Christmas Foods

I've bought a 2.5kg prime rib for only 2 people

Oh h*ll yes!

I'll be in France , so it's smoked salmon, oysters on the half shell and Foi Groi.  I have no idea how to spell that last one,? I would just say liver pate but the French loose their rag if they hear you say that.  The only bad thing is there's a no alcohol rule!!!   So we drink sickly sweet sparkling juice

After almost 20 years, me and the French have reached a wary truce, luckily the BIL has gotten a new girlfriend who is so offensive everyone forgets about me.

SoS, have you tried ordering tamales from mexika.co.uk?  She's an American-Mexican living in the UK and makes a MEAN tamale.

http://mexika.co.uk/

What's it like?  Do they come by post?  Frozen?

What's it like?  Do they come by post?  Frozen?

Fresh, sent next day with a 1 hour time slot.   

Foi Groi. 

Foie gras. It means fatty liver. As delicious as it is cruel.

Also included in the Hannibal Lecter hamper from Fortnum & Mason: a secret santa.

We are in the UK for the third year in a row due to work commitments/changes. Ugh. Neither of us British so no family here, but we spend the day at various points calling forward to his or backwards to mine.

Breakfast: We have mimosas and coffee, bacon, scrambled eggs and share a small pannettone. About this time we get some glogg going in the crockpot.

Cocktail hour will consist of some US cheddar we brought back, elk sausage his mother sent, raw veg, herring for him

For dinner this year I said no to another Beef Wellington because I wanted ham, so we are going Swedish Christmas with German American twist:

Swedish oven baked ham (Swede had to go to the special shop as soon as the shipment arrived because the first shipment sold out in three hours but now we have the one and only ham type that is acceptable to him. He does NOT do spiral cut or that weird gammon rump style here)

Christmas meatballs (not sauced, 50/50 pork/beef mix) with lingonberry jam
Rotkohl
Kale and Apple salad with poppy seed dressing
Potatoes au Gratin
Aquavit to wash it all down
Special krispbrod that is only made for Christmas

Dessert I usually put out some gingerbread cookies, a few nice chocolates, satsumas etc on a plate. Then we open gifts and watch Die Hard.

The day after and after that and after that will be ham sandwiches on the special bread his mother made and arrived two weekends ago with his sister.

Thanks for the mexika link - I forgot about them! Grew up in the US SW and looked up making my own tamales for Xmas Eve - think I would rather buy them!

I have to say it is so freeing to not feel obliged to make a damn turkey dinner at any point in the year! Can't say I have missed it once since we moved.

SoS, have you tried ordering tamales from mexika.co.uk?  She's an American-Mexican living in the UK and makes a MEAN tamale.

http://mexika.co.uk/

I'm going for it!! Heck I used to like those Hormel tamales with the little paper wrappers.

Have yet to decide on Christmas Eve food, but I love making something special for that too.

Strike this! Been invited over to friends' house for a Christmas Eve party.  They're great cooks so it should be good, whatever it is.

Have decided on making a beef wellington, celeriac puree, braised red cabbage and green beans for Boxing Day though. 

First Christmas in the US since 2013 (how is that possible?) so we're going all out this year.  My mother even put up the tree, which is an improvement on last year.

Christmas Eve, all six of us head to my aunt and uncle's house where my mom's family celebrates.  We spend the afternoon there drinking and opening presents before sitting down to a ham dinner with all the fixin's (twice-baked cheddar potatoes, yum!).  After dinner, my family goes to mass and then home where we break out a cheese ball and champagne (sparkling grape juice for those who no longer drink).  At some point people will break away to add their bits to stockings and presents will 'magically' appear under the tree.  Typically I am the last one up because my parents will give me all of their presents for the opposite parent to watch so on goes Gone with the Wind until they are finished.

Christmas morning we wake up around 10 am or so.  We children are still not allowed to see the tree until the parents are ready (my youngest sibling is 19).  Then we light a fire and open stockings in a round, youngest to oldest.  After stockings we have donuts from literally the best bakery ever (peanut butter creamstick, here's looking at you).  After breakfast we pass out the presents and everyone takes turns opening them.  This can take a couple of hours but it's so much fun.  After present time, we begin cooking.  Typically we have to cater to all the picky eaters.  I believe this year we are having ham (for me), turkey (for the hubster), chicken (for my brother), hamloaves (for my dad), and meatloaf (for my sister).  Sides will be cheddar cheese potatoes, green bean casserole, the most amazing homemade crescent rolls, and red salad (red hots dissolved in applesauce). Later we have dessert which is typically pumpkin and pecan pie as well as whatever chocolate concoction my brother makes.  This year I am making him a chocolate stout cake so should be interesting.  We have more champagne and a cheeseball later in the evening while watching either Christmas movies or a movie one of us has received for Christmas.  This year will be particularly interesting because my parents have moved since I was last home so this will be the first Christmas there.

I absolutely cannot wait!

Ho ho ho!

We had the Mexika chicken tamales tonight and they were delish! Definitely worth it and she turned it around in maybe two days. Note: their payment site is unstable at the moment, maybe want to check that they have sorted the paypal issue.

Just the usual chicken dinner with vegs that we might have any Sunday.  No dessert -- although I am making cranberry bread.  Too many dietary restrictions.  I have (secretly) had one mince pie and a smidge of Christmas cake though.

We never had turkey at home because my mother didn't care for it (or rather it didn't 'like' her)  When we went to my grandmother's she would take a piece of chicken for herself.  We have no family here at all so it's best to try to ignore the whole thing.

We did steak, I had filet for mine. Roasted cauliflower and Brussels sprouts with augratin potatoes. Oh. So nice.

I think I ate too much. No dessert for us either, we forgot. Haha.