Christmas Dinner and Christmas Eve snacks

[MauEvig]

I thought I'd make a real thread for the food at Christmas, since food is a big part of the Christmas celebrating and tradition. Often the food part starts at Christmas Eve for some people depending on your own family's individual traditions and preferences.

Growing up after my parents divorced was when I started to see a slight shift in some Christmas traditions, but these were traditions I actually liked that came from my step father's family. This would become the standard and the norm for me until later on I think when I was in late Highschool. On Christmas Eve we'd go to my step dad's family, starting the first Christmas that my parents had separated and my mom had remarried to my step dad. Typically they'd serve things like shrimp, one year I was introduced to lobster tail, and they had made an assortment of snack-type foods that would make up an entire meal for that night. Sometimes we even took some of that stuff home. Because of that, I grew to like shrimp. Some years I think they had chicken wings as well. I'd be introduced to a variety of foods that under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn't get a chance to try. It was awesome! I loved doing these Christmas eve parties, and sometimes I miss them. But I suppose all good things must come to an end eventually.

We didn't really have any traditions for Christmas breakfast, although before my parents divorced I remember getting Capn' Christmas Crunch cereal. Most things I think of now are in the perspective of what happened after the divorce though. I don't remember too much about Christmas dinner prior to that, but it could be because we'd go and visit the grandparents after opening presents. After the divorce Christmas dinner often consisted of having Turkey, or Ham, inviting the grandparents over, and then I'd go and visit my dad and his parents. Typically my mom would get turkey, as it was often marked down around Thanksgiving time and she would keep it in the freezer. My Grandma on my dad's side, the one I lived with for about 6 years often had ham.

Now Christmas dinner will consist of homemade lasagna. I don't make lasagna very often, so it'll be nice to have for Christmas dinner. It takes a lot of work and effort to make, but it's worth it. It makes for a really nice holiday dinner actually.

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, I have developed some traditions of my own over Christmas Eve & Day. My husband and I both sing (we met through school choir), so we are always heavily involved in the Christmas Eve caroling service at church. Some years one or the other of us will have a solo. That restricts what we can do on Christmas Eve, but I spend most of that day baking. I make cranberry orange bread, cranberry sauce, and maybe a casserole or two, like broccoli & rice or green beans. I also bake cornbread for the Christmas dressing, and maybe a pie, and I bake a ham. My husband makes the "wassail" ( an apple cider & cranberry juice spiced punch) in the crock pot.

On Christmas Eve we sing at a 7 p.m. "Lessons & Carols" service at my husband's Lutheran church, then stay for a social hour. The assistant minister's wife, who is of Polish background, always makes these delicious little tender cookies that look like the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes. They are some kind of tender, buttery dough, with the baby's face made of a dollop of jam, either raspberry or apricot, I think. Then there is a second service, with communion, at 9 p.m., but I don't stay for it. I go home to tend the ham. Often my older son will stay, because he is visiting friends he hasn't seen in a while.

At 10:15 we all head downtown to the Episcopal church (my original denomination) where we attend the midnight service. It starts with congregational caroling at 10:30. Episcopal churches are very serious about their music, so this is a terrific musical service, and the church is always jam-packed. Episcopal communion is completely open, meaning that any Christian of any denomination can take communion there. I do, of course, but my husband won't, because his own denomination doesn't believe that way. Last year our older son went with me, which didn't make my husband too happy.

We return home and chat, maybe over some wassail, until everybody is ready to go to bed, usually around 1:30 or 2 a.m. The next morning, since the kids are pretty much grown, we sleep in, but when everyone is ready, we have wassail or eggnog with the cranberry orange bread as we open gifts. When that is done, my husband makes an Eggs Benedict brunch, using the Christmas Eve ham.

Our main meal will be an early supper, usually a turkey but sometimes Cornish hens, or just plain roasting hens. I make the same stuffing I do at Thanksgiving, and for salad I do a citrus salad (my kids used to be in band and I would always buy band fruit; now we order it from Pittman Davis in TX). The citrus salad uses a dressing of citrus juice, honey, and cardemom, which is heated and then chilled. We have the sides I mentioned above, that I have made the preceding day or two, and a pie for dessert--usually pumpkin, but it doesn't have to be.

That's pretty much the way our Christmas goes. Usually we will have gotten one or more DVDs for Christmas, so the family will be watching one of those while I cook the supper.

[MauEvig]

Oh I love broccoli and rice cassarole, do you put the cheese sauce in? Yum! That stuff is so good. I miss my Grandma's, I guess I'll have to learn how to make it. Still have to get Christmas dinner. Planning to make that lasagna. I usually bake cookies too, but I don't think we're going to do the big cookie recipe this year. I might just make a box of those krackle cookies my mom sent in the mail.

Apple Cider and Cranberry juice? Sounds really tart, I might like it though.

I only remember going to one candle lighting once, but that was it. We went to a church my aunt goes to if I remember right. I think everyone went down a row and lit a single candle, and then "passed the flame" to each candle if I remember right, and I think we might have sang some songs.

I think the kids went Christmas caroling with chorus though around the school when I was a kid, and I remember going to Christmas concerts. I stopped chorus in 6th grade. I wonder if that was the right decision. Oh well.

[Murfreesboro]

Yes, I use cheese whiz or a store brand like that for the casserole.

I believe the wassail has some brown sugar in it, have to look back at that recipe. It also has an orange studded with cloves, a few drops of bitters, and some other spices. Originally it had rum too, but we have made it without for many years, since our kids wouldn't drink it that way when they were little.

I have done the candle-lighting thing on Christmas Eve at various churches, although that tradition used to be carried out at the Epiphany service (January 6). The idea was that Epiphany marked the Wise Men finally getting to the baby Jesus, so that signified revealing him to the rest of the world. You would light the candle and leave the church with it, because you were taking the light of Jesus out into the world. Epiphany is actually the Feast of Lights in the Christian tradition. But hardly anyone observes it anymore, at least in America, so they have transferred the candle-lighting to Christmas Eve.

Music is at the center of Christmas for me. Having been in choirs all my life, from childhood on, Christmas would basically start in October for me, when we would start rehearsing the Christmas music. Yesterday my older son and I attended Lessons & Carols at the Episcopal church. Lots of denominations have a service like that now, but it originated in the Church of England, so if you want to see it done authentically, go to an Episcopal church.

[Kolchak]

January 6 is the date when many latin households celebrate Christmas. It's called 3 Kings Day. Los Tres Reyes. When our sons were young we celebrated both Christmas AND Three Kings. Christmas was obviously the bigger of the two, but to keep the in-laws AND kids happy we let the Three Kings "leave" a few gifts too.

For me as a Southern boy, I NEEDS my Honey Baked ham. When the in-laws are around we also do the suckling pig that is called lechon in Spanish.

A Caribbean version of egg nog is called the Coqui. A Coqui is a small tree frog that inhabits Caribbean islands like Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic and Cuba. You take some light rum and mix it into a can of coconut milk and serve it chilled. Pretty good stuff if I do say so.

Guava is a fruit that grows in the Caribbean and is very sweet and you can make it into candy or baked goods. The brazo gitano is similar to a sweet role but is made with guava jelly. Brazo gitano means broken arm in English and I have no idea how the dish got its name.

Tur-Duc-Hen is a chicken breast stuffed into a duck breast that is then stuffed into a whole turkey. You can add the stuffing into the cavity of the birds or cook it in a pan seperate from the fowl. Its baked and served in slices that include all three fowl. I don't do this myself but have a place in Louisiana that specializes in it and they send it already cooked and all you do is heat it up and serve it.

Needless to say you need pecan, pumpkin and Key Lime pie too.

My late mother made a fantastic marsh mellow and banana desert and though my wife tries, she just can't get it. Oh well, can't complain, when I was working for Uncle Sam there were a few Christmases I'd have been happy and settled for anything!!

I enjoyed music too during the season, but I was the X-rated version of Weird Al Yankovic and all my Christmas songs were dirty! Most of my soldier and cop friends thought they were funny.....

Note: Catholic Cubans have NO SENSE OF HUMOR when it comes to Holiday songs.

[MauEvig]

I've heard of Turducken, it sounds delicious! I will need to try it.

I worked with some Puerto Ricans, and the daughter told me about the Three Wise Men thing, I think they do it in Puerto Rico as well. It sounds like a fun tradition.

Would you be willing to share the recipe Murf? If not I understand, some recipes are exclusively for families.

As for the cassarole, it sounds really scrumptious with the cheez whiz.

I don't know Kolchak when I was growing up in New York Ham was a pretty common thing to serve at Christmas as well. We had the most delicious ham from my old job when I worked at the little gas station, the boss gave us all one. It's even better with some Grandma Brown's baked beans, which sadly you can only get up North. Sometimes my mom would cook a turkey though. Grandma was usually the one to cook ham, and often she'd cook ham on Easter as well.

[Murfreesboro]

Mau, I will gladly share any recipe I have. I will have to look up the wassail, though. I need to find one of my cookbooks today!

I think y'all's Cuban Christmas sounds like a lot of fun, Kolchak!

[Murfreesboro]

Here's the wassail recipe, Mau:

1/2 gallon apple juice or cider (I like the kind with pulp in it)

1 pint cranberry juice (I use the cranberry juice cocktail)

1 cup rum (optional)

3/4 cup sugar (can be brown or white)

2 cinnamon sticks

1 teaspoon allspice

1 orange studded with cloves (don't overdo the cloves; maybe a quarter cup will do)

1/2 teaspoon Angostura bitters

Cook on high in crock pot for 4 hours or low 6-8


If you go on line you will see hundreds of recipes for wassail. Some use pineapple juice, some OJ. Some use apple or orange slices instead of the whole orange, or even lemon slices. Just try one and adjust it to your own taste. You can't go wrong!

[Kolchak]

Mau, I will gladly share any recipe I have. I will have to look up the wassail, though. I need to find one of my cookbooks today!

I think y'all's Cuban Christmas sounds like a lot of fun, Kolchak!

It's fun but as the in-laws get older and the rest of the family has acclimated to the American way I doubt it will be around much longer. We have so much food left over we would have to give a lot of it away or it would spoil.

[Kolchak]

I've heard of Turducken, it sounds delicious! I will need to try it.

I worked with some Puerto Ricans, and the daughter told me about the Three Wise Men thing, I think they do it in Puerto Rico as well. It sounds like a fun tradition.

Would you be willing to share the recipe Murf? If not I understand, some recipes are exclusively for families.

As for the cassarole, it sounds really scrumptious with the cheez whiz.

I don't know Kolchak when I was growing up in New York Ham was a pretty common thing to serve at Christmas as well. We had the most delicious ham from my old job when I worked at the little gas station, the boss gave us all one. It's even better with some Grandma Brown's baked beans, which sadly you can only get up North. Sometimes my mom would cook a turkey though. Grandma was usually the one to cook ham, and often she'd cook ham on Easter as well.

The Three Kings are celebrated throughout the Caribbean including Puerto Rico.

For some reason English speaking Catholics call them the Three Wise Men, while Spanish speaking Catholics call them the Three Kings.....I ain't figured out why yet either!

The ham we're talking about is the spiral cut ham with a honey glaze. It's nice to have when you have so much extra turkey going around. In truth we eat way too much pork and no doubt it will give me a heart attack before long, but you get addicted to it!

[Andybev01]

I've heard of Turducken, it sounds delicious! I will need to try it.

I worked with some Puerto Ricans, and the daughter told me about the Three Wise Men thing, I think they do it in Puerto Rico as well. It sounds like a fun tradition.

Would you be willing to share the recipe Murf? If not I understand, some recipes are exclusively for families.

As for the cassarole, it sounds really scrumptious with the cheez whiz.

I don't know Kolchak when I was growing up in New York Ham was a pretty common thing to serve at Christmas as well. We had the most delicious ham from my old job when I worked at the little gas station, the boss gave us all one. It's even better with some Grandma Brown's baked beans, which sadly you can only get up North. Sometimes my mom would cook a turkey though. Grandma was usually the one to cook ham, and often she'd cook ham on Easter as well.

The Three Kings are celebrated throughout the Caribbean including Puerto Rico.

For some reason English speaking Catholics call them the Three Wise Men, while Spanish speaking Catholics call them the Three Kings.....I ain't figured out why yet either!

The ham we're talking about is the spiral cut ham with a honey glaze. It's nice to have when you have so much extra turkey going around. In truth we eat way too much pork and no doubt it will give me a heart attack before long, but you get addicted to it!

"Dad, all those come from the same animal."

"Right Lisa, some magical animal. "

[Murfreesboro]

I think "Wise Men" may be closer to what Magi really means, but I have heard Three Kings in English as well. After all, the carol goes "We Three Kings of Orient Are."

[Kolchak]

I think "Wise Men" may be closer to what Magi really means, but I have heard Three Kings in English as well. After all, the carol goes "We Three Kings of Orient Are."

While reyes does technically translate as kings, Spanish is such that the context can have different meanings. That means wise can be used w/out fear of contradiction. Crazy thing is that I've been using Tres Reyes for so long that when I'm talking to non-Spanish speakers I slip up and use it. I get that weird cocked-head look and have to go back and translate for myself!

[Murfreesboro]

That's funny, about how accustomed your have become to the Spanish term. And interesting about the translation. I have studied several languages, but not Spanish. I hear it is very subtle the longer you study it. That is, I have always heard that French starts out hard and gets easier, whereas Spanish starts out easy and gets harder.

[MauEvig]

I've noticed a few terms become popular over the last few decades that originated in Spanish. Such as "hasta la vista" which was popularized by the Terminator movies. Not surprising at all.