OT - Christmas Dinner in the USA

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 8:48 am

That's what the coffee is for........,

Slan,
D.

Will O'B · Post by **Will O'B** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 8:49 am

Thanks, J. Sounds like quite an event at the Barter house. I love it! LOL

I have to hand it to you. If I went through a day like that, I don't think I could remember it the next morning . . . I can't handle the *juice* like I used to.

Will O'Ban

Will O'B · Post by **Will O'B** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 8:58 am

vomitbunny wrote:Here in the south we have chitlins stuffed with souse. Some people use those little vienna sausages. You pronounce it like Vie-eenie. Rymes with beenie weenie. Then some stuffing made with cheetos. If you want a vegtable with that, you usually make macaroni and cheese. Usually served with our famouse egg nogg or boiled custard, made out of whiskey and ice. Some fancy types fix fried hot bologna and tater tots, but that's beyond the means of most of us. Thems for folks that live in double wides. Rumor has it thet they have twinkies for dessert too. But I wouldn't know. Gramma says them folks gonna burn in hell anyway, alla them worldly goods and stuff, sos I'll just do without no twinkies.
On new years, we have our own version of Hoppin John too. But Granny says Hoppin is too close to Dancin, an' God hates that. So we just eats pork rinds and beer nuts. In the John. Things just ain't been the same since Pappy lost his pro-stetic leg. We couldn't keep up the payments. Deer huntin season come, an' I needed a new scope.

Hence, the name . . . VOMITBUNNY

Will O'Ban

Jay-eye · Post by **Jay-eye** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:20 pm

I like it, jbarter, I like it.

Now I've got something to aspire to!

j.i.

Shyanni · Post by **Shyanni** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:33 pm

Our Christmas schedule starts Christmas Eve Day:

10am -- Meet my brother and sis-in-law at local soup kitchen, peel potatoes and carrots for two hours. Set up 20 tables with tablecloths, napkins, silverware, salt&pepper, etc.

7pm -- go to Mom & Dad's place to stuff stockings. Guzzle a pot of tea and eat thumbprint cookes, butter and mince tarts, fruitcake.

8pm -- go to hubby's family gathering. Stuff ourselves with smoked salmon (several kinds prepared by various brothers), homemade wines (rhubarb, strawberry, plum, but the best is blackberry), nuts, cheeses, cookies, etc.

12pm -- play the gift game (each person brings a wrapped, generic gift, usually second hand, hand crafted or recycled -- names in a hat, whoever's name get's drawn chooses a gift and opens it, or can choose to steal one somebody else has already opened, then that person has to choose again).

1am -- stumble home and sack out.

8am -- go back to soup kitchen and help prepare meal -- turkey, mashed spuds, carrots and corn, gravy and stuffing, cran sauce, bread rolls, etc. Wash and/or dry dishes for hours.

11am -- act as Santa's helper, handing out gifts to underprivilaged kids.

12 am -- serve dinner and/or wash dishes for hours.

1:30 pm -- grab a bite to eat, then clear tabels and wash more dishes

2:30pm -- go to Mom & Dad's and open prezzies

3:30pm -- go to my sister's place, exchange prezzies then collapse for a while

4:30pm -- help my sister make dinner

5:30pm -- eat said dinner -- more of the above, plus Mom's traditional Christmas dessert -- Broken Glass Cake. (no we are not suicidal, it is several colors of Jello, cut up and mixed into a pineapple, cream and gelatine base with a graham cracker crust -- very colorful and tasty, but light after the heavy meal.)

6:30pm -- clear table and wash more dishes

7pm -- Go for a walk, play games, sing Christmas songs and visit

8pm -- Go home and open prezzies for each other (hubby and me)

The main Chrismas theme for us seems to be dirty dishes and more dirty dishes, prezzies everywhere, and exhaustion by the end of each day.

jbarter · Post by **jbarter** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 4:01 am

I can't believe it! I forgot to mention the pork pie and the trifle.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 7:13 am

The capacity for food and drink I've witnessed among the English is astounding. Yet they remain thin. What's the scoop?

jbarter · Post by **jbarter** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 7:19 am

Flyingcursor wrote:The capacity for food and drink I've witnessed among the English is astounding. Yet they remain thin. What's the scoop?

Alas, see my posts on the diet thread.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 11:21 am

jbarter wrote:
Flyingcursor wrote:The capacity for food and drink I've witnessed among the English is astounding. Yet they remain thin. What's the scoop?
Alas, see my posts on the diet thread.

Inside every thin Englishman (or woman) there's a fat American trying to get out.

Actually, it's all to do with the water.

Jay-eye · Post by **Jay-eye** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 12:41 pm

jbarter wrote:I can't believe it! I forgot to mention the pork pie and the trifle.

I can't believe it either. Of course that's pork pie and trifle with lashings of Baileys and cream in our house!

j.i.

Jay-eye · Post by **Jay-eye** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 12:42 pm

Flyingcursor wrote:The capacity for food and drink I've witnessed among the English is astounding. Yet they remain thin. What's the scoop?

Tapeworm

j.i.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 4:06 pm

jbarter wrote:Will O'B wanted to know about the Christmas food over here so here's a normal/average Christmas day in the Barter household.

Wake up
Bacon butties (mushrooms and brahn sauce to taste)
Open prezzies
Commence eating any confectionary items received as prezzies
Open sherry and start drinking
Commence cooking dinner (veg prepared last night and turkey's been cooking low since coming in from midnight church service)
Relatives arrive
Open more sherry and get the beers out
Drink same while scoffing mince pies and shortbread
Start eating nuts and crisps (coz you fancy 'something savoury')
Open more sherry (beer by now in constant flow)
Join in Hokey Cokey happening round the piano in the music room
Open the red wine ready for dinner (it's gotta breath ya know)
Herd everyone towards the table
Pull crackers and don party hats contained therein
Dinner {Turkey, quorn roasty thing for Adam, roast spuds, boiled spuds, creamed spuds, brussels, peas, carrots, roast parsnips, stuffing (two sorts), cranberry stuff, bread sauce, gravy}
Stagger away from table and wait for dinner to subside enough to tackle the pudding (will ya have a whiskey while you're waiting?)
Stagger back for Christmas Pudding and either custard or brandy sauce depending on your inclination ("One of each please" in my case)
Coffee and mints
Sit and chat in the front of the house or go play music in the back (sherry, beer, and whiskey will be present at both locations)
Eat some fruit coz it's healthy and you're actually on a diet
Lay out the food for the buffet tea on the table {bread, crackers, cheeses, cold meats, pickles, cakes, nuts, crisps, dips}
Keep travelling backwards and forwards to table all evening until relatives go home and family fall asleep.
Eat Terry's Chocolate Orange
Wake Anthea and go to bed muttering "If it wasn't for the sake of the children we wouldn't bother really"

That sounds like a wonderful day, Jbarter! Got room for a guest?

tommyk · Post by **tommyk** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:41 pm

Redwolf wrote:When I was growing up, my family always had the turkey dinner for both meals (but ham on Easter). Now that I'm grown, and further, a vegetarian, we have different special-occasion meals for all three holidays: millet loaf with mashed potatoes, brown gravy and green beans almondine for Thanksgiving; Tempeh Chianti and rosemary roasted potatoes for Christmas; and pasta primavera for Easter.

Redwolf

Wow, Redwolf, me too (veggie)!
Do you have these recipies available? Or can you point me towards the sources?
Thanks.

jbarter · Post by **jbarter** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:58 am

I told Anthea to expect 2000+ extra C&Fers for Christmas dinner. Her reaction...? Hmmm.... better order more sherry.

Will O'B · Post by **Will O'B** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 10:28 am

jbarter wrote:I told Anthea to expect 2000+ extra C&Fers for Christmas dinner. Her reaction...? Hmmm.... better order more sherry.

Christmas dinner??? I say let's all celebrate the entire week of Christmas together!!! At JBarter's house. What do you all say? Are you in?

My family calls the master bedroom.

Will O'Ban

PS: I'm sure that John and Anthea won't mind . . .