What? No Turkey For Christmas Dinner??

[Rocklobster]

I have been noticing that most of the Americans that post on here aren't having Turkey dinner for Christmas. Is that true? Is there a predominant traditional dish in the States at Christmas? Are you not having Turkey because you just had some for Thanksgiving? Is there truth to this?

I can't speak for all Canadians, but I think it is safe to say that most Canucks are having Turkey dinner at Christmas.

Maybe you are having turkey and I just haven't read the right posts. But, I have seen a few beef dinners already.

 

[DaveSoMD]

I can't speak for everyone but in my family we never had turkey because we had that at Thanksgiving. Depending on who was hosting Christmas day it could have been ham, roast pork, roast chicken, or roast beef. And there was always other thing too like kielbasa, veal and peppers, and a pasta dish for the kids.

 

[pacanis]

Yeah, I think that's it. We would have just had it a month ago.
Back when I had a full family mom would cook the turkey and come Christmas dad would cook the prime rib.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I usually have prime rib on Christmas, but I was going to make a turkey this year because all I had for Thanksgiving was a turkey breast, and I'm rather fond of dark meat.

Unfortunately, I did not remove the frozen turkey from the deep freeze in time for it to thaw properly, so I guess I'm stuck with the prime rib, eh? Beauty!

 

[Steve Kroll]

The only time we ever have turkey is on Thanksgiving. Which is fine by me, since it's one meat I don't like all that much.

We're creatures of habit. Turkey for Thanksgiving, Prime Rib for Christmas, and Leg of Lamb for Easter. And it's pretty much the only days of the year I eat any of those things.

 

[Kayelle]

In Canada, you have turkey for your Thanksgiving don't you?

Growing up I remember we had turkey for both days. I've never liked turkey very much so now we never have it on Christmas. We usually do Prime Rib but this year we'll be barbequing a leg of lamb.

 

[Rocklobster]

In Canada, you have turkey for your Thanksgiving don't you?

Growing up I remember we had turkey for both days. I've never liked turkey very much so now we never have it on Christmas. We usually do Prime Rib but this year we'll be barbequing a leg of lamb.

Yeah, we have it at Thanksgiving too. But, our Thanksgiving is early October, so still over two months from Christmas. At Christmas you also see ham on the table. My mother usually had ham or roast pork to go with the bird.......

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

We're creatures of habit. Turkey for Thanksgiving, Prime Rib for Christmas, and Leg of Lamb for Easter. And it's pretty much the only days of the year I eat any of those things.

Not me. For Easter I make brandied rabbit in mustard sauce and invite all the neighborhood children for dinner on my patio!

 

[Somebunny]

I think you are correct that a lot of Americans just had turkey a month ago, so they choose beef or ham. In my experience the choice of Christmas protein can be regional, it seems that in the east, beef (prime rib, crown roast) is more popular, while ham seems to be popular in the west and maybe the south. Even though I am a "Westie" it was usually ham or Turkey or both in my family. I am breaking the rules and cooking prime rib today because I had one in the freezer that needed to get used and it's just the two of us so a large bird was out of the question (we had turkey breast at Thanksgiving) ;-) I like big get-togethers where we can have both turkey and ham

 

[LPBeier]

I can't speak for all Canadians, but I think it is safe to say that most Canucks are having Turkey dinner at Christmas.

Maybe you are having turkey and I just haven't read the right posts. But, I have seen a few beef dinners already.

I also can't speak for all Canadians, but we have always had a turkey on Christmas. We also have tourtiere and ham, but the centre is a turkey with all the trimmings!

Only one Christmas did we not have a turkey and I had just had major surgery and was ordered to complete bed rest until Christmas day. DH picked up a ham and was going to do dinner.....until he threw his back out in the morning hauling two 5 gallon pots of stew out to be taken to the homeless. So my sister came over and did everything. It was a very quiet but nice Christmas.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I like turkey enough that I was always happy to have it both Thanksgiving Day and Christmas too, plus bought a couple more on sale and cooked them some months later. When purchased on sale turkey is one of the least expensive meats, and when not stuffed is one of the easiest to roast. I've often said that cooking an unstuffed turkey is no more difficult than cooking a TV dinner. (Just wash it off, put it on a rack, insert in properly preheated oven, and your remote reading thermometer tells you when it's done.) On a few occasions I've even cooked a turkey for myself alone, ate the leg and thigh and used the rest for the usual turkey leftovers.

The usual choices are turkey, ham, beef roast (usually PR), lamb roast, pork roast, roast duck or roast goose. I'd go for the prime rib roast if I had enough guests to justify it. I have no guests this Christmas so I'm cooking a couple turkey thighs and a yam. At least it's something traditional. These two days a year (Thanksgiving, Xmas) I always want something traditional.

 

[Somebunny]

My DH is Canadian and all my Canadian rellies (and DH, the first time it happened) are/were aghast when they found out there is no bird for Christmas, they always have/had Turkey. Lol! If they come to my home for Christmas, I serve them turkey and ham.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Not me. For Easter I make brandied rabbit in mustard sauce and invite all the neighborhood children for dinner on my patio!

I was only speaking of my own household... but I have to say I absolutely love rabbit in mustard sauce!

 

[Rocklobster]

I also can't speak for all Canadians, but we have always had a turkey on Christmas. We also have tourtiere and ham, but the centre is a turkey with all the trimmings!

Only one Christmas did we not have a turkey and I had just had major surgery and was ordered to complete bed rest until Christmas day. DH picked up a ham and was going to do dinner.....until he threw his back out in the morning hauling two 5 gallon pots of stew out to be taken to the homeless. So my sister came over and did everything. It was a very quiet but nice Christmas.

Yes. We have Tourtiere every year also. But as a French Canadian, I guess that goes without saying..My mother usually sends us all home with a frozen one also.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I like venison at Christmas.

 

[Robo410]

I'm not in charge of Christmas dinner. If I were it would be goose or standing rib of beef. Still I'm cooking a turkey between now and new years just for sandwiches!

 

[justplainbill]

I like to have goose once per year on Christmas. Fresh goose can be expensive and it takes us about a year to use up the fat from one 12 - 14 pound goose.

 

[LPBeier]

Yes. We have Tourtiere every year also. But as a French Canadian, I guess that goes without saying..My mother usually sends us all home with a frozen one also.

Funny, I am NOT French Canadian (though I am Canadian and fluent in French) but I can't remember a Christmas without it. Oh, and I gave out five frozen ones this year!

 

[salt and pepper]

In USA it goes something like this: Xmas Ham , Xmas Goose , Thanksgiving Turkey , But through the years Prime Rib has been hight on the list for xmax as well as fish ,which has been popular with Cathlics.

 

[Aunt Bea]

When I was a kid we always had roast beast for Christmas.

My thought is that the beef, pork, venison for Christmas dinner may have been due to the climate of the northeast. A bird could be killed and used up for one meal but you needed prolonged cold to preserve a larger animal. Anyway it was good and we ate it!