I was intrigued by the following exchange in the 'Merry Christmas' thread:


The traditional British Christmas Dinner is of course Roast Turkey with all the trimmings,
followed by Christmas Pud with lashings of cream,
all washed down with as much ale/brandy/sherry/port as you can drink.
Although, when I was growing up in England, my family didn't like Turkey that much
so we usually had Chicken, or sometimes Beef.
(Due to foot and mouth, mad cows etc. good Beef was considered something more of a treat.)

There is a deep-seated loathing of English cooking here in Japan
and so yes, it's true that KFC is a popular Xmas dinner both here and in Korea.
It's usually followed by a very light (bought, not home made)
strawberry and cream spongecake for dessert.

The reason for this is they believe that's (for want of a better word)
the 'traditional' American Christmas Dinner.

This has nothing to do with them thinking Americans only eat junk-food.
Rather they think that you think (if you follow me)
that Christmas Day should be a day off for Mum too,
so she shouldn't have to do any cooking -
slaving over a hot stove all morning like a British Mum would.
Plus, you have your slap-up Turkey Dinner in November of course.

I'm wondering now if this is true right across the States though,
or is it more of a mixed picture than that?
Case by case even?

So ... tl;dr:
What did you have for Xmas Dinner Yanqui?

(Definitely interested to hear from people in other places as well ...
You know: Australia, Canada, Germany, France etc.
Please chip in!
It's like part of my job to know shit like this. :p )

.

we had:

- Ham
- Macaroni and Cheese
- Mashed Potatoes
- Ice Tea
- Pumpkin Pie
- Apple Pie
- Sugar Cookies

Australia reporting in, however ex-pat British.

- Cooked tiger prawns with chilli & lemon.
- Oven roasted Turkey with sausage meat stuffing
- Roasted potatoes, parsnip, sweet potato and eggplant.
- Fresh peas cooked with onion, garlic and small slices of ham.
- Desert was Christmas pudding with brandy poured on it and lit then consumed with brandy butter.
- Christmas chocolate log (like a long, large swiss roll with chocolate cream)
- Christmas cake, fruitcake covered in marzipan, white icing and ornately decorated with Christmas things.

i was born and partially brought up in england, but my parents and i now live in australia. they had an 'australian christmas' lunch (prawns, salad - usually crayfish too but it was too expensive this year) whilst i actually had pizza of all things. its too hot here to have a real english christmas meal.

Rib Roast (Prime Rib as most of you call it) with jus and horseradish
Mashed Potatoes
Asparagus
Rolls
Pumpkin Pie

and of course chips, dips and snacks all day!

first house
Ham
Corn
Roll
Jello
and a couple other things
plush as much wine you can drink. mostly everybody just drinks wine, so a really big meal isnt important, our big meal is on thanksgiving.

second house
homemade pizza subs
beer

third house
prime rib with garlic and other herbs marinated on it
mashed potato casserole
corn
rolls
wine
Theres more but i cant think the rest now

my wife and i went out to a thai restaurant

We had:
Roast Beef
Honey BakedTM Turkey
Stuffing/Dressing-Mom copped the recipe off Oprah!(!)
Green Beans
Mushroom & Rice Casserole
Gravy
Rolls
Pumpkin Trifle

Since my Grandma didn't do a usual Christmas Eve dinner, we all went out to our favorite sushi place. My uncle had previously only eaten grocery store sushi; needless to say, he was blown away.

every year it's the same. my mom makes the best lasagna with a nice salad and fresh bread and butter. every year i get so stoked for it...mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

For Christmas it's gotta be ham. Add to that some cheesy potatoes, some asparagus, green beans, and rolls (the mushy kind), with christmas cookies and stollen for dessert, and it's a joyeux noel indeed!

Pork Tenderloin with blue cheese cream sauce
Roasted Brussels Sprouts w/pancetta (pig fat makes everything tasty)
Acorn Squash
Broccoli Souffle
Mashed Potatoes with garlic, herb butter and more pancetta



Also, before all that, we had a cheese platter with crackers and fruits, to get us going.

whole grain organic corn chips & vegetarian chili.
hung out with my dogs & painted most of the day.

I was stoked my Mom mixed it up a little this year. Pesto Cheese Tortellini, some veggies, and "finger" foods. It was awesome.

I'm currently in France so we improvised a delicious stew with pork cheeks and vegetables, endive salad with goat cheese, and an amazing (bakery-bought) apple-pear tart with Berthillon ice cream. Not exactly traditional but super-yummy.

No Tofurkey out here in the boonies, so I had green beans, potatoes, corn, biscuits and a MetRX protein bar. Delicious.

No Rouladen this year. However, I was sort of thankful for that as I am not a big fan of my mother-in-laws version... Instead we had;

Pork Roast
Rotkohl
Celery Root Salad
Green Salad
Roasted Carrots
Semmelknodel
Potato Knodel
and Red Velvet Cake for dessert

We were told this year that Xmas is to be celebrated at our house next year and beyond so I plan to change the menu up a tad. Edit, change the menu a lot!

Pizza and Tripel Karmeliet

Standard fare. Ham, turkey, asparagus, cranberries, sweet potatoes, some assorted casserole items, etc... and the home-made egg nog that my mom cooks up. mmmmm, delicious. and extra boozy this year. that's what they get for letting yours truly add the liquor.

Vegan Sausage stuffing
Nopales
asparagus
Mushrooms
Perogies
Corn on the cob
Bread, Relish trey and Salad

CHRISTMAS EVE - Traditional Italian Dinner
Crab Chapino (with Muscles, Clams and Cod)
Marinated Crab
Pasta with Sardines
Fried Pawns
Fried Artichoke Hearts
Salad

CHRISTMAS DAY - Italian-American Dinner
Antipasto
Prime Rib
Shrimp Scampi
Stuffed Mushrooms
Salad

There was more food than that; I just can't remember it all now... (Not to mention the desserts!)

my homegirl and i chiilled at my place and baked an epic lasagna! im not any kind of cook, but i dont mind saying we outdid ourselves with this one. it was the kind of good where in like, a couple decades, ill still be talking about that lasagna from xmas 2008.

root beer floats for dessert!

My wife and I had everyone over at our place and made a mean Lasagne with everything thrown in. The real treat though was the dessert where we made a fruit compote and served it over home made ice cream.

My g/f was at her parents so I made myself tilapia with mashed potatoes and peas. It was yummy.

straya vego style
xmas eve barbie: asparagus, corn on cob, haloumi, pumpkin with salads, potato bake and homemade flat bread.
xmas dinner: homemade pizza, salad and cauliflower cheese.



2 "aussies" on here are expat brits!? Its ok guys Im a vego

Been here 20 years Was only in England for the first 8 years of my life