BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner

Subject: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: mg
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 11:15 PM

Do you have a Christmas Eve dinner (if you celebrate this holiday of course) that is traditional? I was just making my split pea soup for a party tomorrow. I get really Swedish this time of the year...I'm Irish/Welsh but grew up in a very Scandinavian part of the world...it rubbed off on me.

I've heard of oyster stew..is that Italian? If they are Willapa Bay Oysters they grow in my back yard...

anything else?

mg

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Haruo
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 02:32 AM

rice, not sweet enough to call it pudding, with raisins in it

Willapa Bay oysters'll do just fine, mary - I say buy a can of Hilton's, and try it, and read the ingredients label, and then fantasize a little till it occurs to you how to do it better

Haruo

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 02:53 AM

We used to have a certain dinner when we stayed with my grandparents for Christmas (as the family did every year from 1952 when my mother was married, to 1974 when my brother died and my grandfather left the farm.

It was always a really thick stew with lots and lots of boiled potatoes that my granfer, rather than granny, cooked. When we stopped going there, the tradition remained, but the stews were never quite the same (my dad's cooking was of the shovel it in a frying pan and burn it to buggery variety). There was always a big apple crumble to follow and the treat of Christmas Eve was to go up into the loft of the farmhouse, a proper attic where you didn't bang your head and was probably the servants quarters years before (I remember the staircase was a proper one, rather than a ladder or open steps). It had in it a store of apples that granfer would lay down from the orchard over the stream in the garden, and we'd make the crumble from those. They weren't Bramleys, and they weren't sweet eaters but they were something in between, a juicy, sweet but sharp apple that was the size of a Bramley. Never seen or tasted them since.


We would also have one present to open. It was always from the pets and always the same present, modelling clay (plasticine for those who know these things), to keep us quiet and out of the way for the evening. It's a tradition I've kept up with Bratling, and it seems to work!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: MMario
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 09:55 AM

tortellini in brodo, with a green salad and bread

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 09:59 AM

Fish is a common traditional food for cultures that celebrate Christmas Eve.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Peg
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 10:36 AM

I grew up attending the Italian side of the family' Christmas eve feast: traditionally, there are many fish dishes. Baked eel, fried smelt, linguini with clams, and calamari (squid) were the main things; sometimes oysters Rockefeller. My dad still makes a scalloped oyster dish every Christmas day; baked with lots of milk and crackers, but as I have never eaten it I have no idea why people like it. No meat was allowed on Christmas eve, but my grandfather did make some excellent baked chicken which was allowed after midnight (and he would sneak some to me early because I did not eat the fish dishes). It was great: baked with oil and vinegar and Italian spices. He was an incredible cook and taught me how to make his sauce, and real braciola.

Christmas day dinner was more traditional English/Irish fare from my mother's side of the family. When we used to have a huge sit-down dinner for loads of people, there'd be a turkey and often a ham, too; stuffing, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, vegetables, and my grandmother used to make cranberry sherbet which was incredible...oh, and BOTH sides of the family had many traditional sweets they baked! This year, as I have every year since I got a decent iron to make them with, I made pizzelles (those thin crispy waffle cookies) flavored with vanilla, not the traditional anise (my mom hated anise so we never did them that way). Also made roll-out sugar cookies and decorated them with icing and colored sprinkly stuff. We often had fried bowtie cookies (deep-fried then rolled in confectioner's sugar), cocount macaroons, two-tone twists made with chocolate and vanilla dough, and mom was known to make English toffee candy: a buttery brittle covered with dark chocoalte then rolled in crushed walnuts...yum.

All these traditions have lessened in grandeur but there are still some dishes we always have. The old standbys are now the scalloped oysters, fried smelt, pizzelles and oysters Rockefeller...and usually a ham instead of a turkey on Christmas day. We now only have a few peopel over (fewer than ten, as opposed to the 30 or more that used to show up!) and now eat buffet style as my Mom simply can't do all that work anymore (nor should she).

Happy Christmas to all!

peg

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 10:37 AM

Oops! Above should say "...for Catholic cultures..." Oyster stew is a traditional Christmas Eve food for many European Catholic cultures.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: mack/misophist
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 11:05 AM

Pizza

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Alice
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 11:17 AM

Oyster stew was the traditional Christmas eve meal in our family, going back generations on my father's, the Irish side.

Alice

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Wesley S
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 11:19 AM

Here in Texas it's a tradition to eat Tex-Mex food on Christmas Eve - esp tamales.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 11:23 AM

The fish/oyster stew thing is a throwback to the Catholic fasting on Christmas Eve, then fish for dinner tradition. If we have fish and/or seafood on the holidays, it ain't the traditional stuff! I gag on fish dishes like oyster stew, lutefisk, and carp.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: vectis
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 08:35 PM

As I live in what I am continually being told is a multi-cultural country we are having a bloody good curry for Christmas Eve. The decorations get put up while it is cooking slowly in the oven.
Very traditional.

Happy Christmas everyone
Mary

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: DancingMom
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 10:57 PM

My Grandma did the oyster stew thing. (she was Baptist).
I made a huge pot of spicy gumbo last year, and that showed promising signs of becoming a traditon. Sharon

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Cluin
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 11:07 PM

Meat pie, potatoes, & mushy peas.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 11:33 PM

I don't remember anything particularly traditional when I was growing up, but my parents divorced when I was 14, and then we had to craft a few traditions to survive that time. We spent Christmas Eve with Dad, and returned home for Christmas Day with Mom. The first Christmas Eve was horrible, Dad didn't have a tree or decorations, and we went out to eat. It was like th scene in The Santa Clause. They were out of everything and rather surly since none of them wanted to be working.

Later that evening I went out to his yard, cut a twig off of a nearby Doug fir, poked it into a coke bottle that I then taped to the floor to hold it up. I told Dad he had to do something about a tree or at least decorations the next year. He did better the next year, and from my limited repertoir I offered to cook roast beef. But after that he got the hang of it and he always bought a salmon from one of the local Tulailup (Indian) fishermen and we baked that. Wonderful!

Now I'm preparing to smoke two large salmon, bought frozen a couple of days ago. I was hoping to start them this afternoon but it has rained steadily. I'll put up a tarp and the smoker under it. I hadn't thought about this connection until just now, so thanks for the question, Mary! I'll tip a glass of wine your way when we have salmon on Christmas Eve (I now am divorced, but far more amicably than my parents, and I'll send some over to his house when my children spend their Christmas Eve with him. I may not have gotten the process of marriage down, but I do a great job at "divorced!").

Maggie

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Dec 02 - 12:20 AM

No Christmas Eve traditional meal since we used to run out and get the tree on Christmas Eve when my Dad was alive -- and then we had to decorate it. BUT, for years, when my Mom was up at 5:00 AM stuffing the turkey she would make yeast-risen cinnamon rolls to get us through the morning.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 24 Dec 02 - 06:19 AM

I thought an Eve traditional dinner was where you all wore your best fig leaves !

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Poddy
Date: 24 Dec 02 - 09:16 AM

Hmm...we always ate Clam Chowder with fresh bread that Mum made when she was doing all the other baking. The chowder's always from a can, and I always assumed it was because Mom was to tired from doing all the Christmas stuff to cook more. But reading this post, I wonder if it had something to do with the oyster stew tradition? Have to ask.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: jimmyt
Date: 24 Dec 02 - 03:51 PM

Strangely enough and I have no idea exactly how this evolved, but we do have a traditional Chrismas eve dinner...it is Potato soup and taco ring. I know it makes no sense but it evolved in a folk music sort of way so I just go with it!!! Cheers Happy Holidays to all.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: mg
Date: 24 Dec 02 - 03:54 PM

I have an Italian-American friend and he described this Christmas dish his mother made..sliced oranges, olive oil and garlic I think..it sounds intriguing.

mg

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Celtic Soul
Date: 24 Dec 02 - 03:54 PM

Nothing trad for X-mas eve. But, normally (if my family is getting all together) pretty much the same as Thanksgiving.

I am beginning to start my own traditions, born of dietary contraints. No wheat, no meat. Egg Nog ice cream or pumpkin ice cream are nice alternatives to pies, as a fer instance.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 24 Dec 02 - 04:13 PM

For Catholics Christmas Eve has always been supposed to be Fasting and Abstinence, so you'd expect a Christmas Eve traditional meal to be on the sparse side.

And it makes sense to go easy on the food before a good tuck-in.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Lurcio
Date: 24 Dec 02 - 06:19 PM

Steamed cod, mashed potatoes, mushy peas

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Haruo
Date: 27 Dec 02 - 01:21 AM

The family get-together, as it actually transpired, featured ham, smoked cocktail sausages, two tossed green salads (each with multiple varieties of lettuce/greens; one with red onions and balsamic vinegar, the other with red peppers and paper-thin carrot slices), black olives, snowman-shaped rolls with currants for eyes, butterflake rolls, and at least six or seven other things I can't recall. Not counting dessert. The one thing usually present but missing this year was the pickled herring. The jar was there but didn't get opened. Not sure why not. I didn't even think of it at the time, but I've been missing it ever since. My own contribution was just the coffee (Bargreen's French Roast with a dash of Espresso Dark).

The crowd was smaller than usual (my brother in Portland didn't come up; father-in-law in hospital - that's four people missing - and then my hypertraditional quasimennonitic cousin* with eleven kids didn't make it, that's a minimum of 13 more missing). But still we had at least 23 or 24 people there. And I knew all their names. ;-)

Haruo

*one of her daughters just married an Amish guy, and is in Kentucky being checked out for acceptability by his folks

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 27 Dec 02 - 05:59 AM

My family clebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. We realized a few years ago that none of us really like Turkey all that much, so we started to have everyone bring something that they know everyone will enjoy. My mom usually brings salmon, my sister salads, (Caesar and a Pasta salad), my other sister a lasagna, my brother usually brings appetizers, olives, smoked oysters etc; my wife gets some wonderful breads, cheeses & fruits and some baking potatos, I pick up a few Curry & Roti's from our favourite Roti place in Toronto, often we have a Sushi platter. We try to have our favourite things as it is a very special day.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: mkebenn
Date: 27 Dec 02 - 07:43 AM

My Grandmother{English, Unitarian} always made oyster stew, I had no idea it was that traditional or wide spread. I made a SERIOUS mistake five years ago and fed my crew lobster, beef tenderloin, twice baked potatos and stuffed mushroom caps. They talk about this meal all year long and I couldn't change it now if I wanted to.This year I made the taters and mushys in the morning, and it made the whole affair much more doable. I hope everyone had as safe and wonderful holiday as we did. Mike

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 27 Dec 02 - 11:42 AM

mkebenn,

Do you have room for one more next year? :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: GUEST,Melani
Date: 27 Dec 02 - 02:26 PM

This year we had steamed crab, salmon cakes, marinated octopus and seaweed, and teriyaki oysters, with spaghetti squash, broccoli, and salad. That's what happens when my husband and daughter do the shopping!

Subject: RE: BS: Do you have an Eve traditional dinner
From: mack/misophist
Date: 27 Dec 02 - 07:31 PM

This year I celebrated Xmas Eve the way I've wanted to since I was 12 years old. Always before I've been dragged to someone else's party. This year I turned down a prime rib dinner in a noisey restaurant to have take out wor won ton soup at home alone while I worked on a computer glitch. Xmas day I worked on it some more, rested, and had pizza for dinner.It's what I've never been allowed to do before. It was great.