potato ricer after blended (or sometimes I use a stick blender); brussel sprouts with chestnuts and lightly tossed in black or white truffle oil and sea salt (sometimes with a tiny bit of melted butter or olive oil); caesar salad; pinot or sparkling wine to drink. For dessert: key lime pie with graham cracker crust and not-overly-sweetened fresh whipped cream; and the second pie/alternative is deep dish apple with streusel topping a la mode - either with guatemalan coffee or tea. Oof - I'm full after just typing all that!

Our tradition is Christmas Eve pizza. We bring the basics and then assign the toppings to everyone to bring. Its flour and dough everywhere, everyone pitching in chopping up veggies, cooking up ingrediants and firing up the oven, throwing on toppings and pizzas coming out all night. From plain cheese and pepperoni for the little ones, to the BLT, artichokes and capers, BBQ chicken, and the pepper and jalepeno pizza. . . the list goes on, but everyone gets their favorite.

Christmas Day is tradition all the way. Turkey and stuffing and cranberry and orange sauce, Aunt Rita's mashed potatoes, Grandma's gravy, Cousin Maureen's savory slow cooked ham, green bean that sound just like Cj's! For desert homemade apple and pumpkin pie and homemade cookies with Dan's scrumptious homemade toffee!

Pinch, making Baklava isn't all that hard if you have a chopper or food processor. If you can't get phyllo, Minos has it. They say it's fine to ship it standard (not refrigerated), though it was Summer when I found them and I didn't want to risk it. The more readily available phyllo is a little thicker and has some fat in it.

Chop your nuts fine (walnuts, almonds, and/or pistachios), add some yummy spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg or whatever you like), and a little citrus peel if you like. Some people add sugar, but I don't like it that sweet. Stack some phyllo leaves in your buttered pan (cut to size if necessary), brushing them with melted butter (about every other sheet throughout). Sprinkle with spiced nut mixture. Add a couple phyllo leaves and brush with butter. Sprinkle. Repeat. Put at least 6 leaves on the top (well moistened with butter). Slice through the top layers before baking because these will crisp up and flake away if you cut them later. Don't cut any farther because everything will just get all muddled and icky. Bake in a low oven for an hour to hour and a half, until golden, puffy and flaky looking.

If you want diamond shapes, cut straight lines in one direction, and diagonal lines in the cross direction.

While it's baking, heat honey with water (about 2-3 parts honey to one part water) and a spoon of lemon juice. For one pound of filo's worth (1 box), about 1.5 cups honey. Don't boil, but get it nice and smooth and runny-melty. You can extend the honey with sugar. Some people cook it with a cinnamon stick, removed when it's removed from the heat. Let cool.

When you take the baklava out of the oven, cut all the way through along all the cut lines (take care to make sure you don't miss any or it turns into an unexpected mess when you try to ). While it's still warm, pour the somewhat cooled honey syrup as evenly as you can over the whole surface. If you prefer a crisp top, just pour the honey along the cut lines.

Here's the hard part. When it's cool to the touch, cover and set aside in a coolish place (don't chill). Let it set for a long time. Like a day or three. You want the individual pieces to be solidly stuck together so they can be picked up and bitten without falling totally apart.

As to your question, I had key limes, so I made a key lime bundt cake. It's very good. :) I don't know that it's worth the bother of fresh limes, however.

Lasagna sounds good! I have some big lasagna sheets in the freezer, and some meat sauce... Or a pumpkin lasagna! That would be good!!

One Christmas Eve, when our children were young, it was cold outdoors and we built a fire in the fireplace (promising to extinguish for Santa arrived). The kids wanted it to be a campfire and asked for hot dogs. That has become our Christmas Eve tradition ever since, now passed along to grandchildren.

For the holiday meal, it becomes my family gift. This year I'm planning a variety of appetizers such as cheese puffs and cocktail shrimp beforehand. Dinner will include a simple seasonal salad of greens and fruit, standing rib roast, twice baked potatos, artichokes (if I can find them), homemade bread and Ina Garten's magnificent cheesecake for dessert.

Just so it's festive and enjoyed by everyone.

Now this is making me hungry.

A tradition at our house is goose for Christmas dinner. Sides include dressing, cranberry, brussel sprouts and mashed turnips and potatoes. Of course dessert is some over the top chocolate concoction (individual molten cakes, mousse stuffed meringue snowmen, etc.)

Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat. :-)

I agree with pillog....baklava is not difficult to do. Handling phyllo might be a bit of a learning curve, but just buy an extra box. They have it in most supermarkets, next to puff pastry. I think you can get organic at Whole Foods/Trader Joe's/local health food stores.

I love rice pudding! Am craving it right now! That would be a good choice in my book.

Below is a recipe from Bon Appetit. So so good. And rich. Will serve more than 8. I've made it twice and it is quite easy. I use Newman-o's for the crust. I don't scrape off the white, just put it all in the food processor and press into pie plate, not adding sugar and cutting the butter.

bittersweet chocolate pudding pie

As for myself, I hope to be eating something out of my freezer for christmas dinner...cuddling my newborn! That is...if she comes a few weeks early ;)

Happy holidays xoxox

Here is a link that might be useful: my latest accomplishment

sabjimata, what an adorable picture of you. You amaze me with your culinary talent. Where do you find time to do all of it. I may have to try that pie. I wish you a healthy, early birth with the rest of your family by your side welcoming the newest addition of your family.

Pinch Me,
this pink stuff is a great joke and topic of conversation at holiday tables.

Years ago, Susan Stamberg, an announcer on "All Things Considered," read out her mother's relish recipe before Thanksgiving. It became a cult thing. For years before the Internet search engines came to my rescue, I methodically misplaced the recipe card each year and phoned a more organized friend for this recipe. Now, I don't have to keep track of the card at all--just go to the website. They still mention it on Public Radio occasionally.

My DH likes it, but many others despise it. I made up a big batch at Thanksgiving and we're slowly working on it. Most recently used it with smoked salmon, hors'douvers, etc. in a spontaneous dinner during snowstorm.
___

TJerrilyn, I've heard that today's Scandinavians are amazed that Old World, Old Fashioned, peasant food lutefish is still served in the U.S. "No, we don't eat that. We have refrigeration now" is a typical response to Midwest tourists to Europe who ask about it. To the old Swedes of my childhood, this was sentimental food, the food they or their parents had all winter in the Old Country. I had my first mouthful spooned down my throat at 9 months. My father won championships as biggest eater at Lutheran church dinners.

I'll come to your meal and you can come imbibe in the the lutefisk here. Lobster tails! Woo-hoo!

Here is a link that might be useful: Mother Stamberg's Cranberry Relish on NPR website

What a cute pic, sabjimata! Are you saying in your blog that you can use just spelt flour without wheat? That would be fab for my gluten-free friends.

Pinch me: I have an excellent recipe for tiramisu if you'd like it; it's from a very good Chicago restaurant. It's very rich: lots of mascarpone cheese and egg yolks. Be sure to use the real lady fingers from an Italian bakery; I used some American-ized lady fingers once and they just disolved in the espresso/Kahlua mixture that you dip them in.

As for me, I'm still deciding... we'll have about 25 people. My mom offered to order a ham and a turkey breast for me, but I really like beef roasts. Or a crown roast with those cute little hats. I suppose I could offer 3 or 4 types of meat! Also just picked up a jar of Hollandaise sauce from Trader Joe's -- I might steam some asparagus and drizzle some of that on top.

Dessert will likely be brought by my sister, and therefore be fabulous.

Sabjimata reminds me that handling phyllo can be intimidating. What I meant about the Hellas phyllo that they have at Minos is that it doesn't have the extra stuff in it (just flour, water, cornstarch and salt). Around here we used to get fresh phyllo with the ingredients "flour, water and skill" which was the very best ever, but they're not around any more. In the freezer, at many stores you can get strudel style phyllo, where the dough also has a little oil, and sometimes a little baking powder. This kind of dough is actually easier to work with, though a little thicker and gummier.

Thaw in the fridge. If your kitchen is very dry from heating or whatever, boil some water to humidify the air.

Lay a lightly dampened tea towel on a baking board. Slit open the inner package of phyllo and unroll it. Put the wrapper opened out on the tea towel, or a piece of waxed paper or freezer paper. Cut the phyllo to size if you need to. Move the dough carefully to the wrapper. Cover with more wrapper or waxed paper or freezer paper, and another damper tea towel. Remove each level individually and keep the rest covered. Work quickly.

If the dough cracks or tears, just lay it out as straight as you can. Baklava is particularly forgiving. Use one sheet for patching if necessary. Don't worry it too much. Just keep going. Use the fat you're brushing with for glue if necessary.

BTW, you can use sesame oil (the cooking variety, not the intensely flavored Japanese stuff) instead of butter. It would be as crispy-flaky, but still very good. And repeat the couple layers of phyllo brushed with butter/sprinkle of nut mix until you run out of one or the other (leaving your half dozen sheets of phyllo for the top).

All of this sounds a little complicated, but it's easy to do!

Pinch,
I'm making tiramisu at New Year's. I suspect you have about as much access to Italian ladyfingers as I do. I use the recipe in Joy of Cooking with genoise. Not authentic but quite delicious.

In my parents' house, we always had the traditional Polish wigilia on Christmas eve: mushroom soup, braided bread with honey, pickled herring, cheese and sauerkraut pierogis, smoked and fresh polish sausage (even though it's traditionally supposed to be meatless) and thick cutout Christmas cookies with anise.

DH's family does appetizers on Christmas eve, so we've been following that here. It's just us and MIL. Last year we also grilled a whole beef tenderloin on the Weber charcoal grill. It came out perfect even though we'd never done that before.

OK, plllog, I got the phillo dough tonight. The bad news is it contains all the crap I don't want in my food. Honest, on the package it was spelled Fillo. Bought Walnut$ and almond$ but not pistachio$. They were over $6 for a little package. I buy those for my Sophie Too but not for me! You said: Let it set for a long time. Like a day or three.. Yeah. right. A day maybe. I have to admit I burped when I read pumpkin lasagna. I guess I could google it but if you told me about it, it would be quicker. Key Lime pie would be just right, I think. I suppose you can still buy a mix for that? I forgot to look at the limes. I did find Spumoni ice cream and it's in my freezer right now!

I found Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish recipe on line. Think I'd rather taste it at your house before I make a batch.

sabjimata, what if I used oreos in the bittersweet chocolate pudding pie ? Almost as good?

chicagoans Yes! Yes! Please share your excellent recipe for tiramisu! Put it here or send from my page. Don't tell anyone but I was reading this thread at work today. I googled mascarpone cheese because I had no idea what it was. So then I had to find a recipe for it. Doable. There are times I think it would be handy to live near an inhabited area but then I remember that would mean people all around me and I know I couldn't do it.

warmfridge- I looked for Ladyfingers at the grocery store tonight. None. So I googled Joy of Cooking with genoise and got a couple of recipes. I'd probably spend equal time driving all over looking for them as making them from scratch so scratch it will be. And it's winter in Iowa, can't depend on driving anywhere.

Traditional Christmas Eve. dinner at our household: A big hunk of swordfish, smeared with herbs and garlic and high roasted; sauteed grape tomatoes, Silver Palate potatoes fontecchio, wild greens salad with pecans and blue cheese, and for dessert, either croquembouche (if the weather is cooperative...needs to be cold enough to leave the pastry cream stuffed cream puffs out, dry enough for the caramel not to dissolve) or Christmas cranberry tarte and flourless chocolate cake with raspberries.

I just hope we've got the kitchen ready for it.....

We usually have glazed ham and Savannah red rice. That is about as far as I have gotten with my menu planning. I am sure we will have plenty of cookies and desserts around but the tiramisu sounds fun. I could live off of the red rice alone.

Oh, dear! Crap you don't want in your food? Like chemicals? I'm so sorry!! The Greek way to spell it is ÃÂÃÂûûÿ, so "phyllo" is the best transliteration (the "y" is a rounded i, like an u with umlaut). It means "leaf". In my family it was always spelled "filo", which is an adaptation from a different region and different alphabet. Why not "fillo"? Actually, the good stuff from Greece, the Hellas, says "fillo" too!

Another tip for baklava I've heard, but haven't done, is to put some bread crumbs or farina in the nut mix to help bind it. On the letting it set, you can always dig out a piece at a time for your own enjoyment and let the rest set until it's solid. Or maybe try the farina. :)

This is the key lime cake recipe: It's really good. I substituted more zest for the key lime oil (don't have any) and evaporated milk for the heavy cream. Next time, I'll buy the key lime oil and bottled juice instead of fresh, but I doubt I'll go for the heavy cream. :) Key lime pie is easy if you do it the traditional way with sweetened condensed milk and graham crackers.

Pumpkin lasagna? Oy. No recipe. I tried to find a similar one and they all call for puree or mashed pumpkin--ick! The good stuff is made with thinly sliced pie type pumpkin that has been grilled or roasted. The lasagna is a little sweet, so if you like sweet use sesame oil. If you want to combat the sweet use olive oil. The ricotta is whipped with whole eggs, a little sugar and, if you want to cheat, baking powder. (Or you could separate the eggs, whip the whites, and be really careful not to squish when you fold and layer.) You can add a little lemon juice or fresh herbs, or use it plain. Make a bechamel (white sauce) with nutmeg. This is not a good one to do with hearty, whole wheat noodles. Because of the slight sweetness, white noodles work best. To the above, you can optionally add whatever sounds good to you: Caramelized onions, mushrooms cooked down in port, fresh sage or sorrel, sweated spinach or arugula. Just don't put in enough strongly flavored things that you overwhelm the pumpkin. And some seasoning. Layer, alternating the ricotta/noodle with bechamel/powder fine parmigiano/pumpkin/noodle. You can put an addition, like the mushrooms, in the pumpkin layers, or on their own levels. Brush the top with oil or butter, sprinkle lightly with parmigiano, and bake.

Well, how boring is my dinner compared to all the above delicacies??? My 13 yo great nephew was disappointed he didn't get to make meatloaf for T'giving, so he is going to make it for Christmas. He does it better than the rest of us, as good as Mom's, and it's her recipe. Beyond that who knows. He's also making the meatballs for the spaghetti dinner for Christmas eve.

My kitchen won't be done, but I'll be cooking in my niece's huge kitchen, and there's room for multiple cooks(unlike mine). No matter whose kitchen, we're all together talking, laughing, maybe a sip or two of wine...good times and memories made.

Christmas Eve, we have prime rib. Yummmmmmm. With cheesy potatoes, 7-layer salad, and steamed asparagus. The prime rib "cooks" while we go to the early church service. We get home and act like pigs. Grunting and everything. I am not even sure utensils are used. ;^) It's embarrassing, really. (Not me of course; I am a perfect *cough* lady. ;^) )

On Christmas morning, while the Hubster builds a fire, I make a big brunch with egg dish, french toast, thick applewood bacon, and cinnamon rolls. That holds us over for a little while.

Later, we dig into the leftover prime rib and make big honkin' sammies.

Oh, yeah, somewhere in there is chocolate. At my house, that is a given. ;^)

Here is the recipe for Tiramisu, from Bice Ristorante in Chicago; courtesy of the Infant Welfare Society cookbook.

4 cups strong coffee or espresso, cooled (I find I have extra of this mixture so you can probably cut it down)
1/2 C rum
1/2 C Kahlua
3 C sugar, divided
3 packages (24 each) lady fingers (the hard Italian style)
4 C whipping cream
2 lbs mascarpone cheese
Strega liqueur, to taste (I skip this)
1 t vanilla
7 eggs, well beaten

Cocoa powder
Powdered sugar
Chocolate shavings

Line bottom and long sides of a 15x10" jelly roll pan with parchment paper or flour and butter bottom and sides of pan. (I just use a regular glass baking dish 9 x 13 or largest I have, and use a couple as needed; I skip the parchment and the flour/butter.)

Combine coffee, rum, Kahlua and 2 C sugar in bowl. Dip lady fingers in coffee mixture. Cover bottom of the pan with lady fingers. (Note, if you have the soft lady fingers and they fall apart, just line the bottom of the pan with lady fingers and sprinkle the espresso mixture over until they are fairly moist.)

Cheese layer: Whip cream with mascarpone cheese, 1 C sugar, liqueur and vanilla. Add eggs and mix well. Spread half of the cheese mixture over the lady fingers. Dip the remaining lady fingers into the coffee mixture and layer over the cheese mixture. The fourth layer is the remaining cheese mixture spread over the lady fingers. Chill.

To serve: sift powdered cocoa over the top, then sift powdered sugar on top. Top with chocolate shavings and serve.

Note: Here's how I make chocolate shavings; either from Martha Stewart or New Basics. Melt good quality dark chocolate and paint it in a thin layer onto the bottom of a smooth bottom pan. Cool in refrigerator for just a few minutes (until no shiny melty spots show.) Run a small metal spatula along the bottom of the pan in thin strips to form curls. If the chocolate shatters and crumbles into little bits it's too cold; let sit at room temp for a minute. If it smears, it's too warm and needs to be chilled a bit more.

HTH!

Weirdo ovo-lacto melting pot Christmas from my kitchen: Artichoke tarte, Anna Thomas' pizza rustica, Mama Stamberg's shocking pink surprise, a more crunchy cranberry relish, broccoli in peanut sauce, smashed red potatoes with lemon, arugula and orange salad, Hungarian strudel, prosecco.

Christmas Eve is usually not an elaborate dinner chez nous. SWMBO has decreed that we will have cracked crab. However, we'll have a houseful of guests, and I don't know that everyone likes crab - the kids think they are iffy at best. So we'll make something else.

I'm thinking about beef short ribs in the pressure cooker. 1 part soy sauce, 2 parts rice wine, 1 part water, a couple star anise, a mess of green onion, some ginger slices, and some red pepper flakes. Brown beef, add rest of ingredients - enough to cover beef - cook on high pressure for one hour, then remove beef which should be nearly falling apart, strain the solids put of the liquid, reduce the liquid - and thicken with cornstarch if needed. Reheat beef in the sauce and serve. I learned this from a friend who cooks his oxtail this way. I always tell him ''I'm eating your tail tonight''.

Honorbilt--Sounds great!

Chicagoans--Whoa! Never made tiramisu. Had no idea how *loaded* it is!

Pinch--Yeah, I can relate about the crap in the filo! There are organics out there but you have to go to specialty shops. Still, if you think about it as a once a year treat that everyone just gets a bit of...it's probably not as bad for us as the air we breathe ;)

Oreos will work just fine for the pie crust.

Pillog--Great filo tips!

Writersblock--Spelt is still a variety of wheat, so while much lower in gluten than traditional flour, it still is unsuitable for people who are gluten intolerant. Check with your friends, though, because if they are gluten sensitive they may still do a little spelt. It was a pit of a PITA though to make my own filo. Time consuming. And the yield was small. Definitely if you go for it, make a moist buttery dough, use lots of flour and roll out by hand. :)

Oldhouse--Thanks so much for the warm wishes! Wishing you also a fabulous holiday season and new year ahead. My energy runs in spurts...I think I am starting to sputter out of fuel. Hopefully baby will come by end of December!

Everyone's menus reflect how much love they have going on in their lives....even the meatloaf dinner! How fortunate we all are to have good friends and family to celebrate with. Enjoy!

Christmas Eve is always an hors doerves spread heavy on the seafood selections.

Christmas Day I always roast two ducks with sweet & sour cherry sauce. Add some sauted green beans, some type of potato and homemade bread.

After spending $20 per can on Williams Sonoma Peppermint Bark several years ago I decided to make my own. No one knows how incredibly easy it really is to make!

I decided when the kids were little to keep holiday meals simple or else it made me crazy. Even on Thanksgiving I really cut back on the amount of dishes served and no one really minded. Now I can enjoy the holidays too!

Thanks, sabjimata. Interesting--our Publix stores keep it in the gluten-free section. Oh well, you probably saved me a lot of work.

>After spending $20 per can on Williams Sonoma Peppermint Bark several years ago I decided to make my own. No one knows how incredibly easy it really is to make!

Yes, it's really easy, and fun for kids to whack the candy canes, too.

Our traditional Christmas eve dinner is paella... I can't even remember why. it has something to do with the year my brothers and I spent with our parents on our sailboat in the Mediterranean. I've carried it over to my own family now :)

Christmas dinner is: rib roast from the local grass-fed cow we get every year; Yorkshire pudding and au jus; some fancy mashed potatoes (garlic, goat cheese, or something like that); horseradish-creme fraiche sauce; green beans; rolls. Every year we have some new fancy dessert... DD and I haven't started planning that part yet!

Wow! I'm getting hungry just reading all these delicious sounding menus. And I've probably gained 5 lbs too.

For Christmas Eve the meat-eaters will have shrimp scampi over rice, some sort of bread and a salad. I'm not sure what DD, the vegetarian, will have, but I think she still has half a stuffed acorn squash in my freezer. I haven't decided on dessert yet, but I'm leaning toward the pecan pie we had at Thanksgiving, made with brown sugar and maple syrup instead of corn syrup.

For Christmas DD wants to make butternut squash soup for us to try. Then the meat-eaters will have a london broil, roasted root vegetables, probably a salad of some sort and the green beans with mixed mushrooms that have been in the freezer since Thanksgiving. It was my first time cooking fresh green beans (I'm really embarrassed to admit that) and I had no idea how far 3 lbs. of green beans went. Next time I will definitely make half a recipe. I'm also thinking of trying the whole wheat roll recipe again. They didn't rise right at Thanksgiving, but I've picked up some tips on how to keep them warm during rising, so maybe I'll try again. I don't know what dessert will be, but I'm sure there's some vegan dessert DD is dying to try on us.

Totally Confused