# The perfect Xmas dinner, whatcha really want? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998 "2017-12-21T15:30:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/21 "2017-12-21T23:12:32Z")
Turkey Cranberry sauce Stuffing Mashed potatoes and gravy\* Steamed broccoli with cheese sauce\* Tray buns with butter\* \*All slightly intermingled. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/22 "2017-12-21T23:21:00Z")
What I’m _having_ is a Caesar salad, a 20 oz. chili-rubbed rib eye, King Crab mac & cheese, and Kaua’i Sugarloaf Pineapple Upside Down cake for dessert. What I _want_ is somebody else to be paying for it! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/23 "2017-12-21T23:58:13Z")
The same thing I have every year: Ham Pierogies [Saurkraut and mushroom soup](http://http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/slovak-christmas-mushroom-soup-462392)\* \*This isn’t my grandmother’s recipe, just the closest I could find ---
**Author:** ![McGuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@McGuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McGuffy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/24 "2017-12-22T00:51:29Z")
Like \*\*TriPolar, \*\*I really want goose. What we’re having is ham. (I did get to have a small duck at Thanksgiving.) ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/25 "2017-12-22T01:13:42Z")
My favorite Indian restaurant is [Woodlands,](http://www.woodlandsusa.com/) a vegetarian place in Orlando. They have a special lunch buffet on most US holidays (Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.), and my former wife and I _loved_ to go. We were usually the first ones in line, waiting for the restaurant to open. So what I **want** to do is go there and have a big lunch. Delicious! ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/26 "2017-12-22T03:31:01Z")
> [@BobBitchin](#): > > What I want and am having. > > Thick juicy steak > Baked potato with everything > 1lb thick cut bacon > Jumbo shrimp > BBQ baked beans > Garlic bread > > Optional: crown and Coke > > After dinner, me and Mrs. Bitchin’ will sit in the circle and digest.🆒 Any word from the warden? ---
**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:** [December 22, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/27 "2017-12-22T13:43:30Z")
I’d like some honeybaked ham. But even their smallest chunk is way more than could be eaten up in our house, and it doesn’t freeze well. I only get to taste it now and then at some office buffet. I could go for a whole plateful with baked sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts for Christmas dinner. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/28 "2017-12-22T14:07:57Z")
Baked beans on toast. I had it for Christmas dinner a few years ago because I was, due to circumstances, alone on Christmas Day, heading down, with my son, to have Christmas with my family the next day. I was going to cook myself something more substantial but thought it would be funny to later act pathetic and whine that I only had something really ordinary - baked beans on toast. And I love baked beans on toast. Well now my parents are both dead, my brothers and my children are away for Christmas and I will be at home alone, and it is pretty funny to tell people that you “only had baked beans on toast for Christmas dinner,” so I think I will have it again. Because I still love baked beans on toast. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/29 "2017-12-22T14:12:56Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > what do you really want? Someone else doing the cooking. 😃 Hope to pick up a rotisserie chicken and a turkey breast at a local grocer’s deli counter tomorrow. Only thing being made from scratch is the pecan pie. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/30 "2017-12-22T15:06:23Z")
A mixed greens salad with blue cheese dressing Roast beef, not too rare Mushy lima beans drenched in butter and salt Fresh rolls Silver Palate mashed potatoes: [Silver Palate mashed potatoes - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=672924) ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/31 "2017-12-30T18:08:39Z")
Roast chicken Roast potatoes Roast parsnips Brussels sprouts Broccoli Sage & onion stuffing balls Pigs in blankets Bread sauce Chicken gravy Steamed Christmas pudding with custard The important thing is to make _far_ too many pigs in blankets and roast potatoes: the following morning, slit the pigs lengthways then lay them in a dry frying pan over a low heat to allow the fat to render out, smash the leftover potatoes flat and pop them in the pan too. Turn 'em, pile 'em on a slice of bread, add a fried egg and HP sauce, top with another slice of bread. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/32 "2017-12-30T18:32:45Z")
We were gifted a turkey, so we had turkey. We were OK with that. What we really wanted was mincemeat pie with eggnog ice cream, only no store here had any eggnog ice cream. So the pie crust is in the freezer, the jar of mincemeat is in the cabinet, and we had a frozen cherry cheesecake. Ho hum. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/33 "2017-12-30T18:45:11Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Seafood paella with shrimp, scallops, clams and mussels. Also a bit of Spanish chorizo and pequillo peppers for some smoky goodness. Accompanied by a really good Rioja. Desert is [chocoflan](http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/marcela-valladolid/chocoflan-recipe-1949457), as always. Oh my god! Chocoflan! ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/34 "2017-12-30T19:27:26Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Xmas dinner, what are you having, what do you really want? > > Morgenstern’s perfect Xmas dinner menu. > > Homemade tamales with fresh homemade salsa and grated mild cheddar cheese. > El Pato Mexican hot tomato Sauce mixed in the rice and green peppers for color. > Fresh refried beans, slightly watery but not sloppy. > Rolled taquitos with sour cream. > Carne asada, grilled with cilantro and onions. > Warm fresh tortillas. > > Apple pie and French vanilla ice cream. Fair play, that sounds like a strong contender for the final meal I’d request as a condemned man. Christmas is a time of many traditions though, so regardless of how much I love the sound of that (or anything else), I want roast poultry for the same reason I want a tree in the house: it’s what I look forward to at Christmas. For anyone who’s strong enough to pull themselves clear of the clichés by which I’m bound however, that sounds utterly spectacular. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/35 "2017-12-31T20:36:37Z")
Many, many long years ago there was a place that sold the world’s best tasting ham. I want that ham for christmas dinner again ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/36 "2017-12-31T22:49:26Z")
What do I really want? Turkey Breast Mashed Potatoes Mac & Cheese Green Beans (not a casserole - just drizzled with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and baked) and a slice of Blueberry Pie for dessert What did I have? Well, actually, I had two Christmas dinners - one on Christmas Eve with my oldest brother, his family, and my mother, and another on Christmas Day alone. The first one: Tortellini in chicken broth (a “family tradition”) Ribeye roast Mashed potatoes Yorkshire pudding Asparagus I didn’t stick around for dessert, but I think it was chocolate chip cookies The second one: Turkey breast Mashed potatoes (instant - Idahoan Applewood Smoked Bacon) Spanish rice (I can’t really do both green beans and the turkey at my home as both need the oven) and I think a bran muffin (with raisins) for dessert ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998/37 "2018-01-07T12:20:53Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Many, many long years ago there was a place that sold the world’s best tasting ham. I want that ham for christmas dinner again Now that sounds intriguing…what was it like? Anything in particular that it was flavoured with, or just really spot-on hamminess? I always do a ham at Christmas, but not for the main Christmas meal: we have cold-cuts and whatnot in the evening and on Boxing Day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perfect-xmas-dinner-whatcha-really-want/804998.md?page=1)