Wutcha makin' fer Christmas?

[Stinky The Clown]

Our big meal is on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day we do very little.

We're having 12 people. I try to keep the old, Italian "Feast of the Seven Fishes" tradition alive, but the family can never eat it all when there's fewer of us. So this year, with the crowd being a bit bigger, I'm gunna do an abbreviated version.

The menu, as developed so far, is:

Pizza fritte (Which is just fried dough. We make two kinds. One that is plain dough that, when eaten, is dipped in sugar. The other is savory and has anchovies added to the dough before frying it. It does NOT taste fishy. Just savory. It serves at the meal for bread.)

Antipasto

Italian Wedding Soup

Clams Oreganato

Shrimp Oreganato

Cod in Tomato Sauce (this is a fresh fish version of Bacala, which uses salt cod)

Eel (We broil it then marinate the cooked fish, cut into 2 to 3 inch sections, in wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic and herbs. It is served cold and is absolutely delicious.)

Bracciole (braised stuffed flank steak)

Veal (picatta or marsala or whatever I feel like at the time).

Salad

Baked Mushrooms

Panettone (a modified recipe by Sparkly for which she is becoming justifiably famous)

Vino, acqua con gasa, espresso, Liquori di Stregga, limoncello

Traditionally, Christmas Eve was the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Why seven? Seven is a very important number. It stands for the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The seven days of creation. In Biblical numerology, seven is a number of perfection. There is no set menu for this feast. For us, just the culinary tradition remains. Tradition held that seven fish dishes had to be on the table at the same time and all had to be done and gone in time for midnight mass.

There is no set menu and every family had their own traditions. Meat was added to our table when some of the younger generation (my parents' generation) decided they didn't like fish. The 'discussion' (in typical passionate Italian fashion, complete with hand wringings and wavings) of this change in the traditional menu is one of my earliest memories.

The last full family Christmas Eve meal we went to was maybe 15 years ago. By then, the Feast of the Seven Fishes was down to the Feast of the 3-1/2 Fish, the Sad Calf, and the Unfortunate Chicken.

But I persevere. Traditions are important to me.

What are you making?

[NMDemDist2]

1. stepmom is making dinner in Louisiana for us. it's her first year without

Dad

I think she does Prime Rib and Turkey

Xmas Eve is always Brie with almonds

I'll let ya know then, but she's a hellofa cook and I'm looking forward to it

[SW FL Dem]

2. Our main focus is Christmas Eve

since we open presents then and sleep in on Christmas Day. I'll do a ham, scalloped potatoes and a veggie which is alot for 3 of us. On Christmas Day, I do a turkey and all fixings. I don't cook again for a while.

I also do a lot of baking beforehand. We have lots of quick breads, muffins and cookies to nibble on. I also make a great egg pizza dish for brunch on Christmas morning so we can last until our turkey dinner.

[The empressof all]

3. We're a combo family

I'm doing a three-fer...C-Mas Eve, C-Mass Day, 26th is SO's birthday Hanukkah Bash.

The Eve is always Cioppino, Good Bread, Salad, and Cream Puffs

The Day is always Pannetoni French toast in the AM and Ham and Biscuits in the late afternoon.

The event on the 26th: Mother in Laws Brisket, Latkes and Mashed Potatoes, (for SO it's all about the potatoes), Brussel Sprouts, Sweet and Sour red cabbage and a Chocolate, Caramel, Pecan, Coconut Cake for the Candles.

[SW FL Dem]

8. I forgot about Hanukkah!

Looks like I will be cooking a third big meal in as many days. Hubby and kid will definitely demand brisket and latkes. Talk about leftovers!!

[eyesroll]

4. Chinese food and a movie for Christmas Eve (Jewish), then I think

we're going to...wait for it...

my SO's ex-wife's house (they have a daughter together -- and, yes, I am specifically invited)...

so I don't know what, if anything, I will be making for Christmas.

[livetohike]

5. Christmas Eve is our traditional Slovak feast

I am going home to Pgh. this year and there will be 16 of us for dinner that night. Also a big feast on Christmas Day, but here is the Christmas Eve menu:

Oplatky (like a communion wafer but larger with a religious scene on it) and honey

Mushroom Soup (made with wild mushrooms and made sour with sauerkraut juice)

Bobalky with Fried Sauerkraut
Bobalky with Sweetened Ground Poppy seed
(bobalky are made from a sweet bread dough and formed into small balls, baked in the oven, then steamed prior to mixing with the above ingredients)

Ham

Sweet Potatoes

Corn

Svickly (grated beets and horseradish)

Paska - a homemade sweet bread usually made with raisins

Lots of nut rolls, poppyseed rolls, and other Slovak home made pastries for dessert.

As with all ethnic traditions, the significance of the foods served have religious connotations.The ham is an Americanized addition to the meal. My Grandparents told me that the traditional meal in the "old country" did not include meat.

My Grandparents are all long gone now, but my Mom has always served the traditional meal and I do too when I am unable to get home for the holidays.

[likesmountains 52]

9. wow...sounds a lot like our Croatian Christmas Eve

that we have done with friends for 20 years..no meat, just the bobalky, sauerkraut ( not fried, just simmered all day in broth) and mashed potatos. The dishes have special significance as does the opening of the meal with each person doing a toast and taking a shot of whiskey, then a slice of apple to remind you of the sweetness and bitterness of life....I could go on, but suffice it to say, it is a magical evening.

[livetohike]

11. Sounds just like it!

:hi:

I didn't add that there were cloves of garlic on the plate with the honey - then my Grandmother would dip the garlic clove into the honey and make the sign of the cross on the forehead of all unmarried children "to make them sweet and that they would find a spouse".

Of course we had to go to church after dinner with this dried honey on our foreheads, but it was a Slovak church so many others had dried honey on their foreheads, too.

We also set an extra place at the table "for the Holy Ghost", or an unexpected guest.

Most of us adults would have a shot of slivovice, too :-).

[Stinky The Clown]

14. The commonality of European-based traditions .......

Religious origins ....... meatless ....... and that Paska ...... sounds a whole lot like the Pannetone we're making!

You mentioned wild mushrooms. Are they in fact wild or do you buy them? My grandfather used to gather them wild. But he never shared his methods and ways to identify the edible from the poisonous.

The flavors of true wild mushrooms are so far and away better than anything we can buy.

[livetohike]

15. The mushrooms were wild and gathered by my

Grandparents. I was too young to go with them. Then my Grandmothers would dry them. Sometimes relatives back in Czechoslovakia would send them.

However, in the last couple of decades, my Mom buys them at a local Italian deli and sends them to me if I'm not coming home. They are only called "imported dried olives". I have no idea what they are, but they are so good......

:-)

[The empressof all]

20. Hey H2S

Could you share the Pannetone recipe if you have a chance. I've heard it's a challenge to do...but I love it so much I may want to try it. I've already bought two but you can never have enough IMO.

[Stinky The Clown]

23. I just mentioned this to Sparkly .......

She said she'd post it. :hi:

[Lugnut]

26. Sounds familiar

My mother's Christmas Eve menu was very similar but meatless. We always had oplatky and nut and poppyseed rolls. She didn't care for bobalky so she didn't make that. She did make pieroghi and dried peas though. My dad used to pick the mushrooms, string them then dry them behind the coal stove in the kitchen.

She quit making these dishes back in the early 90s when she had her first stroke. I never cared for anything other than the pieroghi so I never continued the tradition. My husband is Italian so we've continued most of his family's menu in our house.

[ernstbass]

6. On Christmas Eve I will prepare

homemade gnocchi with red sauce, bread , salad, antipasti platter.
Christmas morning we will have a champagne brunch w/ stuffed french toast, apple wood smoked bacon and a fruit salad. We will then graze during the afternoon with country ham biscuits, meatballs, crab dip, leftover antipasti, crudites w/ dip, cheese platter and various sweets. Will finish off the day with a yule log.

[wryter2000]

7. I'm making...

Plans to come to your house!

I'm alone this year, and I don't have to lift a finger. For Thanksgiving, I barbecued some ribs. I think I'll roast a piece of Costco rib roast at Christmas, but if I feel like it, I'll make spaghetti.

[Lugnut]

10. We've cut back to five fishes on Christmas Eve

Aglia olio, shrimp scampi, fried smelts, calimari in sauce and cod and potatoes in sauce. I also make a romaine salad.

My sister does Christmas Day dinner and it's always a standing rib. She makes wonderful leek Yorkshire pudding to accompany the beef and a few other veggies. I contribute dessert but I haven't yet decided what to make.

[Shakespeare]

12. ooh, I'd LOVE to have that recipe for the leek yorkshire pudding...

Sounds YUMMY.

[Lugnut]

24. I'll check with my sister

I'll try to catch up with her tomorrow to get her recipe. It's luscious.

[Lugnut]

36. Still trying

I'm still trying to track down my sister. Sometimes it's like trying to find Jimmy Hoffa. I just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten.

[Stinky The Clown]

16. Smelts ...... hmmmmmm ...... now ya got me thinking .........

We're making the pizza fritte. The oil will be hot. I never save the oil. Smelts are incredibly easy to do.

Maybe I can add some calamari to the menu, too. Make a nice abbreviated fritto misto.

I also have the shrimp. I was gonna do it oreganato, but how much would it be to make a bit more for a fritto misto?

Hmmmmmm .........

Dassit, Lugnut ....... now ya went an' did it. I had to sign in blood, not only to Saprkly, but also to my kids, that I wouldn't go overboard this Christmas ...... and here you have me thinking about doing exactly that.

[Lugnut]

25. I'm so sorry

No I'm not. I knew the smelts would suck you in. I don't think my husband or the kids would survive Christmas without smelts and calimari.

[wildeyed]

28. I have always wanted to make a standing rib roast

including the little hats on the ribs. Problem is, I don't have enough relatives in town to eat it all!

Maybe I will do a generic Holiday party and invite all my friends.

[Shakespeare]

13. Standing prime rib roast., etc.

Garlic mashed potatoes per my stepdaughter's request. Yorkshire pudding. Other side dishes TBD.

And I'm fantasizing about what manner of fabulous dessert I'll make. Something chocolate, as all attending dinner are avowed chocoholics.

[catnhatnh]

17. Our family has a simple tradition.....

...Since I have a commercial slicer, I'll slice a 5 pound Krakus canned ham, then retie it. It will then be studded with whole cloves and I'll bring that to Mom's house with a prepares citrus glaze for reheating.My younger brother will make our traditional potato salad (mayonaise, hard boiled eggs and heavy on the onions and paprika).Mom and Dad will purchase the hard rolls and mom will spead the house with fresh fruits and hard candies.My older brothers Wife will provide a large homemade cookie tray. A cheese and cracker tray will appear from somewhere (it ALWAYS does!) and that will about cover it...you eat what you want whenever you want to off festive paper plates and at the end of the day,everybody is full and nobody is exhausted.....

[Stinky The Clown]

18. " ....at the end of the day,everybody is full and nobody is exhausted...."

How perfectly civilized! :)

[politicat]

19. We're not Christian, but...

We celebrate Solstice and Festivus.

For Solstice, we're having a big community get together with our other heathen friends and it's to be Mexican this year. I'm thinking I'm going to make a big batch of carnitas and stuff some into tamales and layer the rest into chilaques.

On the 25th, we've got a group of "Browncoats" coming over (Firefly-Serenity enthusiasts) for a screening of Serenity and we've decided to do go whole hog and be Veddy, veddy British in honor of Joss Whedon. So we're doing a roast of beef, Yorkshire pudding, brussels sprouts, and whatever anyone else manages to pull together. None of us have family near or want to go there, so we're going to have fun instead. We'll also have a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, and supposedly, someone's trying to build Mudder's milk that doesn't make anyone nauseous.

[mike_c]

21. no plans this year-- I did thanksgiving for friends so we'll probably...

...do Christmas dinner at someone else's house. I'll bring a dish, but as we've not made plans yet, I don't know what.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

22. Usually, we go for Chinese

and then to a movie.

But, this year, we've decided to dress up and go be with The Whitest White People In The World at the local Ritz-Carlton's dinner.

My only problem will be keeping Old Yeller from trying to smuggle out one of the ice sculptures.

Pray for me.

[grasswire]

32. haha!

Thanks for the visual.

Is that the Ritz at Tyson's? My mind is blanking on where another Ritz would be -- I've been away from Washington for too long.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

33. We go there, but this year,

we'll be at the one at Pentagon City - we'll stay there the night before.

It's the one where Marv Albert did his biting thing. Remember?

How long have you been away? You might not recognize the NoVa area.

[grasswire]

34. oh yes

I once stood nearby waiting for someone outside that Ritz and Wolf Blitzer came up to do a spot on camera. I recall him fussing and fussing with his hair.

I've been away eleven years.

[anitar1]

27. Prime Rib with Yorkshire Pudding plus

salad and veggies. Also a few great desserts. Only 6 of us here this year, so it will be a quiet Christmas. Everyone else is scattered around the country. We will miss them. We had a Mexican feast for Thanksgiving and it was so good.

[wildeyed]

29. Nuthin'.

Traveling to DC to be with family this year. I never try to cook once I am there. Too busy and too tired watching the kids.

We like to have bagels and lox for Christmas Day brunch. Maybe that is weird for a family of non-Jews, but we all agree that it is our favorite food, so that is what we eat.

[eleny]

30. I was planning on making a prime rib

But I've decided to show up at your house with a knife and a fork!

[Stinky The Clown]

31. There's always an extra seat or three around here ... also always lots ...

..... of extra food.

Sedere e mangiare!

[Bjornsdotter]

35. Traditional Swedish

Very typical...

pickled herring
beet salad
liver pate with salted cucumbers
meatballs
cooked christmas sausage
brown cabbage
fresh ham with mustard topping
cooked potatoes
limpa
ryekrisp

For dessert we have a goodies table with all different types of cakes, cookies and rice pudding....followed by the candies.

Coffee, glogg, drinka (a malted drink), aquavit and Gammal Dansk.

Skål!