Christmas Eve/Day menus

[Opti]

Dec 14, 2020 15:57:33 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Dec 14, 2020 15:33:40 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Damn, losing the cheese option makes this impossible!

There's vegan cheeses.  I don't know much about the ones made with soy milk but they do exist.  I know the bulk are made with nuts but there are others.  

Yes, you'd really have to read labels. Most are made with cashew or almond milk although I think there are some with coconut oil and pea protein. Read labels. 

For a vegan dish you can do something one cookbook author called pasta, greens, and beans. She had some ratios that I do not remember, but I realized one of my non meat options fell into that category. Penne pasta, cannoli beans, and brocoli rabe. There's an olive oil fresh garlic mixture that is cooked with the beans and then you just combine the pasta, greens, and the bean mixture. People who can have dairy could top with shredded cheese, vegans might want to try Brewer's yeast flakes which give a cheesy type flavor plus good B vitamins.

[Opti]

Dec 14, 2020 11:45:48 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

I wimped out. We are ordering chinese food for christmas eve. We'll have 2 different casseroles for christmas breakfast because I can make those the night before.
What I forgot to mention in my first post is that 2 of us can't have dairy either. I keep forgetting that as is a new restriction for me due to my new diagnosis. Really fun with the all nuts allergy kid at home.

Since you are doing chinese food, you might want to try one of my old stand bys when I had a man living with me. Get soba noodles and a bag of frozen chinese veggies. Have on hand a favorite jarred sauce. I'll see if I can find online what I used to use or something similar.

Start with boiling the amount of soba noodles you want. (I prefer ones that are more buckwheat flour than wheat or other. Obviously if you are avoiding wheat maybe look for a good rice noodle.) Put in adequate frozen veggies at the right time, roughly when the pasta will finish and frozen veggies will be cooked and warm. Drain. Toss with good jarred sauce. For those who could or want to have meat, you could have warmed slices of beef, chicken, shrimp or whatever to add to their bowl or plate.

[Opti]

I don't think this is the sauce I used, but its similar. It was soy and shitake mushroom based.

[Opti]

Growing up we did not have a special Christmas eve menu. We sang in choir or played instruments, so we prepped for that. Christmas dinner was after service and not that different from Easter dinner except for Christmas cookies and homemade fudge for dessert.

[alabamagal]

We’re doing duck. It is just DH and I. I’m scared, not of cooking, of eating. I promised DH I would give it a try. I think my aversion is the nasty ducks at my parents house in FL where I grew up.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Dec 14, 2020 19:04:17 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

We’re doing duck. It is just DH and I. I’m scared, not of cooking, of eating. I promised DH I would give it a try. I think my aversion is the nasty ducks at my parents house in FL where I grew up.

If I hadn't already picked up a prime rib for dinner, I'd be beating the bushes for duck too.  

There is a local meat market where you can special order duck breast, so I still may look into it in the future.  I need to expand my cooking repertoire.

[stillmovingforward]

Duck is amazing! I like it in chili

[irishpad]

Bought my oysters so all set for my alone Christmas Eve oyster stew meal.   yummm  Still need to pick up some oyster crackers

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I’m still hoping king crab legs go on sale soon.  It does make for a very easy meal, crab legs, drawn butter or cocktail sauce, big salad and crusty bread to sop up all the juices.

[Tennesseer]

Dec 14, 2020 21:21:28 GMT -5 irishpad said:

Bought my oysters so all set for my alone Christmas Eve oyster stew meal.   yummm  Still need to pick up some oyster crackers

Enjoy! Christmas Day meal?

Me? Maybe lemon baked cod Christmas Eve and for Christmas dinner I might cook me up a good steak with mushrooms. Leftover steak goes into steak salad the following dinner.

From Wiki:

Oyster stew is a stew made with oysters. It is popular in the United States and in The Gambia.

In New England cuisine, oyster stew is often associated with Thanksgiving.[1] In Southern United States cuisine, oyster stew is often prepared on Christmas Eve.[2]

There have been a number of different explanations offered for oyster stew being traditionally consumed on Christmas Eve. Bill Neal suggests that before the acceptance of refrigerated food transport, sufficient cold weather for shipping was not guaranteed before December, and so "Far from the coast, oysters became a symbol of the arrival of the winter holiday season, appearing in the markets by Christmas Eve and on tables that night as oyster stew.[3] Stephanie Butler, however, gives an alternate explanation: Irish Catholic immigrants would not eat meat on Christmas Eve, and were used to eating ling fish stew instead. Butler suggests that "oysters taste pretty similar to dried ling: they're salty, briny and can be quite chewy. The ling stew recipe was quickly adapted for oysters."[4]

The basic southern oyster stew is made with milk and cream.[3] Oyster stew is often served with oyster crackers, and that may be the origin of the cracker's name.[5]

Oyster stew is also a popular dish in Gambian cuisine. Oysters in The Gambia are grown on mangrove roots in swamps.[6]

[irishpad]

Thanks for the article Tennesseer.   It confirmed my guess about oysters being a seafood that could be shipped in those early days to areas far away from the coasts.   I forgot about the Catholic tradition of no meat on Christmas eve so that makes further sense.   

I haven't decided on a Christmas Day meal yet but your steak idea sounds good.   For my birthday in October, my sister sent me a gift pack from Omaha Steaks so I have some good choices there!

One of my fondest Christmas memories is Midnight Mass.  Since we were dairy farmers, it seemed like we were always rushing to get the morning milking done in time to get to Sunday morning Mass.   With Midnight Mass, there was no rush.  Our local church was a mission church (no priest in residence, he came from another larger parish) so we would go to the larger church for that midnight Mass.  It was also the church where my dad went to as a child.   There would be 40-60 of relatives on my dad's side at that Mass.  After Mass, they would stay around and visit for a long time so we would get home about 2:30 a.m.   Then up three hours later to do the next milking.   

[NoNamePerson]

I'll be having whatever my DIL and her sister serve up. And if they do the usual I'll be a fat, happy camper! Looking forward to visiting more than anything including gifts and such.  Oh, and not a huge 20 person gathering  and weather permitting will be outside.

But I could consider coming to visit some here given all the good, diverse and untried dishes folks have posted.

[jelloshots4all]

I think I have my meals decided.

Christmas Eve will be heavy apps for the kids and I.  Rye bread topped with cooked sausage/velveeta cheese, then broiled (we call them dog food treats for some reason), sausage balls, charcuterie platter, shrimp cups and maybe some other items I pick up.

My parents want to visit for Christmas Day lunch, so I came up with an easy menu with foods I really want to eat.

deviled eggs
Charcuterie (half of Xmas eve's purchase)
Shrimp cocktail (store bought)
veggie tray (store bought)

green salad
french rolls (store bought)
tenderloin steaks (grilled)
green beans, tri-colored peppers, mushrooms(grilled)
Salmon and shrimp sauteed
Bob Evans mashed potatoes (store bought)

Raspberry chambord mousse filled genoise cake with chocolate ganache frosting (if I can order from the bakery today)

Cooking the meal should take me around 30 minutes with the help of my Ninja Foodie grill as these are things I make regularly.

[Deleted]

Dec 15, 2020 8:20:16 GMT -5 jelloshots4all said:

I think I have my meals decided.

Christmas Eve will be heavy apps for the kids and I.  Rye bread topped with cooked sausage/velveeta cheese, then broiled (we call them dog food treats for some reason), sausage balls, charcuterie platter, shrimp cups and maybe some other items I pick up.

My parents want to visit for Christmas Day lunch, so I came up with an easy menu with foods I really want to eat.

deviled eggs
Charcuterie (half of Xmas eve's purchase)
Shrimp cocktail (store bought)
veggie tray (store bought)

green salad
french rolls (store bought)
tenderloin steaks (grilled)
green beans, tri-colored peppers, mushrooms(grilled)
Salmon and shrimp sauteed
Bob Evans mashed potatoes (store bought)

Raspberry chambord mousse filled genoise cake with chocolate ganache frosting (if I can order from the bakery today)

Cooking the meal should take me around 30 minutes with the help of my Ninja Foodie grill as these are things I make regularly.

Okay! That cuts it. I'm leaving home and moving in with you. I can be there around noon on Christmas Eve and stay until January 2. I'll bring warm clothes and Maggiecat.

[jelloshots4all]

Dec 15, 2020 9:00:51 GMT -5 @missrigby said:

Dec 15, 2020 8:20:16 GMT -5 jelloshots4all said:

I think I have my meals decided.

Christmas Eve will be heavy apps for the kids and I.  Rye bread topped with cooked sausage/velveeta cheese, then broiled (we call them dog food treats for some reason), sausage balls, charcuterie platter, shrimp cups and maybe some other items I pick up.

My parents want to visit for Christmas Day lunch, so I came up with an easy menu with foods I really want to eat.

deviled eggs
Charcuterie (half of Xmas eve's purchase)
Shrimp cocktail (store bought)
veggie tray (store bought)

green salad
french rolls (store bought)
tenderloin steaks (grilled)
green beans, tri-colored peppers, mushrooms(grilled)
Salmon and shrimp sauteed
Bob Evans mashed potatoes (store bought)

Raspberry chambord mousse filled genoise cake with chocolate ganache frosting (if I can order from the bakery today)

Cooking the meal should take me around 30 minutes with the help of my Ninja Foodie grill as these are things I make regularly.

Okay! That cuts it. I'm leaving home and moving in with you. I can be there around noon on Christmas Eve and stay until January 2. I'll bring warm clothes and Maggiecat.

As long as Maggiecat plays nice with my 13 yr old male cat and small dog.

My mom sent me a text and said she would bring barbeque sandwiches (i.e. sloppy joes) and potato salad.  I didn't tell her what I'm cooking yet, but told her thanks but no thanks, I've got it covered.  I'm not eating sloppy joes and potato salad on my birthday.

I got the cake ordered!!  This bakery is awesome!  If bean or Beth are reading, it's Simma's. 

[stillmovingforward]

What are sloppy Joe's?

[Tennesseer]

Dec 15, 2020 18:30:35 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

What are sloppy Joe's?

"Sloppy joes are simply ground beef (or turkey) simmered in a sweet and tangy tomato-based sauce, served on hamburger buns."

[stillmovingforward]

Dec 15, 2020 19:07:40 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Dec 15, 2020 18:30:35 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

What are sloppy Joe's?

"Sloppy joes are simply ground beef (or turkey) simmered in a sweet and tangy tomato-based sauce, served on hamburger buns."

That does not sound very appealing.....🤔

[Tennesseer]

Dec 16, 2020 11:38:11 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

Dec 15, 2020 19:07:40 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

"Sloppy joes are simply ground beef (or turkey) simmered in a sweet and tangy tomato-based sauce, served on hamburger buns."

That does not sound very appealing.....🤔

It's not bad. Kind of like a shredded beef with bbq sauce sandwich.

[jerseygirl]

Dec 16, 2020 11:38:11 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

Dec 15, 2020 19:07:40 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

"Sloppy joes are simply ground beef (or turkey) simmered in a sweet and tangy tomato-based sauce, served on hamburger buns."

That does not sound very appealing.....🤔

Kids like them, made them Saturdays when kids were school age. Easy

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Dec 16, 2020 11:38:11 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

Dec 15, 2020 19:07:40 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

"Sloppy joes are simply ground beef (or turkey) simmered in a sweet and tangy tomato-based sauce, served on hamburger buns."

That does not sound very appealing.....🤔

They can be good or bad.  

[Deleted]

Okay, I'm officially requesting a "drooling on monitor" emoji for the Raspberry Chambord mousse filled genoise cake with chocolate ganache frosting 

[Deleted]

I like sloppy joes personally.  It is just a different way to eat hamburger meat.  It is much better than, say, hamburger helper or anything like that.  You don't want to eat them often, but would you say that spaghetti sauce is unappealing?  Same idea - just different sauce and on bread instead of pasta.

When I make them, one bun = 2 servings.  Open-face, in other words.  It cuts down on the bread part.

[stillmovingforward]

🤔🤨
For the record, I don't put hamburger in my spaghetti sauce. And I've never had 'hamburger helper' either.

I've managed to avoid these 'sloppy joe's' for 50+ years so, unless offered at a dinner party, I think I'll keep avoiding them. Sounds like a comfort food to many though. Interesting though.

[Iggy aka IG]

Dec 16, 2020 16:03:52 GMT -5 @donethat said:

Okay, I'm officially requesting a "drooling on monitor" emoji for the Raspberry Chambord mousse filled genoise cake with chocolate ganache frosting 

ETA:  I just realized we have raspberry liqueur AND chocolate cake AND some leftover frosting at home.  Tonight could get interesting... 

[Deleted]

Dec 16, 2020 17:46:01 GMT -5 Iggy aka IG said:

Dec 16, 2020 16:03:52 GMT -5 @donethat said:

Okay, I'm officially requesting a "drooling on monitor" emoji for the Raspberry Chambord mousse filled genoise cake with chocolate ganache frosting 

ETA:  I just realized we have raspberry liqueur AND chocolate cake AND some leftover frosting at home.  Tonight could get interesting... 

Can't wait to hear you report back tomorrow!

[jelloshots4all]

Dec 16, 2020 16:03:52 GMT -5 @donethat said:

Okay, I'm officially requesting a "drooling on monitor" emoji for the Raspberry Chambord mousse filled genoise cake with chocolate ganache frosting 

Here is the bakery's website.  Everything I've eaten from there has been delicious!!


www.simmasbakery.com/

[jerseygirl]

Chambord with anything is scrumptious. Too bad bakery doesn’t deliver
My favorite summer drink is Pina Colada with a splash of Chambord!
I used to regularly buy in duty free but oh well, no duty free shopping now

[stillmovingforward]

Dec 16, 2020 17:46:01 GMT -5 Iggy aka IG said:

Dec 16, 2020 16:03:52 GMT -5 @donethat said:

Okay, I'm officially requesting a "drooling on monitor" emoji for the Raspberry Chambord mousse filled genoise cake with chocolate ganache frosting 

ETA:  I just realized we have raspberry liqueur AND chocolate cake AND some leftover frosting at home.  Tonight could get interesting... 

This sounds wonderful!
So is bailey's Irish cream spooned over chocolate pudding.....

[bookkeeper]

Sloppy Joe, Maidrite, Hamburger BBQ all the same animal.  Church ladies who know what they are doing can crank out some awesome Sloppy Joe.  My mother in law made a great one with bay leaf.  With homemade buns they are all that!

It was a regular in my school lunch rotation growing up.  Good times.