See, that’s where you got it wrong. You gotta have legumes (black-eyed peas in the South), and greens (I recommend collard greens, ditto). Oriental societies agree in large part.
Rutabagas, parsnips, turnips, carrots, and any other root vegetables, are, to my palate, best served in some sort of stew. By themselves, not so shiny.
To the turkey-haters: Perhaps you have never experienced the mouth-orgasm that is a Cajun-syle deep-fried turkey. I have. Or maybe you have missed the roast turkey that is the masterpiece of The Other Master. I haven’t yet, but I intend to pry the duty of turkey-roasting from my mother’s cold fingers when she joins the heavenly choir.
To the fruitcake haters: You should try The Other Master’s Free Range Fruitcake. I haven’t made it yet, but I have never seen a bad review.
Well, we agree on that.
Here, you can have all my sauerkraut, but we have to share the turkey.
After many years eating Thanksgiving dinner with my extended family, somehow we ended up just staying home. Dinner for just the four of us made it much easier to please everyone.
Last year, my older daughter went to her boyfriend’s family’s celebration in another state. This left Me, My wife and my younger daughter. We cooked New York Strips on the grill and had a green salad and baked potato.
Maybe not traditional holiday fare, but tasty noe the less…
hHis year, our favorite restaurant had a Thanksgiving package: traditional turkey dinner for 6-8 people for $75.00. we picked it up wednesday evening, re-heat it according to instructions and relaxed the rest of the day
Bibliocat has partaken of such at my house before and will again in a few weeks. In fact, I’m thinking we’ll cook another one so I have some frickin’ leftovers after the plague of locu- I mean, dopers, have left.
And it was Yum-Mee!
I’ve never heard of those things associated with New Year’s, being a Florida boy. But I love them all!
I’m not a big fan of turkey either. I can take it or leave it and once a year is way more than enough for me. Unfortunately, I have to eat on Thanksgiving AND Christmas Eve.
I do a prime rib roast for Christmas Day, always to rave reviews.
Other things I dislike or loathe:
Christmas stollen. I don’t have the umlaut thingies, but if any of you have eaten this you know what I’m talking about. It’s dry with dried thingies and sometimes nuts. Similar to fruitcake, but not as dense.
The green bean casserole. I’ve made it on request, but I use fresh or frozen beans, never that canned crap. I’m still not a huge fan though.
The infamous cranberry log. I love fresh cranberries that a person actually has to cook, but the log is just gross.
I live in Norway.
This December and into early January, I will once again be politely saying No Thank You to:[ul]
[li]lutefisk[/li][li]gravlaks[/li][li]smalahove[/li][li]more varieties of herring than I once dreamed existed[/li][li]goro (beautiful cookies that taste like… nothing)[/li][li]medisterpølser[/li][li]Scandihoovian fruitcake[/li][/ul] So do I win? I mean, lutefisk, folks. I believe that’s the Yucky Holiday Food Trump Card right there.
Fortunately I’ll have my krumkaker and pepperkaker to sustain me through another holiday season 
BiblioCat, we can have Thanksgiving together sometime. ::Adopts Frankenstein’s monster voice:: Sauerkraut BA-A-AD. Oysters GOO-OO-OOD.
There is one time during the holidays that I willingly allow sauerkraut to pass my lips, and that is on New Year’s Day, when I must fix Grandmother Spalding’s cabbage rolls. (My mother said she got her recipe from a woman of Hungarian descent – Mrs. Farcas. So of course I think of “A Christmas Story” and Scut Farkus every time I make them.)
They are not the typical cabbage rolls in tomato sauce. You put a thin (or if you’re me, microscopic) layer of sauerkraut in the bottom of the pan and over the cabbage rolls, pour beef broth in the pan, and bake. Then you use the broth in the pan to make brown gravy and serve the cabbage rolls with mashed potatoes. Once a year, they’re great.
What’s wrong with gravlaks?
I’ll certainly give lutefisk the prize. Most of the other things mentioned in this thread are foods that I either like or feel neutral toward. Lutefisk is something that I might refuse to eat even if I were starving to death. It totally amazes me that anyone eats it voluntarily, but I’ve seen it eaten with apparent delight by several persons, so I guess this is just one of those culinary delicacies whose appeal I will never understand.
There’s worse, you know. Skata, for instance. Putrified skate (ray). Icelanders eat it twice a year for some saint’s day (he has two days).
I’m glad I’m living “im Ameriku” and not in Iceland, let me tell you.
Damn, right, baby.
If you can’t get homemade, then buy a good one, like Harry & Davids. There’s a lot of bad fruitcake out there, but one good one makes up for all the bad ones.
Christmas cake icing,Turkey and Brussel Sprouts(traditional vegetable that accompanies Brit. Christmas dinner.)
Or herring, for that matter? Feel free to send either my way!
I love herring, but as adventurous as I am, lutefisk sounds too weird even for me.
I had a friend who made me fruitcake cookies last year, which she claimed were a million times better than fruitcake, and perfect for people who don’t like fruitcake. Meh. They were like little round bites of fruitcake. No offense, she’s a dear friend, but fruitcake is fruitcake!