# If Thanksgiving = Turkey, Christmas =? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [November 26, 2021, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959 "2021-11-26T00:56:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/1 "2021-11-26T00:56:13Z")
For our American Dopers. If you typically cook a turkey for Thanksgiving, what do you do for Christmas? Another turkey? Ham? Spanakopita? Happy holidays from Soviet Canucksitan ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/2 "2021-11-26T01:06:51Z")
Turkey for Christmas, as well. Actually, the family we live with cooks turkey _and_ ham for Thanksgiving and Christmas, because there’s a member of the family who isn’t a turkey fan. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/3 "2021-11-26T01:12:50Z")
Often turkey again. But weve been known to do a Christmas roast or prime rib too. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/4 "2021-11-26T01:13:09Z")
We used to rotate amongst my parent’s families and in later years when it came our turn to host, we switched to Hawaiian food and one year baked short ribs as a secondary protein. The Hawaiian food was always a big hit. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/5 "2021-11-26T01:19:54Z")
Ham. Or a nice whitefish. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/6 "2021-11-26T01:23:23Z")
Roast beef, specifically, prime rib, has always been popular. We like to do roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/7 "2021-11-26T01:28:57Z")
Soup! Twelve years ago my gf offered to host my family for xmas eve dinner. We made five or six different soups. We purchased enough big soup bowls so that everyone got one, and they got to take theirs home after. It went over so well, that everyone insisted on a repeat the following year, and the one after, etc, until COVID-19 fucked things up. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/8 "2021-11-26T01:29:08Z")
Cinnamon flavored pine cones. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/9 "2021-11-26T01:34:42Z")
Seems a shame to limit this just to Christmas ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/10 "2021-11-26T01:35:10Z")
My family always did ham for Christmas, which I liked much better than turkey. I’m vegetarian now and so if I do anything, it usually some kind of “celebration roast”- which is pretty good and nice to have once or twice a year. I like that the term “celebration roast” accurately doesn’t imply that it actually tastes or has a texture like any specific meat. Veggie “ham” roasts are a thing, but not a thing that sounds good to me. I don’t know why, given that I’ve been eating other fake meats for years, but fake ham? ehhhh… not sold. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/11 "2021-11-26T01:35:25Z")
Prime rib if we could afford it that year, ham otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/12 "2021-11-26T02:00:38Z")
Usually something that’s too pricey to have more than once or twice a year - so prime rib, crab quiche, or seafood lasagna. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/13 "2021-11-26T02:03:59Z")
We spend Christmas Eve at my in-laws’ house, where there’s no one traditional Christmas dinner dish: sometimes they make a pork tenderloin, sometimes ham, sometimes some sort of roast beef. We then spend Christmas Day with my family, where dinner is usually a beef tenderloin. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/14 "2021-11-26T02:13:27Z")
Didn’t “Christmas goose” used to be a thing? Growing up we usually had ham. Recently my brother’s been springing for prime rib, so I always somehow end up at their house. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/15 "2021-11-26T02:18:36Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Didn’t “Christmas goose” used to be a thing? In England, and other parts of Europe, yes, but if it was a tradition in the U.S. in the past, it seems to not be anymore, possibly because geese aren’t as well-suited for large-scale farming as other animals, like turkeys. Also, several source I’m looking at blame Dickens’ _A Christmas Carol_ for the tapering of the tradition, as people began to associate “Christmas goose” with “low-income dinner.” > **[What Happened to the Christmas Goose?](https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/heres-what-happened-to-the-christmas-goose/)** > > Move over, goose—the holidays are all about turkeys. Here's why. ---
**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 26, 2021, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/16 "2021-11-26T02:19:38Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > Roast beef, specifically, prime rib, has always been popular. We like to do roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. This. No Yorkshire pud the last few years; but prime rib (or Choice rib, anyway), baked potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/17 "2021-11-26T02:25:44Z")
Depends on the year - always a ham , but also at least one of the following : turkey , a prime rib or lasagna ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/18 "2021-11-26T02:30:26Z")
My family tradition is turkey for Thanksgiving, tamales for Christmas, and ham for Easter. As a kid, I imagined that goose was typical for Christmas among non-Latino families in order to avoid doing double turkey. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/19 "2021-11-26T02:40:29Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Didn’t “Christmas goose” used to be a thing? We had goose once – _once._ It was very large so we were eating goose this and that far longer than turkey leftovers plus there was a lot of goose grease. It made for a succulent bird but the grease vapor really burnt to the insides of the oven and this was way before self-cleaning. I remember my mother on her knees saying words I’d never heard before as she applied the Easy-Off for the second or third (I forget) time. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/20 "2021-11-26T02:46:48Z")
Generally, we’d have turkey for both and ham for Easter when I was growing up. But it wasn’t a hard and fast rule or anything. Roast beef or steak are also good. Many Hispanics around here think tamales are the big deal—they’re beloved but labor intensive. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959.md?page=2)