Is Thanksgiving Dinner Different From Xmas Dinner At Your Place? (Gingerbread, freezer)
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I have often been thrown to hear that people who groan and vow never to eat (for instance) a roasted turkey again after Thanksgiving, eat EXACTLY THE SAME DINNER, trimmings and all, when Squidmas rolls around. And they fall on it as if they were starving and had never seen such food before.
Me, I like 2 different holiday dinners. Or more than 2 if it's a Hannukah year.
This year Thanksgiving included a ham for the carnivores, and this Squidmas I think it may include roast beast, but I'm not sure who's in charge of the cooking for the latter yet as nobody has discussed it. The mashed & gravy and crescent rolls are provided more or less automatically, as well as the succotash which is required at all state occasions, but from that point it varies considerably -- you might see pumpkin pie and cheesecake at one and cookies & fudge at the next. The special raisin-bread dressing is never served at Thanksgiving but very often at Squidmas. There may be sweet-potato casserole at one, but if so it will not be served at the other. You never see ice cream or cookies, let alone both, at Thanksgiving but they might well show up at Squidmas. And on and on.
Do you serve the same thing twice, and if so why? If not, how much difference is there between the meals?
We only have Turkey on Thanksgiving, but that does not mean I won't eat turkey any other time of the year. In fact I have a 10lb turkey in my freezer that I want to make. Christmas time the foods can vary from year to year in my house.
Growing up it was usually the same meal for both. Once in a while we'd have a ham for Christmas, but except for the stuffing, the sides and desserts were the same. We always had pumpkin pie, which is probably my least favorite pie.
Now I'm single and don't really cook special holiday meals, but if I did, they would be very different. Like maybe a mexican feast for Christmas with flan and fried ice cream for dessert. Or a chinese meal.
We always do the traditional Thanksgiving feast of turkey, stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, gravy, and pumpkin pie. Most never changes from one year to the next, beyond maybe slight variations in stuffing type or whether it's a cooked cranberry relish or raw.
But Christmas is different every year. We rotate through several meals we like a lot, and part of the point is that it SHOULD be different and unique from Thanksgiving. Last year we had a lasagna feast, the year before last, it was crown roast of pork, the year before that, we had goose, and I think this year we're leaning toward a standing rib roast. The sides and dessert vary according to the main attraction. Crown roast usually gets stuffing, roast beast or roast goose demands garlicky potato spears, and last year the lasagna was accompanied by home-made roasted garlic bread. Vegetables vary similarly. We have favorites like sweet-and-sour red cabbage and Brussels sprouts with shallots and balsamic vinegar, and in deference to the dinner guests who aren't big fans of veggies, we generally include something basic like steamed green beans or broccoli. For dessert, we've made a gingerbread-lemon-blackberry trifle some years, parfaits some years, and last year our elder kid made a massive batch of unbelievably good tira misu to follow the lasagna.
One of the things I like most about the two feast-days (Thanksgiving and Christmas) is the contrast between totally predictable tradition for the one and complete freedom to play with any menu we like for the other. Both have their merits, and it's fun to be able to embrace both tradition and eclecticism that way.
Growing up it was usually the same meal for both. Once in a while we'd have a ham for Christmas, but except for the stuffing, the sides and desserts were the same. We always had pumpkin pie, which is probably my least favorite pie.
Now I'm single and don't really cook special holiday meals, but if I did, they would be very different. Like maybe a mexican feast for Christmas with flan and fried ice cream for dessert. Or a chinese meal.
Flan AND fried ice cream? I like the way you think!
This year I'm bucking the family tradition and changing the menus. I'm not getting too much flack so I'm going to run with it.
A ham and the fixings will be for Christmas. I have a new mac and cheese reciepe I'm trying out. Some dishes will be the same only because everyone really likes them.
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