# Holiday "Foods" You Loath! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556 "2006-11-23T16:11:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/1 "2006-11-23T16:11:03Z")
:dubious: Well, the holidays are here again! Now we can all look forward to the following culinary horrors! Why doe people PERSIST in service this crap? My favorites: -fruit cake: a rocklike concoction with green and red sweet pieces of vulcanized rubber! Bleecchh! -ribbon candy: like having a mouthful of broken glass! -candied sweet potatoes…sweet potatoes bathed in sugar-yeechh! -mincemeat pie: horrible mess of rasins, dried fruit, in pure sugar Again, why do people force themselves to eat this stuff? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/2 "2006-11-23T16:24:28Z")
Cranberry sauce, which I have only been exposed to once, since the rest of my family hates it. Why would you want to eat something so bitter and foul-textured? ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/3 "2006-11-23T16:24:54Z")
A good home-baked fruitcake can be very tasty. The packaged ones in the stores are horrid. Totally agree about candied sweet potatoes. ICK!! Same with mashed sweet potatoes or sweet potato casserole type dishes. And what is the deal with the cranberry jelly thing that comes in a can? I’ve never understood why that is supposed to be on the table. Rhubarb pie - words fail me. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/4 "2006-11-23T16:40:53Z")
I _like_ cranberries! Cranberry sauce and turkey is a good combination. Cranberry jam on Knäckebrot is a nice snack. So are dried cranberries (like raisins). And I like fruitcake. I never buy it, but I like it. Mincemeat pie? Yeah, it’s a little sweet. But then I like pecan pie, and it’s sweet too. And rhubarb pie is tasty as well. But I’ll agree with the sweet potatoes. Just bake it in its jacket and put butter on it. Hold the marshmallows, please. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/5 "2006-11-23T16:43:09Z")
[QUOTE=HelloKitty] Rhubarb pie - words fail me. [/QUOTE] Oh god, rhubarb pie. I miss rhubarb. It’s hard to find in the stores here, but when I do, I snap it up. Mmmm! I don’t like that green bean casserole or cranberry jelly from a can. I don’t care for candied vegetables of any kind. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/6 "2006-11-23T17:14:03Z")
Celeriac root. Nasty stuff, to me. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/7 "2006-11-23T17:28:30Z")
Most people’s ideas as to what stuffing is. Here’s a hint: oysters do NOT belong in stuffing (or anywhere else for that matter). Big dried hunks of bread in stuffing means you’re lazy and don’t care what you serve people. Ditto for gravy. Gravy is not just flour and water and grease. If you don’t know how to make decent gravy, then leave it the fuck alone and serve butter. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/8 "2006-11-23T17:29:13Z")
I’m going to be branded a foul loathsome heretic forever and ever now: I don’t like pumpkin pie. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/9 "2006-11-23T17:43:07Z")
I don’t like pumpkin pie either. Don’t like candied sweet potatoes - yams cranberry sauce green bean casserole stuffing with fruit & nuts or anything weird. ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/10 "2006-11-23T18:09:38Z")
I didn’t eat fruitcake till I was in my mid 20s. I heard the occassional joke now and then, but, hey, I thought, it’s just dense cake, dried fruits, and nuts; I love all these things, what’s not to like about fruitcake? Boy was I in for a rude awakening. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/11 "2006-11-23T18:12:19Z")
I don’t like turkey. I’ve had one too many family meals of mountains of turkey and I’m turked out. I don’t care if I never eat turkey again. I’ve never eaten sweet potato casserole with marshmallows because it sounds nauseating to eat this sugary, sugary dish as part of a main course. I like plain baked yams, however. Our Thanksgiving dinner is rack of lamb, because we _lurve_ pink, juicy lamb with rosemary and garlic. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/12 "2006-11-23T18:17:05Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] :dubious: Well, the holidays are here again! Now we can all look forward to the following culinary horrors! Why doe people PERSIST in service this crap? My favorites: -fruit cake: a rocklike concoction with green and red sweet pieces of vulcanized rubber! Bleecchh! -ribbon candy: like having a mouthful of broken glass! -candied sweet potatoes..sweet potatoes bathed in sugar-yeechh! -mincemeat pie: horrible mess of rasins, dried fruit, in pure sugar Again, why do people force themselves to eat this stuff? :eek: [/QUOTE] Are you me? Also, the organs in the turkey butt-bag should either go directly into the trash can, or get boiled up for the cat. Bleh! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/13 "2006-11-23T18:21:52Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] Also, the organs in the turkey butt-bag should either go directly into the trash can, or get boiled up for the cat. Bleh! [/QUOTE] Wrong. In addition to providing the stock for the stuffing, the heart, gizzard and neck meat go into the stuffing. The liver is used in the gravy. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/14 "2006-11-23T18:28:47Z")
So many things I love on this list so far! Ribbon candy, mincemeat pie, cranberry sauce, rhubarb pie, pumpkin pie, stuffing with fruit and bits in it? Love them! Reminds me, I need my uncle’s apple/raisin stuffing recipe… I actually love everything that is served by my family for thanksgiving. The only thing I don’t like is if they serve brussel sprouts. YUCK! Darnit, now I wish it were Thanksgiving here so I could have it again. I have to wait until Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/15 "2006-11-23T18:32:25Z")
Seems like every year for my entire childhood, my grandmother made this stuff that she claimed was jello salad, served as a side dish. It was made with green jello and marshmallows and mixed up with whipped cream so that it appeared translucent. It looked like cotton balls and antifreeze. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/16 "2006-11-23T18:35:55Z")
I used to dislike [Pfeffernüsse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfeffern%C3%BCsse), those tooth-chipping German Christmas cookies. Then I discovered they weren’t half bad when dunked in hot beverages like coffee or spiced wines. Trust the Germans to invent a cookie only grown-ups could enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/17 "2006-11-23T18:39:17Z")
**cruel butterfly** : My mom made something she said one of my aunts called ‘crap salad’, because it ‘has all kinds of crap in it’. (This aunt got the recipe from a women’s magazine in the '50s.) Lime Jell-O Lemon Jell-O Diced red apples Diced green apples Walnuts Cottage cheese Miracle Whip Mix it all together, put it in the fridge, and let it set. If Pepto Bismol were green, that would be the colour of the salad. It looked disgusting. And those last two ingredients _sounded_ disgusting. But you know what? It was actually pretty good. I last had it two years ago. Mom made it. She was too sick and frail to make Thanksgiving Dinner, so I made it. But she’d already made the Jell-O salad. She died three months later. One of these days I’m going to try to make that salad. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/18 "2006-11-23T18:41:38Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Here’s a hint: oysters do NOT belong in stuffing (or anywhere else for that matter). [/QUOTE] Yes, they do. Properly made oyster stuffing is divine. Back on topic, I can’t abide the canned cranberry crap. Not only does it not taste good, it just screams laziness. Sweet potatoes or yams in any form. Especially the ones my mother makes. Ribbon candy. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/19 "2006-11-23T18:44:40Z")
[QUOTE=BiblioCat] Properly made oyster stuffing is divine. [/QUOTE] Mom used to put oysters in the stuffing. Oysters belong on a po’ boy. Not in stuffing. that’s one of mom’s recipes I’m not going to try to duplicate. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/20 "2006-11-23T18:50:16Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] **cruel butterfly** : My mom made something she said one of my aunts called ‘crap salad’, because it ‘has all kinds of crap in it’. (This aunt got the recipe from a women’s magazine in the '50s.) Lime Jell-O Lemon Jell-O Diced red apples Diced green apples Walnuts Cottage cheese Miracle Whip [/quote] Omigosh, it’s the much vaunted [Lime Jello, Marshmallow, Cottage Cheese Surprise](http://www.carlinamerica.com/titles/sf/BOLCOM%20LIME%20JELLO%20MARSHMALLOW%20COTTAGE%20CHEESE%20SURPRISE.rm)! **Warning:** RealPlayer, cast-iron stomach and high tolerance for la-di-da required. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556.md?page=2)