Thought it would be fun to see what traditions in food everyone has for Christmas. I'll start........
Christmas Eve, when we were still living near our family we would go to my Mom's parents for Christmas Eve. Since we moved to GA 10 years ago we had to start our own tradition. We have steak on the grill with shrimp.
On Christmas day we always have ham and all the fixins. I'm not a turkey fan, so we never have turkey on Christmas day, after all we just had it at Thanksgiving.
Christmas Eve - We have lasagna - home made right down to the noodles!! tossed salad and garlic bread!!
Christmas Day - Prime Rib, mashed potatoes/gravy/asparagus with hollandaise sauce and this cranberry pecan salad that was my grandmothers recipe...yum.
The Lasagna is a tradition from when I was little - I have never been a ham eater so we skip that....
This year it's our daughter and SIL's turn to host the Christmas Eve festivities (in our family it's also gift opening time). She usually has a turkey and a ham given to her by her in-laws so that's what we'll probably have.
On Christmas Day it will be just me and the old guy at home alone. I was going to roast him a goose (which he always whines for) but when I saw the price ($45 for a scrawny thing mostly fat and bone) I decided to buy two ducks instead so it will be roast duck, potato dumplings and braised red cabbage...a favourite German festive meal.
Boxing Day I will have daughter and her family over and I'm hoping an aunt, uncle and some cousins will join us for a mid-afternoon casual buffet. I'll make some or all of the following: seafood pie, sweet & sour meatballs, bbq chicken wings, lasagne (purchased cos I'm lazy), fried rice and various salads and rolls.
Since my sister married an Italian man 10 years ago we adopted the tradtional Italian Christmas Eve dinner of course after course of seafood. We've streamlined it quite a bit, but it is usually shrimp, linguini and white clam sauce, and lobster tails. LOVE THIS!
Christmas day is roast prime rib or beef filet. Until my father died, it was ALWAYS Sauerbraten and red cabbage and potato dumplings, sound familiar, Linda? Lately, the son-in-laws, who don't like sauerbraten, get their way and we have prime rib and mashed potatoes, rolls, stuff like that.
Christmas Eve is usually a semi-meal buffet after Church at 7 - snacks for those who have eaten and something sturdier for those who have nor - tourtiere sometimes.
Christmas dinner is always a shrimp cocktail starter, turkey with bread dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans and carrots, cranberry sauce (not jelly), Christmas baking with ice cream and sometimes plum pudding with hard sauce, Scotch before dinner, wine with dinner and liqueurs to follow.
for a number of years, my dear sisters and i had RAVIOLI DAY the saturday after thanksgiving, in which we made a couple of hundred of them so that we could have them on christmas eve. there weren't a lot of leftovers.
but, we stopped that a couple of years agol and now, we're having stuffed shells, made by a local ravioli maker., and sauce purchased from them, and peachie made meat balls and is cooking sausage? dessert?? it varies. this year, it's cake and ice cream.
christmas morning is a huge brunch with a couple of egg strata things or large frittatta or two, italian sausage, and bagels and cream cheese, of course.
and dinner??? sometimes it's sandwiches! but this year, it'll be turkey, and stuffing. and salad, and i have no idea what else. although i am picking up a cheesecake factory cheesecake tomorrow.
and after that, i surrender my chef's hatl. i haven't cooked a damn thing for two years, and i don't see any reason to start now!!! JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE THINK THEY NEED TO EAT DOESN'T MEAN I HAVE TO BE THE ONE TO FEED THEM!!! besides, i'm just not interested in food or cooking or anything like that these days.
Well, Christmas eve, whatever, before Church, I wanted the family to have pot luck at my moms, then kary okie, opps I don't know how to spell that,but my family want to go to Church. Christmas breakfast was at ds#2 last year, I don't know where it is this year, Christmas Dinner, Turkey,stuffing,carrots,peas,turnip,gravy,bread,cr anberry sauce,pies,squares,icecream. And the cator dog if they get in the way.
Just invited three more for the meal, sil,bil,DN.
Well, we don't have a special meal per se on Christmas Eve, but Christmas day it will be turkey with all the trimmings, in fact, I found out an hour ago we were buying the turkey! On the 28th, I have my HUGE family party and it is pot luck Christmas meal--ham turkey, roast beef and all the fixings. Can't wait for that party!
Every year we have the same old family favorites, so this year my Mom announced that we can't have anything we usually have. All new stuff. So far that I know of, it is roasted turkey (we have been marinating and deep frying it the last few years), sprial cut ham, scalloped carrots, spinach-phyllo casserole, cornbread casserole, swiss-vegetable casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, a new recipe for stuffing, toffee cake and orange velvet cake. I wonder if it will feel like Christmas at all! Making something new sounds like fun, but I think I will miss all the old stuff. Gee, there is nothing at all low carb on the menu this year.
Actually Xmas will be a bit different this year, and it sounds like it can be low carb for me. On Xmas eve my mom is making chicken caccitore (sp), which I will have without spagetti.
On Xmas day I am making dinner for my parents and a friend. I am starting with eggplant/walnut pate (recipe on the recipe section), then dinner will be leg of lamb, cauliflower au gratin, salad and potatoes for the other folks. Dessert will be berries with whipped cream!
Christmas Eve we will go to 7 PM Church and then go back to my Dr. friend's house for a buffet. I am taking smoked salmon, pork balls, veggies, etc., so will be low carbing.
Sunday is traditional Turkey dinner at my sister's farm. That will be more of a challenge. I am bringing a huge shrimp ring for starters but she will have turnips and mashed taters and the other high carb stuff. I may be able to get away with green beans and turkey. Dessert is plum pudding with hard sauce but I'll just tell her my sugars are too high to eat it.
(My sister is vehemently against low carb so I no longer mention it. She has never had to lose a huge amount of weight either. I love her dearly but LC is a trigger for her for some reason.)
Christmas Eve at my Moms we will have a buffet style dinner, w/lots of different stuff like swedish meatballs, deli meats, kielbasa (of course some thing polish, what did you think ) mexican dip, spinach dip, cocktail weenies in a brown sugar glaze, all different deserts..etc.
Christmas Dinner at my house will be a honey glazed spiral ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, mushroom gravy and I didn't make my butternut squash pie so we will probably have a cheesecake and some of my thumbprint cookies...
Then I have to pack this all up to bring to the Home for my MIL.
It will be nice
Oh and the day after Christmas, I will weigh 15 lbs heavier HEY why should this year be any different
What's for dinner? Christmas Eve and Day?
but I'll just tell her my sugars are too high to eat it. 
HEY why should this year be any different 
