So what is your tradition? Growing up in west Texas mine is... Christmas Eve Eve (23rd) is frito pie with grated cheese, fresh chopped onions and Wolf brand chili (okay, I grew up in west Texas so that is the canned chili of choice)... Christmas Eve is tamales smothered in left over chili (Wolf brand of course), home made queso, bean soup, and mexican rice.. Christmas Day is junk food to start (all day), shrimp cocktail, and a dinner of prime rib, baked potato, and creamed spinach... Afterwards, it was left overs, and everyone is on a diet, diet, diet...
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Growing up Italian we had the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Seven different seafood dishes. It was amazing. My Italian Aunts made everything from scratch. Homemade pasta and ravioli, stuffed calamari, lobsters, shrimp, baccala, roasted clams, periwinkles, Chowder, and on and on.
Sadly the tradition has faded nobody has time to cook like that anymore.-
Nothing near traditional in my parts(Indiana), but sounds absolutely amazing! -
Old Glory, I married into an Italian family. My wife carries on the tradition. Her grandparents came to the US in the early 1900s. Our Christmas dinner is homemade ravioli made with her grandfathers nearly 80 year old pasta machine and a ravioli wheel he made from some scrap metal. We will serve with sauce and homemade meatballs.
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Sounds like a right tasty holiday, there to yall's house!
LOVES me some Wolf Brand chili, Brother!!!!
Totally blows Armour an Hormel away!!!
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Beer, beer, and more beer. That, however, is also a daily tradition....Comment
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First, I’m also in on the beer thing. 😉🙄🤣
But our tradition food wise is Christmas Eve is pretty loose menu wise. Lots of finger food etc as we open a couple gifts with our son, and of late his family, watch a Christmas movie, and just hang out. Christmas Day is some sort of big breakfast followed by more gift opening, then a traditional Christmas ham for dinner. The last few years I have been double smoking the ham and will again this year. With all the trimmings of course. And also of course, lots of beer along the way and bourbon to coast to the finish line. Good stuff.Comment
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Christmas Eve is always a small buffet featuring crab dip, olives, pickled herring, meats and some Norwegian dishes. Then we open presents. Christmas is always a ham for the fact that one of our sons married into a family that always gives hams as presents. We haven’t bought a ham for Christmas in 28 years since they give us one every year. We also celebrate Boxing Day which usually features ham again.Comment
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Old Glory much like you my Naples born and raised mother had us on the traditional Italian Christmas eve meal. We still take a shot at it here in Texas though it's not quite as easy to get to seven varieties as it once was. When we lived in Seattle, until a few years ago, we would make the trek down to Pike Place Market on Christmas Eve morning, buy all the fresh seafood we desired, and went home to spend the day preparing for the evening meal with friends. While there is much to love about our life here in Texas, that is one aspect of Seattle living I miss. As foodies, most of the members should have a trip to Pike Place Market on their bucket list. It is a true experience. Although, I suspect given the temperament there, those activities are likely very curtailed this season. Embrace your traditions folks, while you can.Comment
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I lived in Kirkland for a year. I LOVED Pikes Place Market. I would just go there and walk around looking at all the fresh produce, seafood, cheeses, meats, and flowers. It was amazing. I was there in the early 90s and Seattle led the way with craft beer. I loved it there. Fresh salmon was $3.99lb at Larry's Market. So good!
I miss that and our old traditions. Happy Christmas!
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My Dad absolutely loved Christmas. Lots of decorations plus a ton of presents. As my brother and I grew up and got married, Christmas got bigger - especially after grandkids started arriving.
We always had a late, big Southern breakfast with homemade biscuits, sausage and gravy, bacon, eggs and hash browns. Sometimes country ham would show up, and maybe some redeye gravy too. My Dad always did it all himself - except the biscuits which my Mom made. As we got older and the family got larger, my Brother and I started helping. Just little things at first, but as everyone, (including my Dad), got older, we were allowed to help more.
That was the only "official" meal of the day. Snacks satisfied anyone who got hungry the rest of the day.Comment
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I have been hard at work all day between the work I am supposed to do for my job and making cookies, carrot cake and other items. Between beers that is......Comment
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Not being Christian, family celebration was non-exisistant. I was friends with many who were Christian and did celebrate. My most defining memories are from my teens. I was close with my dear friend, Mario and I was a pseudo member of their family. His mother who I/we called Mama. She was the matriarch. Very traditional, yet her and her 2 daughters with kids no husband to be found. Never asked nor cared. This house was a double decker and they all lived in the house. I spent Christmas Eve there for at least 4 years 15-18. Mario was drafted and served 2 of those years. Tail end of Nam and he was not deployed. I went when he was not there. That meant a lot to Mama.
The fore mentioned Feast of the 7 Fish was the Christmas Eve meal. I still have the image of the fried minnows (I think that is what they were). I ate the food but was not a fan. Mama would always allow us to have a moderate taste of vino. We would bow out at certain times in the evening to enjoy a natural herb.
Then kids go to sleep. Tree up but not decorated. At midnight that would begin. Always with Mama putting up the 1st. I recall it was a furry brown animal. Clearly a tradition that was years in the making. Then everyone else took a turn adding ornaments. Now present time. That is being bring them up from the basement and placed under the tree.
We were done about 5'ish. Prior to me driving, I would walk home about a mile. When home get into bed and sleep throughout the day. Never spent Christamas Day with them. I was welcome but it was their family's day. And let's face it, I just wanted to sleep. They had about an hour before the kids woke up. Sleep was not on their agenda.
Great memories from a Jew on Christmas.
Merry Christmas to my fellow Pitmasters and your families.
RichieBComment
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When I was a kid my mom spent a couple of weeks before Christmas making cookies. Christmas Eve was delivery day. My brother and I did a lot of that. Mom would make plates of cookies, and we would run them to neighbors. We always went to midnight Mass, and we always opened presents on Christmas Eve, so there was just a bit of a gap for dinner. Mom was usually beat, and somehow we ended up inventing a tradition of frozen pizza. I still make frozen pizza every Christmas Eve.Last edited by JCGrill; December 24, 2020, 06:09 AM.Comment
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We never had a true Christmas Eve tradition. And Christmas dinner was always Turkey until the kids took over and then every year it would vary. Rib roasts, lobster, pork roasts, fish, etc. every year was different.
BUT Christmas morning breakfast was always the same and I carry it on with my family. We had “Dad’s Breakfast”. Bacon, eggs (over med.) and cooked in the bacon fat, homemade toast and white rice (with butter and Beau Monde seasoning). It was an excruciating time for the kids because they could not open, let alone see the presents until breakfast was done. My kids, who are adults now, say they love this tradition now.Comment
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On the 23rd, we order pizza and wrap presents. On the 24th we go to my father-in-law’s and have a traditional turkey dinner, all the adults give presents to their nieces/nephews, and we do a secret Santa gift exchange for the adults. On Christmas Day, we open presents while drinking Christmas Coffee (ie coffee with something adult in it), then have a huge brunch about 10:30-11:00 AM (me, my wife, our kids, their SO’s). Then I cook a prime rib with all the fixings and the whole family comes to my house for dinner ..... Grandpa (my FIL)d, his 3 kids, their spouses, the 7 grandkids, their SO’s (3 have wife or GF)
This year will be a much abbreviated version of that, sadlyComment
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Christmas Day was the stereotypical Jewish Christmas. Mid-afternoon movie and Chinese food for dinner. Don’t recall anything particular about Christmas Eve outside of a few years going to my sisters friends Christmas Eve dinner where I gorged on ham and egg nog.
tomorrow we’ll be having a faux steakhouse dinner (oysters, shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, ribeye, jalapeno mashed potatoes and creamed spinach) and will follow that up on Christmas with Chinese food. Might do Christmas tree pancakes for the kids in the am.
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