Christmas Dinner

[Farren]

Peppadews are great. Thanks for the background Joe. I didn't realise they were acually a kind of pepper (stoopid I know).

[JoeP]

I don't know for certain they are, but the 'peppa' in the name, the redness, the hotness, and the speculation on their website that the original plant is Central American all point to it.

[LadyShea]

I think Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are usuallly the same with most US families, VM. Turkey or ham is usually the main course, and regional or ethnic/family side dishes. Dressing varies widely by region, I have found. Also, here in Nevada and when I lived in Southern Colorado, there is a widespread Christmas Eve tradition of tamales.

[wade-w]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

Also, here in Nevada and when I lived in Southern Colorado, there is a widespread Christmas Eve tradition of tamales.

Tamales are common in New Mexico as well.

[Socratoad]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Jumping in as requested.

, peppadews (or probably PeppadewsTM - the name is trademarked and they call the actual fruit "sweet piquante peppers") are mild-to-moderately hot chilli/chile pepper, red and round-shaped, with a delicious tangy sweetness. They are always sold in jars and I think some of the sweetness may come from the pickling liquid - whatever the case, the leftover liquid in a finished jar is excellent in its own right, in salad dressings and so on.

Joe

Thanks Joe for further enlightening me about these little beauties. I shall search for them on the tundra this week, providing the damned frigid spell lets up enough so that even me and polar bears may safely venture forth. If I am unsuccessful in my quest I'm gonna contact the bureau of statistics at the United Nations and have my country dropped several notches in most desirable nation in which to live scale.

[wildernesse]

We don't have a traditional Christmas dinner--we being my parents, as well as my me + RA family--but we generally have the same thing as at Thanksgiving without the whole turkey. It's just a big family meal.

This Christmas at my parents' we had: smoked turkey, honey-baked ham, cornbread, squash, turnip greens, sweet potato stuff, ribs, and cabbage. I think that's everything.

Plus, desserts.

[pzmyers]

We had a very traditional Christmas dinner: Chinese take-out in New York City. Well, not traditional for us, but at least for someone.

[Maynard]

After being asked to 'chip-in' to the dinner making by putting a Caesar Salad together, I sat down on the peek-a-do (a term one of my kids coined as a toddler; must have been reminded of it by Peppadews!), and Googled, "christmas caesar salad" and came up with a great recipe at The Reluctant Gourmet. (The site's name seemed appropriate). Everyone like it so much that I was asked for a repeat of the salad on New Year's Day. I think I may have just started a tradition! I hope that's a good thing ... but even I can make it and not screw it up. On both occasions though, I gave a shriek after adding the oil to quickly! Still, it turned out well enough and tastes great.

[livius drusus]

That looks like THE classic recipe, Maynard. My parents used to do the whole side of the table production number complete with giant wooden bowl on tripod.

Emulsifying the oil is definitely the hardest part. If you can, make one of the guests/kids/family do the slow stream while you whisk it in. That'll make the process much more enjoyable for everyone.

[godfry n. glad]

Originally Posted by pzmyers

We had a very traditional Christmas dinner: Chinese take-out in New York City. Well, not traditional for us, but at least for someone.

According to my Jewish wife, who grew up in the NYC environs, Chinese take-out is the traditional Jewish Christmas dinner. I suspect that this is because the Chinese restaurants were amongst the few that were actually open on that day.

godfry

[Dingfod]

I remember a year that my dad went out and bought a bag full of 15 cent hamburgers from Burger Chef. My mom was sick with the flu and only until the past couple of years my dad never learned to cook anything more complicated than Instant Malt-O-Meal.