No need to cross-pollinate the holidays. I have a fridge full of cuccidati that I made on Sunday.

Not my pic but what's the diff? They look exactly the same.

{{!gwi}}

I have no plans for feeding anyone but DH and I (we live to far from relatives). I love to cook so I bring in a lot to work to share.

I'm thinking of swedish meatballs for christmas eve, and am planning a chinese type meal for New Years eve, DH has the alchol purchased already.

I've been planning on attempting leftse for some time, so I may try that with the meatballs.

I'm all birded out, don't want any turkey or chicken for the next two weeks. Though DH asked if I'd get the smoker going and toss on a few rabbits - apple marinated with applewood smoke - that is tasty food!

First time I've posted on the holiday thread, but I loved the Thanksgiving one! Everyone's feasts sound soooo good!! If any of you need a taste tester, I'm available!!!

We had a test run last weekend in our new kitchen for the Christmas dinner spread and other than the vent fan going nuts after having been on continuously for about 5 hours, everything went off without a hitch! We've got 3 meals to prepare for this year...

Christmas Eve Dinner (just DH, DS1, DS2 & me)-

Herbed Roast Beast, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetable casserole & angel biscuits with homemade Christmas cookies for dessert. Hopefully, we will remember to save some cookies for Santa!

Christmas Breakfast (DH, DS1, DS2, DM, DD, & me)-

Scrambled & overeasy eggs, grits, hashbrowns, homemade French toast, sausage, bacon, dried beef gravy, toast, biscuits, cinnamon rolls & apple turnovers.

Christmas Dinner (DH, DS1, DS2, DM, DD, DB, DSIL, DSIL's DM, & DSIL's DB & me)-

Roast Turkey, homemade German stuffing, southern green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, cauliflower, cranberry sauce, sweet potato souffle, & yeast rolls. Appetizers-Oreo popppers, fruit tray with pineapple, red grapes & strawberries with Holiday custard, spinach dip with Italian bread, veggie tray with celery, broccoli, carrots & ranch. Dessert-Pecan bars, pumpkin pie, apple pie, chocolate cream pie, and chocolate cake with homemade buttercream frosting.

I'm feeling a little hungry now...

My son spent a year in Switzerland as an exchange student and came home demanding we buy a raclette gadget (a sort of tabletop grill, meant to mimic the real fireside way of doing raclette). So we're making raclette a Christmas eve tradition. Seems like a nice sociable approach to the holiday meal. The only problem seems to be the outrageous cost of raclette cheese (last year $25 a lb. at Whole Foods, this year Trader Joes' far more reasonable version wasn't already sold out thank God.)

Good grief... another food I had to google.

Marcolo,

If you're Sicilian, I'm sure sfinci are only for San Giuseppe's Day or whatever.

If you're Jewish, they're fried for Chanukkah. As are latkes, sufganiot, bunuelos, turnovers, bourekes, even funnel cakes and churros. There are Jews just about everywhere in the world, and whatever is fried and yummy is for Chanukkah!

Tonight salt and pepper roasted duck, latkes, steamed broccoli. DH is Jewish but just emailed that he may not be home before kids go to bed so I need to brush up on the candle lighting prayer...my Hebrew is abysmal.

Saturday night clam chowder and spinach salad after church.

Sunday morning we have an overnight French toast casserole then for dinner I am attempting cassoulet toulousain - which means I had to more or less start it today. Will see how it goes!

Oh and good wine with all of it - oh yeah. ;)

I'm all about easy cause I'm usually exhausted from all the running around, cleaning, wrapping, etc. plus this year vegan son bringing vegan gf home ......so, vegetarian chili and cornbread christmas eve, egg casserole Christmas morning...sorry vegans, but other kids would never speak to me again. We usually grill steaks for Christmas dinner no matter the weather with baked potatoes, salad, rolls but BBQ is on the fritz and to accommodate dear son and gf am passing the baton to DH to make stir fry...tofu for vegans, chicken or beef for the rest.

Cool! Chag sameach!

Feeling ambitious so I am planning on cassoulet (using Sam Beall's Blackberry Farm cookbook recipe) and now that I've found a source locally for duck fat, I think I'll try doing the duck confit at home as well.

Tonight was a fairly light meal, nothing fancy. Cheese bourekes (swimming in sesame oil), the white and green asparagus and blue lake green beans (I'm more partial to them than haricot vert, so if I'm doing the shopping that's what there is :) ), plus pickles and olives. I was going to make a hollandaise to dress it up a bit, but the asparagus started disappearing right out of the cooling dish (after blanching), and there's nothing redeeming about hollandaise, so I skipped it. Chanukah cookies and chocolate gelt for the sweet eaters.

Chanukah Sameach y'all!

I'm cooking for Christmas Eve so we really didn't do any special Chanukah dinner. Just pasta/meat/sauce from the huge pot I had on the stove for the eggplant and ziti I'll be making for Christmas Eve. For sweets...well we did do taste tests on all the cookies I baked for the cookie tray I'll be plating!

And Happy Chanukah to you too plllog and to anyone else who celebrates.

I think Christmas is designed for nervous breakdowns, personally. Sure, it's easy to cook ahead, but if I did that I'd have to start in April.

Christmas Eve, I'm going simple this year. Clams casino, calamari salad, crab-stuffed mushrooms, zuppa di pesce with clams, mussels, shrimp, calamari, scallops and I forget what else. Fennel orange salad. Buche de Noel.

Christmas Day I've got to get up at 7 a.m. for the nine thousand hour pig, plus the chestnut soup and the cranberry mache salad and the wild mushroom polenta and the garlic rabe and and and.

Could we not have had the foresight to space Christmas Eve and Christmas Day a week apart?

Christmas eve dinner this year will be slow cooked red wine short ribs served with mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables and green leaf, pomegranate and almond salad.
Christmas morning will include gingerbread pancakes, a make ahead egg dish and fresh fruit compote.
Christmas dinner is shrimp creole with whole wheat pasta, winter salald with lemon poppy seed dressing and green beans with slivered almonds. There will also be a spiral baked ham and frozen fruit salad.
I better hurry up and get to the grocery store!

Simple. Tossed Greens with various veggies, Lasagna and big hunks of Italian Bread. Cookies and coffee for dessert. Is that too simple? What should
I add to this sparse menu???? Company comes at 3pm and leaves by 8pm.

Quiltgirl, list all the ingredients of your lasagna and salad (inc. sauce). If that still looks sparse, add something. :) You have all the food groups covered.

You could add some fruit to the dessert, and a hot vegetable or two (I always serve vegetables with the vegetables--a salad with veggies in, really is adequate). Some nuts for the table. Are there any vegetarians? Maybe a vegetable lasagna as well? Any carnivores? Some meatballs or chicken brochettes? Do you want a starter? A fish/seafood course? A soup? Melon?

Tonight I'm not doing much of the cooking. It's Chicken Marengo over rice, salad, a vegetable and fresh fruit with sufganiot for dessert (they're fried. :)).

Dinner for nine all three nights:

-- Dec. 23 pre Nutcracker:
cheese fondue with lots of veggies and green salad,
triple chocolate mousse cake for dessert after the ballet

-- Dec. 24th
sesame shrimp and red pepper stir fry
with traditional English trifle for dessert
(weirdly dissonate cultural fusion, I know,
but we can't handle the trifle unless we eat light for dinner;
Christmas is all about the trifle!)

-- Dec. 25th
Huge decadent brunch with caramel sticky buns, eggs, sausage, fruit salad
Dinner: brisket, roasted brussel sprouts, yorkshire pudding,
(other sides) and poached pear and almond tart.

My whole family loves to cook so we do a potluck. Lots of emails beforehand until we decide on a menu:

Butternut Soup
Thai Style Broiled Oysters
Prime Rib
Roast Pork
Quinoa, Yam and Mushroom Casserole
Fresh Kale Salad
Dinner Rolls
Dessert TBD

One person is a vegetarian so that's why I'm making the quinoa dish, something I invented a month ago. But I didn't write it down, so I hope I can recreate it correctly!

devilled eggs (wonderful friend bringing wonderful recipe. it takes ~30 minutes to hard boil eggs here)
roasted shrimp cocktail
cheese and crackers
raspberry lemoncello sangria or Izzy sodas

peach-ginger glazed ham
white and sweet potato gratin
scalloped corn
sauteed broccoli
pear gorgonzola salad with raspberry vinagrette

peach pie with vanilla or peach (or both!) ice cream and raspberries

dungeness crab cakes and light green salad. simple and delicious! ice cream maker just arrived, may try my hand at a meyer lemon sorbet using my lemons....

my favorite crab cake recipe below:

http://articles.latimes.com/1990-11-23/food/fo-4979_1_crab-cake

The usual prime rib dinner plus homemade tamales--starting the tamale train endeavor tomorrow. Prime rib, Silver Palatte Thanksgiving potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts with maple syrup glaze, spinach souffle, Irish soda bread, caesar salad, sweet potato pie and pecan pie. The tamales are really for Christmas morning--served with a fried egg on top--but my family insists on tamales on Christmas eve menu, too.

Christmas Eve:
Cioppino (fresh seafood readily available here on the Chesapeake Bay), crusty sourdough bread, salad, dessert: choice of either favorite Christmas cookies or my Mom's beloved rum cake (a family favorite -- she's been making it for 40 years!) or both.

Christmas dinner:
Dijon-herb crusted tenderloin of beef, Potatoes Anna, salad of baby greens with thin sliced pears, toasted pecans and cranberry coated goat cheese, dressed with homemade raspberry vinaigrette, and for dessert: Pear-cranberry tart (if the pears ripen in time) and maple-walnut pie.

This is actually a lot easier than Christmases past -- I spoiled my family with Beef Wellington and Buche de Noel -- both very delicious but very time-consuming dishes. The cook (me) was always exhausted by the end of Christmas Day!

I'm so happy I'll be doing all this cooking in my new, vastly improved kitchen that is so much better for real cooking!

Mmhmm...so many yummy meals in the works. Definitely wishing I was at one of your houses this year!

My kitchen is still in progress. So this year Christmas day will be just myself, DH, DS(2.5) DD(8 mos) and DBIL = dinner for 3+. Plan is brunch out somewhere, various store bought snacks as needed during the afternoon, then dinner at our temporary home, much of which will be prepared in advance: a turkey leg roasted on top of my own stuffing, roasted veggies (some variety of veg including squash and broccoli so I can throw into a mesh bag to keep DD busy and happy), homemade bread (Amish white and the multi-day Reinhart recipe thanks to mtnrdredux ... presoaker started today!), mango sago dessert or chocolate cheesecake (mango sago if I can get to the Chinese market for sago between now and then, cheesecake if not).

Christmas Eve: Tourtierre with veggie platter, cheese my SIL is bringing from Quebec, and rolls. Dessert is pavlova with raspberry coulis and chocolate dipped raspberries and gooseberries.

Christmas Day: BBQ'd turkey, doubled baked potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts, stuffing, gravy,and cranberry sauce. Dessert is MIL Xmas cake, apple and mincemeat crisp, and gingersnap cookies.

Boxing Day: Ham, mixed veggie salad, rolls, coleslaw. Dessert is birthday cake as it's my MIL BD and we always make a special day of it.

Marcolo, parla italiano?

My cousin gave me a new Jewish cookbook, and I think I've found the fried Chanuka treat for Saturday night: Frittelle di Riso. That's arborio rice fritters with pine nuts, raisins and lemon zest, topped with spiced honey. Sounds good. :)

Thanksgiving meal repeat: roast turkey, cornbread dressing, giblet gravy, cranberry sauce, homemade rolls, candied sweet potatoes, collard greens. This is the first year that my mom is not with us - she died in April - and I'm doing my best to recreate her menus. Had to nix the sweet potato pie, since my husband and mother-in-law are not fans, but am making one for myself and my dad after the holiday. Christmas Day dessert will be British-style Christmas pudding instead (blech).

Redhead, where on the Chesapeake Bay are you? I live in Annapolis on a peninsula that is between the Bay and the South River.

Despite growing up with a father of 100% Sicilian/Sardinian heritage, we did not do the seafood feast on Christmas Eve. In fact, my father doesn't remember if his family did that growing up but he has a horrible memory. I didn't grow up near his family and it drives me nuts that all the Italian traditions (aside from pizzelles and smelts) were lost when my grandmother died. I cannot remember what we had during my childhood but when I went off to college just blocks away from LIttle Italy in the Bronx, we started a tradition of having fresh ravioli every Christmas Eve. My father would come pick me up for Christmas break, we'd head over to the local pasta shop and buy fresh ravioli before going next door and getting cannoli for dessert from the pastry shop. I continued to bring it home every year while I lived in New York, but then after moving back to MD, we started buying it from LIttle Italy in Baltimore (last year, dh made his own ravioli for the first time!). So we will have fresh ravioli and homemade sauce (my specialty) on Christmas Eve and dh will make Manhattan Clam Chowder (his grandfather's recipe).

Christmas Dinner is up to my father. He loves to cook and always makes our holiday meals when my parents host. This year he is making some sort of Italian pork loin with a chestnut sauce along with an Italian spinach dish. He was planning to do risotto as well, but I think my mom talked him into a potato dish which was less work. We rarely have the same meal twice on Christmas b/c my father likes to experiment with new dishes each year. He usually comes up with a few ideas, then sends the choices out to me and my brother (and my sister if she is joining us) and we take a vote. This year, he made the decision himself, so I got very few details when I asked my mom since she stays out of it ("I just know it involves a pork loin!") We will bring dessert which is undecided at this point - dh and I are looking at a variety of recipes, on of them a chocolate peppermint truffle.

Bigdog, I used to speak Italian (spent a semester of college in Rome and studied it four years in college) but I'm sad to say that w/o practice, I've lost most of it. I understand more than I can speak. One of these days, I want to take a course to refresh my knowledge. It makes me sad that despite having Italian immigrants as grandparents, none of my family, not even my father (who has rudimentary knowledge of Italian) , can speak fluent Italian. :(

fourkids -- I've got a similar background, four years of Italian in college (confession: it was my major), and a summer in Verona studying music - loved it, which is when I switched from Music to Italian. Though I have no Italian blood whatsoever. Also have not spoken it since graduation (not a very practical major either) though remember some of it.

fourkids4us --
We're in the southern part of the Chesapeake Bay -- Yorktown, on the York River (near Hampton, Gloucester, Norfolk). Lots of great seafood all up & down the bay!

I've wanted to visit Annapolis & nearby areas for a long while.....just never seemed to have the time.

bigdog, ho dimenticato quasi ogni parola. Haven't spoke it since my dad passed away over 15 years ago. Language is very use it or lose it.

Nah, Marcolo, it's in your brain somewhere. You just have to dig it out. It's either when you're drunk or angry and your inhibitions are down. :)

Just made a savory pumpkin soup for Saturday inspired by Marcolo's T-day roasted spiced pumpkin soup (nothing like it really, but inspired nonetheless). It has roasted field pumpkin (the Halloween kind), stock, leeks, celery, sage, salt and pepper. Very simple. To be garnished with sauteed shitake mushrooms and pearl onions, and roasted spiced pine nuts.

Tonight is leftover beef stew and, if we have to have a fried treat, whole wheat bunuelos.

marcolo,
Lei parla (e scrive) molto bene. Anch'io ho dimenticato molto. Trying to communicate in Spanish with various workers over the years hasn't helped preserve the Italian any!

Keeping things pretty simple:

Short ribs
whipped herb potatoes
grilled asparagus
arugula blue cheese pear salad with walnuts
pecan pie

It's just the 5 of us.

plllog those fritters sound wonderful. So does the pork loin with chestnut sauce. Yummm.

Tonight I've got short ribs in the oven (Pioneer Woman recipe) and they smell so darned good I'd be tempted to make them for the main event meal next year!.

Come hell or high water, we're going to put this new kitchen to good use and feed a clan of 20-25. Just finalized our Italian-themed menu (without the fishes). Many moons ago, my wife and I spent our honeymoon in Italy, eating our way from Venice to Rome (mostly in Tuscany). I'll never forget it. So I want to share those flavors with the family. The cooking started today. The tricky part is I have to work around some vegetarians who are Buddhist. That means no onions or garlic in the vegetarian items! Italian food without onions or garlic. Imagine that. I'm going to get around it by roasting lots of garlic in lots of olive oil and then use it to finish the plates of those who can eat garlic. Those who can't will just get EVOO.

Antipasti
Lasagna
Ragu alla Bolognese
Penne Pasta
Porchetta
Filetto di Manzo ai Funghi
Patate al Forno
Rapini
Aglio al Forno
Lots of Bread

Guests will bring dessert.

Christmas Eve dinner (potluck with my brother).

Kale Chips
Salad
Stuffed portobella mushrooms
Quails Baked in Pear Halves
Scallops Almondine
Roasted Asparagas
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Bread
Apple Crisp

Christmas Day...leftovers or maybe we'll find a Chinese Restaurant which is open

Well, I made the chestnut soup ahead. Holy ****! I wanted to drink the whole bowl. It's a Barbara Lynch recipe from Stir. Did I say Holy ****?

Tomorrow is gonna be a rough cooking day. Fishes for Eve but also prep for Day. I don't remember my catechism very well, but I wouldn't be surprised if Seven Sorrowful Mysteries originally referred to courses.

Itsallaboutthefood, please elaborate on kale chips... They sound wonderful.

Oh my...the greatest appetizer ever...tasty and your kids will eat it up like potato chips never realizing how healthy it is. Here is a recipe! But watch it carefully...it can burn quickly once it's done.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oven baked kale chips

I LOVE kale chips, I think I will add them to the menu tomorrow.

We are doing Swiss Raclette Christmas Eve (plus as a nod to tradition the requisite French Canadian Tourtiere) and a pretty traditional Turkey day on the 25th.

Pllog, Frittelle di Riso sounds amazing. I will try that some time this week I think.

Marcolo - I've never tried Chestnut soup. Sounds like I better.

I'm Sicilian :) And we are going all Italian as we do every year!

Crudite (French, I know!)
Bruschetta
Lasagna
Mancotti
Meatballs and Sausage
Focaccia
Biscotti
Canolli

We always do just a platter of cut veges before the meal so we can just dig in the main course when it's ready. We've tried antipasto, but everyone gets too full too early.

I will have close to 40 people at my house today and I can't wait!

We're not doing our traditional Christmas Eve dinner (prime rib and yorkshire pudding) until New Year's Eve since DS#2 and wife won't arrive until Tuesday night and DS#3 is working double shifts most of this next week but is off New Year's Eve. Christmas Day food is being served New Year's Day (cold spiral ham, hit german potato salad, shrimp cocktails, salad) for the same reason.

Last night's dinner was stuff shells, garlic bread, and salad and tonight's will be marinated pork tenderloins, roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, glazed carrots, and apple crisp for dessert.

well, we do the traditional seven fish dinner on Christmas Eve for 27 people!
Start with shrimp cocktail
then the pasta: stuffed calamari in red sauce/gravy and anchovies sauteed in garlic, S&P, and evoo, both served over linguine... a red and white pasta
then the fish course: crab imperial, scallops, smelts and salmon, this is served with garlic bread, an olive tray with mozzarella balls and roasted peppers, cooked greens, broccoli rabe & baked artichokes.

then dessert: cannolis, red velvet cake, cheesecake, cookie trays and chocolate cream pie.
coffee and espresso

good wine served throughout!!

For our Christmas dinner, just us 5

traditional thanksgiving dinner, but DH & DS want some beef, so they have filet steaks.
dessert: leftover from the night before

the feast of the seven fishes originated in southern italy and you can have 7, 9 12 or 13 fishes. from what i read and heard, there really is no set number. it can range from 7 for the days of the week or the seven sacraments. 9 im not sure, 12 - for the 12 apostles, 13 - for the 12 apostles and Jesus. you can have any type of fish, depending on availability. if anyone has any other info that would be great or if i am wrong, just let me know.

i hope everyone has a peaceful and joyous holiday season. enjoy your family and make special memories to share with your future generations!!!

For my DH and me....

Starting with olives, homemade hummus, and veges.

a little salad of whatever I decide to chop up
rack of lamb with pomegranate sauce (courtesy of Zov's cookbook)
mashed potatoes
green beans
and a bottle of Stags Leap cabernet

oh, and while I don't typically bake - I'm gonna try to bake a cake....if I can find my cake pans which are already packed in anticipation of our remodel.

Raclette was great last night, with Kale chips and bacon wrapped goat-cheese stuffed dates as appetizers. Spanish Tortilla for brunch today, Turkey is in the oven, doing maple glazed carrots now.

Kept it simple. Seafood (shrimp, calamari & clams) with pesto over pasta, bread on the side for dipping into the brothy sauce. Eggplant and cauliflower as the veggies. Lots of garlic.
For our picky son, full size pigs in a blanket.

Leftovers. ;)

Only two more nights to go...

Very simple dinner this year for Christmas, we had traditional turkey dinner last week as we did not think DH would be home for Christmas. So tonight we had:

Baked old fashioned ham
Brussell sprouts
Double baked stuffed spinach and cheddar potatoes
Yorkshire pudding

Christmas Eve we served
Oyster Stew (in memory of my dad who passed away this year and this was one of his favorites and my first try at making it)
Salad greens with apple, dried cherries, pecans, and shaved cheese
Lobster Tails
Corn Pudding
Booze pie (cognac enhanced pumpkin pie

Christmas
Leftover oyster stew
Salad
Rubbed tenderloin roast (it was so tender!)
Asparagus risotto(my first attempt at risotto!)

New Years Day - Traditional German - so have to have the Pork and Sauerkraut (but sneaking in Rutabaga kraut from market - do you think my husband will notice?