# 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:** 3
**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, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/41 "2021-11-26T09:09:35Z")
For other substantial portions of my life, including yesterday, Thanksgiving has been just me and a bag of animal crackers. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/42 "2021-11-26T10:17:41Z")
Good question. Looks like the one in my neighborhood is doing mostly takeout right now because of COVID-19. If you don’t like the current restrictions in Ontario, wait a few days. They’ll change. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/43 "2021-11-26T10:21:05Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > to rake home with her. That’s _take_ home! 😠 ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/44 "2021-11-26T12:55:13Z")
What’s wrong with you people?? Christmas = cookies!!! Sheesh… 🤣 Honestly, growing up, I don’t recall a traditional Christmas meal. We went to my maternal grandparents’ house, and I vaguely recall that my grandfather would be shucking oysters for those who ate them. (ick.) But there wasn’t a special meal that day. Similarly when we’d go either to my parents’ house or my in-laws’ place - we had whatever the host decided to make. More recently, my brother has everyone over to his place for mostly grazing. I take deviled eggs, someone brings sushi, Mom has several specialty appetizers that she’ll make, and my brother will do pit beef on his grill. Plus lots of cookies and trifle and cake, but it’s not even a sit-down meal. We’re just there to hang out, and mostly to enjoy watching the assorted grandkids have Christmas fun. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/45 "2021-11-26T14:24:19Z")
Christmas dinner was a repeat of Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, stuffing, etc. Christmas Eve was usually something Swedish, like potato sausage and lutefisk. I went hungry on many a Christmas Eve. Family has dwindled to me, sis, and BIL. Christmas has been at my house the last many years, and we eat weird stuff like hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls, or meatloaf. Truthfully we just don’t care any more. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/46 "2021-11-26T14:30:34Z")
This year we decided on doing a ham, last year was a goose, year before was prime rib, it varies on what we find that looks good at the commissary a few weeks prior [or we got a 3 rib roast the July prior when we did the prime rib for Christmas.] ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/47 "2021-11-26T14:41:19Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > Roast beef, specifically, prime rib, has always been popular. We like to do roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. Same here. My grandma’s traditional English roast beef dinner with Yorkshire pudding. Gotta have the Yorkies! They are a big hit with everybody. I make 4 dozen of them and there are still are no leftovers of the Yorkshire puddings. These days my sister and I take turns on alternate years— 2021 is my year. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/48 "2021-11-26T15:04:25Z")
In my family, the big family get-together is generally Christmas Eve, and for that, it’s usually what you’d call “party food”, with no set mealtime and the guests making as many trips to the buffet as they wish: Veggies or chips with various dips, meatballs or Vienna sausage on toothpicks, cheese ball, etc. On Christmas day, we might invite one or two friends, and have a decent sit-down meal, but short of a full feast. That meal will vary depending on our whims of the moment and on whom we’re inviting (for instance, a fair number of our friends are vegetarian). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/49 "2021-11-26T15:10:24Z")
I was raised Jewish, so Chinese take-out ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/50 "2021-11-26T15:16:23Z")
in our family the tradition is takeout. either we would get Chinese food or order pizzas. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/51 "2021-11-26T16:23:03Z")
In my family (Polish heritage), Christmas Eve was the big Christmas dinner. It is meatless. Or rather, Catholic “meatless,” so fish is predominantly featured. Dinner pretty much must include: clear beet borscht served with mushroom-filled _uszka_, “little ears”, which are basically tortellini or mini pierogi. Mushroom soup. Cabbage rolls (_gołąbki_, “little doves/pigeons”) stuffed with rice/barley/buckwheat groats and mushrooms (typically a mix of button and porcini are used), breaded fried fish of some sort (carp is traditional, but we use cod or orange roughy), some cold fish dishes, pierogi (sauerkraut, cheese & potato, cabbage & mushroom, plain cheese – and by “cheese” I mean a farmer-type fresh cheese). For Christmas day dinner, at my in-law’s it’s been standing rib roast, with mashed potatoes, gravy, Brussels sprouts and/or green beans. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/52 "2021-11-26T16:39:35Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > In my family, the rotation was as follows: > > New Year’s Day: Prime Rib > Easter: Lamb > Thanksgiving: Turkey > Christmas Eve: Clam Chowder > Christmas Day: Goose > New Year’s Eve: Ham > > The family likes to cook. 🙂 I approve of your family’s traditions. 😉 > [@nelliebly](#): > > i’ve never understood why people have turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Because it’s easy. And cheaper than a giant beef roast. Yeah, I know people complain about how to cook turkey every year – mostly because a lot of people don’t roast any more, so they don’t have that skill set. But back when it was common to make smaller roasts for the family, roasting a turkey for a large group was a dead easy way to scale up. > [@panache45](#): > > Hanukkah latkes! You know, I love goose, but I’d never make it without a self-cleaning oven, and even so, it’s unpleasant to put up with the odor of the fat burning off. But while I enjoy latkes, I HATE the way the whole house smells of oil for days after making them. > [@FairyChatMom](#): > > What’s wrong with you people?? Christmas = cookies!!! Sheesh… Thread winner. That’s not a dinner, but that IS the food Americans associate with Christmas. My family is Jewish, but of course we all get a holiday at Christmas, so we usually get together and have a family meal. We usually do a beef rib roast. Except one year when my father make a goose and stuffed it with prunes that were stuffed with foie gras. I helped him stuff all those prunes. Damn, foie gras is good. The goose and stuffing were so good that my parent had friends over and hosted a fancy dinner party based on the leftovers, ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/53 "2021-11-26T16:59:58Z")
OK for my family when I was a child— **Thanksgiving** : Traditional Turkey dinner with _homemade_ bread stuffing with celery and onions, mashed potatoes, and sweet corn **Christmas Eve dinner:** Usually Lasagna once or twice another turkey dinner **New Year’s Eve:** Take-out usually Chinese but sometimes Pizza or even both depending how many people were coming **Easter** : Ham with mashed potatoes **Saint Patrick’s Day** : Traditional Corned beef and cabbage boiled dinner **Mother’s Day** : Lasagna **Memorial Day/Father’s Day/Fourth of July/Labor Day** : A cookout with hamburgers, hotdogs, kabobs, and corn on the cob ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/54 "2021-11-27T06:36:59Z")
Since some have expanded beyond Christmas, New Year’s Eve dinner was always at my Aunties house, where the first meal of the New Year included shrimp tempura, sushi, sashimi and other Japanese dishes. The highlight being her [_andagi_](https://www.google.com/search?q=andagi&rlz=1C1ASVC_enUS940US940&oq=andagi&aqs=chrome..69i57.6066j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8), Okinawan found donut. Of the three people who made it, my grandmother, another aunt and her, her’s were always the best! Breakfast and lunch was leftovers from the night before, but New Year’s dinner was always [nishime,](https://www.google.com/search?q=*nishime*&rlz=1C1ASVC_enUS940US940&oq=nishime&aqs=chrome..69i57.2763j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) a Japanese stew usually featuring root vegetables. My Mom and later, I, would start the cooking after lunch, and no sampling was allowed until dinner. If you were hungry after lunch, we’d continue to snack on the previous night’s leftovers. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/55 "2021-11-27T16:18:37Z")
Thanksgiving = Turkey Christmas = Fresh Ham (AKA Green Ham. The same cut as below but straight off the pig, neither smoked or cured.) Easter = Smoked Ham ---
**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 27, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/56 "2021-11-27T16:25:12Z")
- Thanksgiving: Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, etc… - Christmas: Prime rib, baked potato, and a veg… - New Year’s Day: Ham hocks and black-eyed peas, ham hock and collard greens, and cornbread (baked in a cast-iron pan, of course.) - Mardi Gras: Jambalaya and cornbread. - Easter: Ham and potatoes au gratin. - Saint Patrick’s Day: Corned beef & cabbage. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/57 "2021-11-27T16:49:55Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Several times I’ve done “Jewish Christmas” - a movie followed by Chinese restaurant or take-out. > [@Telemark](#): > > I was raised Jewish, so Chinese take-out We are non-observant Jews. On Christmas day, we usually follow the modern tradition (oxymoron?) of a movie, then dinner at a Chinese restaurant, which is the only kind that are open. ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/58 "2021-11-27T17:10:46Z")
For a while after moving to SoCal we maintained the traditional roasts and sides holiday meals we were raised on back in New England, but one year, it just seemed like too much work (and heavy food) in a hot kitchen on what is normally a nice day to be outside. That year we ordered tamales from our favorite local place (after seeing their sign) and I found an easy recipe for chicken enchilada soup that I can start in the slow-cooker right after breakfast, and leave the rest of the day for fun. Half a dozen years later it is now our traditional Christmas dinner. ---
**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 27, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/59 "2021-11-27T17:25:35Z")
For us, Xmas is usually beef tenderloin, or possibly barbeque pork fried rice with hot and sour soup, depending on mood and who’s attending. ---
**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 27, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959/60 "2021-11-27T18:15:47Z")
I make a seafood paella that has shrimp, clams, mussels and Spanish chorizo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thanksgiving-turkey-christmas/954959.md?page=4)