Christmas (Holidays) Food

[Harlow]

Holiday season means it's time to eat/make special food. I was always curious about foreign gastronomy, so feel free to post what do you eat in this times, country-wise or family-wise.

 

I hardly like my own traditional food, but on December, it all gets better. The signature plate it's pan de jamón, literally ham bread. A white bread roll with savory ham, bacon, raisins and pimento-stuffed olives. Once it's tosated up (IMO), it's amazing. Just recently accquired the taste for the raisins and the olives, so just recently I enjoy it how it should be.

 

 

I'll post more soon. Meanwhile, something special your family or the whole town stirs up?

[Rusheo]

Uhmmm really isnt a family thing but my sister and her family and i cook Garlic Naan bread and homemade candy canes, they candy canes we usually shape like stars or tree's depending on how much syrup we use.

[Redeemer]

Our tradition at home is that we have Christmas dinner at my parent's house, then on the 26th, Boxing Day, we go to my gran's house for a small buffet and party. My mother doesn't like cooking turkey, so instead she makes her traditional Scottish steak pie. She starts cooking it from the moment she wakes up in the morning, and lets it simmer all day. She adds in carrots, red onion, gravy and a tiny little bit of garlic. By the time it's dinner time, the meat is so, so soft, it just falls apart gently. Delicious. She serves this with a puff pastry, broccoli and mashed potatoes.

My gran, however, still cooks turkey. I enjoy it, but my favourite dish of hers is her potato salad. I go crazy for that stuff. One Boxing Day, I was late to her house and it was all gone, and I was actually devastated.

 

This year, however, R3dFiVe and I are going to her house early to help with cooking. I can't wait! I'll keep some of that potato salad aside for myself...

[Sarita]

It depends on where I am for Christmas. C: My family normally has a huge potluck lunch, it's actually all the same food as Thanksgiving... 

 

But if we're at Steve's we have a huge Christmas "dinner" with finger foods and pickled stuff and booze and fun times and also really yummy roast thing that they still had some of when I returned for the summer 6 months later... Delish. LEAVING TOMORROW FOR STEVE'S HOUSE AND DELISH CHRISTMAS.

[Drasiana]

Oh man, okay, listen up bitches because Chef Drasiana is in the house. I know what you're thinking: 363 out of 365 days a year I am the human embodiement of the Foul Bachelor Frog. My expert cuisine includes such dishes as "instant oatmeal" and "ham sandwiches made entirely out of ham". But when Halloween and Christmas come around, you better watch your back and belly because I am about to unleash a whirlwind of deliciousness. I'm not an incompetant cook, I'm just really fucking lazy any time other than the holidays.

 

Anyways, here's what I'm going to do this year. Prepare to have your mental tastebuds blown.

 

First on the menu's some great goddamn Candied Walnut Gorgonzola Salad:

 

• Get some walnuts. Get some sugar. Melt them in a skillet. Dump into a bowl full of greens, cranberries, and gorgonzola, cover in white wine, olive oil and raspberry vinaigrette. Voila: a salad that I'd actually eat.

Next on the list is some tasty traditional Herb Spätzle:

 

• Wait, what the fuck is spätzle? German egg noodles, you uncultured little peasant! They're fairly simple but delicious, this festive recipe calls for added nutmeg, parsley, chives, and whatever other green crap you have in the cupboards. Never made the noodles myself before but my mom knows what's up so I'll probably be slaving her out to spätzle duty...while paying attention to how she does it, of course.

One more appetizer-type tantalizer, Mushroom-Stuffed Quails!:

 

• Quails are cute little birds but fuck you they're delicious. First get some oregano, basil, parsley, olive oil, bread crumbs, dry white wine, parmesan, salt, pepper, shallots and garlic, and mix that in with a mushroom mixture of your choice, like chantarelles or wood ear. Then stuff that shit into the birds, dash with some creole seasoning and pop those bitches into the oven. Once they're done, serve with a healthy slathering of a truffle sauce made of butter, white truffe oil, white wine, more shallots and garlic, salt, white pepper, and heavy cream, then shave some chives and a single truffle over that. This is probably going to be expensive as hell but after living on kettle-boiled macaroni for a year I think it's deserved.

Now, the main course. A cute little Rosemary Rabbit, aka Dras Eats Cute Things: The Revenge:

 

• Get a wabbit, chop it up, marinate it in garlic and rosemary, then consume along with a healthy cup of children's tears. In all seriousness rabbits are delicious and the little fuckers are overpopulated to hell so don't feel bad about eating them.

Prepare your arteries: It's dessert time, and on the menu is some Pumpkin-Gingerbread Cake with Maple-Vanilla Frosting:

 

• Obtain usual boring cake shit, add pumpkin puree (not the shitty pie mix), maple almond butter OR maple syrup honey, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cardemom, and lemon zest. Turn it into a cake. Adorn with frosting made of coconut butter, coconut oil, honey, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Also, presumably, garnish with unicorn farts.

Serve all with as much eggnog, Bailey's, apple cider and mulled wine as you can possibly drink. And there you have it, folks!

[Vy'drach]

• Obtain usual boring cake shit, add pumpkin puree (not the shitty pie mix)

 

 

 

You talkin' shit about my pumpkin pie?

[Drasiana]

Canned pie mix is gross and tastes like tin cans. Also it won't work in a cake, because it has more in it than just puree.

[Vy'drach]

S'all good s'long you ain't talkin' shit 'bout punkin pie itself.

[Harlow]

Oh well, here's the rest of the exotic shit made here.

 

Hallacas: Steamed corndough dumpling folded within plantain leaves, tied with strings, filled with various stuff. Mostly meat and olives. Extremely popular, but I've never eaten one before.

 

Hen salad: Potato-chicken-vegetable salad. Hate it since I have memories.

 

 

There's also pulled pork. Clean, simple, savory pulled pork. That's pretty light

 

 

 

And l want to go and eat most of your stuff up, Drasiana Ramsey.

The pie sounds good too Red

[Rusheo]

Oh well, here's the rest of the exotic shit made here.

 

Hallacas: Steamed corndough dumpling folded within plantain leaves, tied with strings, filled with various stuff. Mostly meat and olives. Extremely popular, but I've never eaten one before.

 

Hen salad: Potato-chicken-vegetable salad. Hate it since I have memories.

 

 

There's also pulled pork. Clean, simple, savory pulled pork. That's pretty light

 

 

 

And l want to go and eat most of your stuff up, Drasiana Ramsey.

The pie sounds good too Red

ughkjfg food wow that looks appetizing, except the Hen salad XD

 

 

 

You talkin' shit about my pumpkin pie?

... and thank you for posting this XD

[Vy'drach]

Copy pasting from Wiki so I don't have to explain, for I am lazy.

 

 

Kourabiedes or Kourabiethes (Greek: ÎºÎ¿Ï…Ïαμπιέδες) resemble a light shortbread, typically made with almonds. Kourabiedes are sometimes made with brandy, usually Metaxa, for flavouring, though vanilla,mastika or rose water are also popular.

In some regions of Greece, Christmas kourabiedes are adorned with a single whole spice clove embedded in each biscuit.

Kourabiedes are shaped either into crescents or balls, then baked till slightly golden. After they cool, they are usually rolled in icing sugar.

Kourabiedes are especially popular for special occasions, such as Christmas or baptisms (christenings).

 

 

Up next is Avgolemono soup, which is chicken and rice, but with LEMON and egg in the broth to make it a bit thicker than normal (not saying it's thick, just not as thin as water). Sweet holy hell do I love avgolemono soup. There's four traditional greek dishes I like. Kourabiedes, horta, some Easter cookies that I can pronounce but don't know where to begin on how to spell them (google informs me that it is koulourakia), and the king supreme, avgolemono soup.

 

 

But we haven't actually made anything Greek Christmas festivity food for a long time, and usually head to Sizzler for some reason.

 

 

There's also other traditional Greek christmas food, such as sesame baklava. Here's more if anyone cares to see:

 

http://greekfood.about.com/od/festivalsholidays/tp/christmas_traditions.htm

 

And you're welcome, Rusheo.