(Belated) Advent Calendar 2 Dec: Holiday Foods
Did your family or ancestors serve traditional dishes for the holidays? Was there one dish that was unusual?
There were some dishes that I equate with Christmas but none that I particularly liked. When I was little Christmas dinner was always a crock pot of roast beef and potatoes, carrots, etc. Even before I became a vegetarian I was never a fan of the taste of beef and done in the crock pot is even worse. I never looked forward to Christmas dinner because of this. When my mother and I became vegetarians the crock pot roast beef was thankfully retired. Now, I'll usually make a pork loin roast for the carnivores and sides for my mom and I (the sides change every year). The most unusual dish I ever had was a fig sauce I made one year for the pork loin. It wasn't bad but it wasn't anything I plan to (or have been asked to) make again. One dish that we never had which seems to be popular for Christmas is turkey. I've never understood why turkey is so popular at Christmas because in my mind, Thanksgiving wasn't that long ago. But my mother wants a tofukey so I might make one of those this year (I'm still a little wary of those things). Thanksgiving is really when the traditional family favorites come out, Christmas dinner has always been more about experimentation. The only constants for every Christmas dinner is the protein (like a pork loin), at least two sides (one is usually stuffing), cranberry sauce and a desert (usually a pie or cookies). The desert doesn't usually get eaten because we'd have already pigged out on the sweets that were in our stockings.
There were some dishes that I equate with Christmas but none that I particularly liked. When I was little Christmas dinner was always a crock pot of roast beef and potatoes, carrots, etc. Even before I became a vegetarian I was never a fan of the taste of beef and done in the crock pot is even worse. I never looked forward to Christmas dinner because of this. When my mother and I became vegetarians the crock pot roast beef was thankfully retired. Now, I'll usually make a pork loin roast for the carnivores and sides for my mom and I (the sides change every year). The most unusual dish I ever had was a fig sauce I made one year for the pork loin. It wasn't bad but it wasn't anything I plan to (or have been asked to) make again. One dish that we never had which seems to be popular for Christmas is turkey. I've never understood why turkey is so popular at Christmas because in my mind, Thanksgiving wasn't that long ago. But my mother wants a tofukey so I might make one of those this year (I'm still a little wary of those things). Thanksgiving is really when the traditional family favorites come out, Christmas dinner has always been more about experimentation. The only constants for every Christmas dinner is the protein (like a pork loin), at least two sides (one is usually stuffing), cranberry sauce and a desert (usually a pie or cookies). The desert doesn't usually get eaten because we'd have already pigged out on the sweets that were in our stockings.
I like it when you said, "Christmas dinner has always been more about experimentation." LOL I can totally relate! Our family has been searching for years for that special thing that can return as tradition. I guess making ourselves Christmas guinea pigs each year has become our tradition!
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