Christmas Meal Plans ~ 2015

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11 ways with Christmas turkey

It's virtually impossible to get a whole turkey where we are in Italy, but we live in an area where you get white truffles, so my Christmas Day menu will be Parma ham and melon, wild mushrooms in consommè, homemade tagliatelle with truffles, quail in a champagne sauce with cèp mushrooms and truffles, pears braised in moscato wine with ginger, amaretti. I only ever have items in the freezer that are for cooking, and never have prepared dishes in there - you can knock up a pasta dish in no time. There will be Panettone, Siena nougat, and other sweet delicacies. In the evening, an omelette fine herbes and salad, and for my husband, plenty of sweet things to nibble on. The risotto's, stews, and other seasonal dishes come out between Christmas and the New Year.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde
 
It's virtually impossible to get a whole turkey where we are in Italy, but we live in an area where you get white truffles, so my Christmas Day menu will be Parma ham and melon, wild mushrooms in consommè, homemade tagliatelle with truffles, quail in a champagne sauce with cèp mushrooms and truffles, pears braised in moscato wine with ginger, amaretti. I only ever have items in the freezer that are for cooking, and never have prepared dishes in there - you can knock up a pasta dish in no time. There will be Panettone, Siena nougat, and other sweet delicacies. In the evening, an omelette fine herbes and salad, and for my husband, plenty of sweet things to nibble on. The risotto's, stews, and other seasonal dishes come out between Christmas and the New Year.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde

Holy cow, that menu sounds divine Di !! Are you an American living in Italy?
Someone is bound to buck me on this, but here in the US turkey is often not on the menu for Christmas. Thanksgiving is only a month before, and turkey is on nearly everyone's table that day. :yum:

At least in my house, "the definition of eternity is two people and a ham".
 
I will be heading to my daughter's for the big meal. She will again getting the dinner already cooked from Boston Market. Can't say I blame her. Thirty years or so of cooking holiday meals. It has run it course. And since she had the cancer, she has really lost her interest in playing hostess. Her kids are grown and make their own plans now. Maybe in time it will return. But she is enjoying her life right now.

For me, with a limited income and somewhere between 17-19 grand and great grandkids, presents have come to a halt. And they are scattered all over the map. So the holidays are a lot quieter for me now. They do show up with a new baby every now and then. And the family just keeps growing. :angel:
 
It's virtually impossible to get a whole turkey where we are in Italy, but we live in an area where you get white truffles, so my Christmas Day menu will be Parma ham and melon, wild mushrooms in consommè, homemade tagliatelle with truffles, quail in a champagne sauce with cèp mushrooms and truffles, pears braised in moscato wine with ginger, amaretti. I only ever have items in the freezer that are for cooking, and never have prepared dishes in there - you can knock up a pasta dish in no time. There will be Panettone, Siena nougat, and other sweet delicacies. In the evening, an omelette fine herbes and salad, and for my husband, plenty of sweet things to nibble on. The risotto's, stews, and other seasonal dishes come out between Christmas and the New Year.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde

What? no Seven Fishes? or is that only the American-Italians tradition on Christmas Eve? My husband's family does at least seven, but sometimes 12...
 
I think our Christmas dinner will consist of Popcorn, a drink and maybe some M&M's! :LOL:

TB and I went to his family dinner yesterday and my sister and I haven't celebrated together since our Dad died - we aren't fighting, she just hasn't been one for holidays. We get together at other times throughout the year.

We decided this year that we would go to a movie Christmas day and I would make something at home either before or after but nothing fancy.
 
Someone is bound to buck me on this, but here in the US turkey is often not on the menu for Christmas. Thanksgiving is only a month before, and turkey is on nearly everyone's table that day. :yum:

At least in my house, "the definition of eternity is two people and a ham".

Growing up we never had all these fancy Christmas dinners.

Dinner was what my parents could afford. With all the kids they had. We were grateful for what we did have. Usually just a dressed up canned Ham. Mom didn't like to cook. Prime Rib was a foreign word to me until I received my first cookbook.
Sometimes it was a Turkey.It stretched out farther for her.

Now I'm older with my own. I've established in my sons it's not what you eat for the holidays, it's who you're with. Be grateful for everything.
 
I don't even remember what we had for Christmas dinner when I was a kid. I just remember being excited on Christmas morning and spending a fun day playing with presents with my sister and brother and visiting with my dad's relatives (that was in Michigan and my mom's family were all in the South).

These days my family is all scattered around the country and we typically go to Michigan in the summer when the weather is better. So it's just the two of us and we are able to enjoy a nice meal together. I'm grateful for that. Merry Christmas ?
 
When I was a kid we always had a formal roast beast dinner with Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings. The good china, crystal, etc... came out. We all dressed up and fidgeted while we waited for our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins to arrive. The food was great but it really was a stressful day for little kids who would rather be at home, in pajamas on the floor playing with new toys.

When we got older it was a lazy brunch with scrambled eggs, a baked ham, kielbasa and various trimmings. Later in the day slices of the ham and kielbasa reappeared with potato salad, deviled eggs, onion rye bread, etc... People just drifted in and out, no waiting, no fancy dishes, no dressing up and no fidgeting! :ermm::ohmy::LOL: The constant was always a mountain of homemade cookies and a rich white bread with candied fruit and nuts drizzled with a little frosting, each slice spread with lots of butter!

These days it's just me and my memories, I look forward to it!
 
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Christmas eve tradition: I make a big batch of pizza dough and roll out individual pizzas and provide a wide array of toppings and a hot oven so everyone can build it and bake it as they like.

Christmas dinner will be prime rib roast, mashed potatoes and pan gravy, a "not so sweet potato casserole", a selection of vegetables, perhaps a green salad, and I found my spring form pan so now I can make the pecan crusted pumpkin cheesecake I had planned for Thanksgiving. I just hope I saved the recipe.
 
Christmas eve tradition: I make a big batch of pizza dough and roll out individual pizzas and provide a wide array of toppings and a hot oven so everyone can build it and bake it as they like.

Christmas dinner will be prime rib roast, mashed potatoes and pan gravy, a "not so sweet potato casserole", a selection of vegetables, perhaps a green salad, and I found my spring form pan so now I can make the pecan crusted pumpkin cheesecake I had planned for Thanksgiving. I just hope I saved the recipe.

If you find the recipe PLEASE share. It sounds wonderful!
 
What? no Seven Fishes? or is that only the American-Italians tradition on Christmas Eve? My husband's family does at least seven, but sometimes 12...

Oh it is very much an Italian tradition brought over from Italy. I remember as a kid, the priest would go from house to house blessing all the fish. There aren't that many Italians left in this town. So it doesn't happen anymore. My SIL is Italian and when my daughter has her in-laws up for Christmas Eve meal, she might do two or three sea foods.

As a kid, there used to be fish mongers plying their wares in a wagon with all the fish on ice. We kids would follow and try to get some ice to suck on. :angel:
 
Oh it is very much an Italian tradition brought over from Italy. I remember as a kid, the priest would go from house to house blessing all the fish. There aren't that many Italians left in this town. So it doesn't happen anymore. My SIL is Italian and when my daughter has her in-laws up for Christmas Eve meal, she might do two or three sea foods.

As a kid, there used to be fish mongers plying their wares in a wagon with all the fish on ice. We kids would follow and try to get some ice to suck on. :angel:

Apparently, whether you celebrate this way depends on where in Italy you live. it's more common in central and southern Italy. di is in northern Italy, where the culinary influences are more French and Swiss - less seafood and olive oil, more beef and butter. As in the United States and many other countries, the food traditions are not the same everywhere.

https://whydyoueatthat.wordpress.com/2011/12/17/day-17-la-vigilia/
 
If you find the recipe PLEASE share. It sounds wonderful!

Seek, and ye shall find. Ask and thou shalt receive:

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust
• 2 cups pecan flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 6 Tbs butter, melted
Filling
• 3 eight ounce pkg cream cheese, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
• 15 ounces can solid-pack pumpkin
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 5 large eggs, lightly beaten
Topping
• 6 Tbs butter, softened
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions:

Place a greased 9-in. springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. In a small bowl, combine cracker crumbs and sugar; stir in butter. Press onto the bottom and 1 in. up the sides of prepared pan.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugars until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin, cream, cinnamon and cloves until blended. Add the eggs and beat on low speed just until combined. Pour into crust. Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan and bake at 325°F for 1 hour. While the cheesecake bakes, combine butter and brown sugar in a small bowl and stir in the pecans.

After 1 hour, sprinkle the topping over the hot cheesecake and bake it 30 minutes longer or until center is just set. Turn off the oven and allow the finished cheesecake to cool in the oven. Move the cheesecake to a wire rack and loosen the latch on the springform pan to prevent cracking and cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan.
 
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Thank you so much!


Seek, and ye shall find. Ask and thou shalt receive:

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust
• 2 cups pecan flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 6 Tbs butter, melted
Filling
• 3 eight ounce pkg cream cheese, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
• 15 ounces can solid-pack pumpkin
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 5 large eggs, lightly beaten
Topping
• 6 Tbs butter, softened
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions:

Place a greased 9-in. springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. In a small bowl, combine cracker crumbs and sugar; stir in butter. Press onto the bottom and 1 in. up the sides of prepared pan.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugars until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin, cream, cinnamon and cloves until blended. Add the eggs and beat on low speed just until combined. Pour into crust. Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan and bake at 325°F for 1 hour. While the cheesecake bakes, combine butter and brown sugar in a small bowl and stir in the pecans.

After 1 hour, sprinkle the topping over the hot cheesecake and bake it 30 minutes longer or until center is just set. Turn off the oven and allow the finished cheesecake to cool in the oven. Move the cheesecake to a wire rack and loosen the latch on the springform pan to prevent cracking and cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan.
 
Not sure what we are having, I'll be at work and I think they are feeding us. Christmas Eve will be just Shrek and I, we are saving up for the 28th when we will get together with Mom and Dad to celebrate our collective Anniversary on the 27th. Shrek and I - 31 years and Mom and Dad - 56 years.
 
Happy anniversaries, PF, Shrek, and parents of PF!

We'll be dining with a group of friends. Have no idea what will be on the table.
 
We will be spending Christmas day at my older son's house with the rest of the family and we've decided to do four ducks for the feast. Here's a recent picture of the last one I did, and it's a killer good never fail recipe provided the directions are followed exactly. I've done them several times.
The Best Way to Roast a Duck (Hello, Crispy Skin!) | The Hungry Mouse



img_1447859_0_b5dfa14e739e87f8704b9b9c2f622580.jpg

Now the plan has changed to the SC and I cooking the ducks here and transporting them to son's house 20 minutes away. For one thing, I trust my new oven and it will take some concentration without distraction to do four ducks at once, with rotating the turned and poked ducks every hour. We're having fun with the planning and will be using doubled disposable pans with racks in the bottom. We found two racks on sale, and the SC cut them in half to fit the pans perfectly. It's a good thing our new oven is huge. We'll be able to throw the pans away, but keep the racks. We will do the last step of glazing the birds when we get to his house. We have to start cooking early Christmas morning, so the ducks will be all ready to go in the oven on Christmas eve.
The rest of the family members will do the sides, and I've requested one of the sides to be rice pilaf for the birds. This is gonna be fun and we're excited. I'll try and remember to take pictures.
 
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Now the plan has changed to the SC and I cooking the ducks here and transporting them to son's house 20 minutes away. For one thing, I trust my new oven and it will take some concentration without distraction to do four ducks at once, with rotating the turned and poked ducks every hour. We're having fun with the planning and will be using doubled disposable pans with racks in the bottom. We found two racks on sale, and the SC cut them in half to fit the pans perfectly. It's a good thing our new oven is huge. We'll be able to throw the pans away, but keep the racks. We will do the last step of glazing the birds when we get to his house. We have to start cooking early Christmas morning, so the ducks will be all ready to go in the oven on Christmas eve.
The rest of the family members will do the sides, and I've requested one of the sides to be rice pilaf for the birds. This is gonna be fun and we're excited. I'll try and remember to take pictures.

K, could you elaborate more on the racks, I've been looking for smallish racks to fit my quarter sheet pans.
 

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