May I introduce you to our new-ish Christmas Eve tradition? It's called Feast of Favorites. Our Christmas Eve is just the my husband, me, and my two girls. The day is filled with church related commitments. So for our dinner, each one of us gets to pick something and daddy will cook it. It can be anything. A side dish, an entree, a dessert, a bread. You name it, my hubby makes it. Does it have to all flow together? Absolutely not. You pick your favorite and we feast from there. I love it because it's casual but decadent.
Don’t count out Costco for holiday food. Buy a lasagna. Buy a pasta bake. A taco kit. I did the taco kit and a homemade queso dip with tortilla chips one year. 10 out of 10 recommend. We also have a couple of locals small scale shops that do things like a lasagna or easy prep meal. It usually is not crazy expensive.
One weird gift, and large challenge, of being a mom to Neurodiverse kids who really struggle with food is that…. Meals are no extra thing for us on holidays. Maybe if we are getting together with somebody else. But for my immediate household, my partner and I will choose what we want to eat, and my kids have a couple of special things, but largely will only eat their safe foods. I know it’s hard to plan all the special meals. It’s also a privilege to think creatively about that and share it with your family. We will definitely be having some chicken fries and apples at my house if anyone wants to join.😂
My mom‘s large, Chicago family does Italian beef sandwiches for holidays. You simmer it on the stove and people build their own sandwiches and they do a variety of sides. It is pretty simple and delicious.
No one in my family likes turkey in general so we don't eat it on holidays. Instead we eat foods we all like. Thanksgiving is spaghetti, Christmas Eve is fajitas with red and green peppers, New Years is Chinese food. Christmas Day and New Years day are always leftovers/ lighter fair.
While we still have roast chicken, turkey, lamb, pork or beef (and barbeques of course!), Southern Hemisphere Christmases call for cool desserts. I make a trifle which is loved by my partner's family. It's the usual layers of sliced plain sherry-soaked sponge cake and cold vanilla custard topped with cream, but the twist is making it in a glass or crystal bowl and strategically spooning in syrupy canned boysenberries! Once all the alternate layers are done, top with a thick layer of freshly whipped cream and sprinkle with a generous dusting of grated good quality dark chocolate. Make a non-alcoholic version for the kids. They love it because it looks kind of like guts!
When Flannery was in early labor (December 18), we distracted ourselves by putting together lasagna for Christmas Eve dinner. We then put it in the freezer and went to the hospital.
My mother used to make very celebratory holiday dinners with lots of dishes, a nicely decorated table, and so forth. After she died about 7 years ago, I couldn't bear to keep it up because none of us could do it like she could. We started going out for Chinese food on Christmas Day. I usually feel a little bad/lazy/melancholy about it. But this year my daughter is bringing her newish boyfriend to our house for a few days. They just got their plane tickets today, so their affordable choices were December 24 or 25. Daughter said, "We are flying in on Christmas Even because I want to make sure boyfriend gets to go to Ala Shanghai (the restaurant) with us." So maybe this is a great new tradition. Or maybe I am a really bad cook.
We used to get Chinese food on the way home from Christmas Eve services, but with a nut allergic kid, we pivoted. A couple years ago I started making this white lasagna and it is now my children’s favorite. I also make a red lasagna because my husband hates white sauce. Bonus: as someone who has long rejected cooking anything but breakfast on Christmas, two lasagnas gives us many leftovers. https://www.thekitchn.com/white-lasagna-recipe-23213953
I am also in the “I don’t want to do anything but bathe in wrapping paper and Christmas music stage,” so I enjoyed the outside of politics immensely. We are a big fan of leg of lamb and I typically make that for Thanksgiving because turkey is boring. Then seafood for Christmas (shrimp scampi or scallops if we want to splurge). I am hosting a new years brunch for my family and will be serving a quiche and having a make-your-own bagel bar with both sweet (various jams, cinnamon and sugar) and savory options (lox, capers, etc)
A long time ago, I ran across a feta-brined chicken recipe on The NY Times and it’s my go-to holiday dinner. It’s easier than turkey and it’s so lovely. You sometimes have to make several if you have a long guest list, but it goes great with an arugula feta salad and some mashed potatoes!
I was wrestling with a lot of what Bazelon said, but he’s spot on about Dems having to lead with a rationale for why they are better. To me the universal message should be, “We’re the party that has a desire to make your lives better, and real steps to do that”, with concrete examples, of course. The beauty of this message is that it’s applicable across the country, but can also be tweaked in different states with different needs. It can also be the message of different types of candidates. For proof listen to Zohran Mamdani being interviewed by Heather Cox Richardson. He did not say that he was going to burn it all down to build a progressive paradise. In fact, his most powerful point was that democracy doesn’t work if people’s day-to-day needs aren’t met (aka affordability).
The Mamdani interview impressed me, not because I am as progressive as he (I’m not) but because he is very confident about the ideas he believes will make New York better. Those same specifics wouldn’t be the answer for Albuquerque, but restoring faith in government absolutely would. Here’s the YouTube link:https://www.youtube.com/live/N15L4PoVBL4?si=lJcoZQPgBhYru_Bk
I always crave the food traditions I grew up with. On my mom’s side for Christmas Eve we’d do ham and funeral potatoes and veggies. My dad’s mom is Norwegian so we’d do a big Norwegian feast on Christmas Eve—medistakake (meat cakes), lingonberries, a pork roast and some sausage thing, boiled potatoes, gravy and veggies. For Christmas morning we always made scones and bacon. We’ve done prime rib on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day but my parents footed the bill. I like the idea of raclette or fondue as well. We usually do something like that around Valentine’s Day. On New Year’s Eve we spend with a friends family and we usually do a bunch of appetizer like things and we play games and snack all night. I’ve also had Swedish meatballs around Christmas too.
Christmas dinner is always different but Christmas breakfast is chicken fried steak with biscuits. Our NY meal has always been pork butt/shoulder slow cooked in the crock pot with sauerkraut, cinnamon sticks, apples, and brown sugar to taste with a side of mashed potatoes.
I love the baked potato bar idea! We do lots of BYO salads or bowls: poke bowls, taco bowls, Mediterranean bowls... usually it's just chopping ingredients and making some rice and beans or lentils.
Here weeks later to say that fondue is my Christmas Eve (which is also my birthday) dinner too!!
May I introduce you to our new-ish Christmas Eve tradition? It's called Feast of Favorites. Our Christmas Eve is just the my husband, me, and my two girls. The day is filled with church related commitments. So for our dinner, each one of us gets to pick something and daddy will cook it. It can be anything. A side dish, an entree, a dessert, a bread. You name it, my hubby makes it. Does it have to all flow together? Absolutely not. You pick your favorite and we feast from there. I love it because it's casual but decadent.
Christmas is always ham and pineapple, green bean casserole, and scalloped potatoes.
Food thoughts:
Don’t count out Costco for holiday food. Buy a lasagna. Buy a pasta bake. A taco kit. I did the taco kit and a homemade queso dip with tortilla chips one year. 10 out of 10 recommend. We also have a couple of locals small scale shops that do things like a lasagna or easy prep meal. It usually is not crazy expensive.
One weird gift, and large challenge, of being a mom to Neurodiverse kids who really struggle with food is that…. Meals are no extra thing for us on holidays. Maybe if we are getting together with somebody else. But for my immediate household, my partner and I will choose what we want to eat, and my kids have a couple of special things, but largely will only eat their safe foods. I know it’s hard to plan all the special meals. It’s also a privilege to think creatively about that and share it with your family. We will definitely be having some chicken fries and apples at my house if anyone wants to join.😂
My mom‘s large, Chicago family does Italian beef sandwiches for holidays. You simmer it on the stove and people build their own sandwiches and they do a variety of sides. It is pretty simple and delicious.
Holiday food discussion
No one in my family likes turkey in general so we don't eat it on holidays. Instead we eat foods we all like. Thanksgiving is spaghetti, Christmas Eve is fajitas with red and green peppers, New Years is Chinese food. Christmas Day and New Years day are always leftovers/ lighter fair.
While we still have roast chicken, turkey, lamb, pork or beef (and barbeques of course!), Southern Hemisphere Christmases call for cool desserts. I make a trifle which is loved by my partner's family. It's the usual layers of sliced plain sherry-soaked sponge cake and cold vanilla custard topped with cream, but the twist is making it in a glass or crystal bowl and strategically spooning in syrupy canned boysenberries! Once all the alternate layers are done, top with a thick layer of freshly whipped cream and sprinkle with a generous dusting of grated good quality dark chocolate. Make a non-alcoholic version for the kids. They love it because it looks kind of like guts!
We do steaks or ribs and baked potatoes!
When Flannery was in early labor (December 18), we distracted ourselves by putting together lasagna for Christmas Eve dinner. We then put it in the freezer and went to the hospital.
Choices were made. It seemed logical at the time.
I was sad when he mentioned Laura Kelly because her second term ends next year and I’m sure we’ll swing right again.
My mother used to make very celebratory holiday dinners with lots of dishes, a nicely decorated table, and so forth. After she died about 7 years ago, I couldn't bear to keep it up because none of us could do it like she could. We started going out for Chinese food on Christmas Day. I usually feel a little bad/lazy/melancholy about it. But this year my daughter is bringing her newish boyfriend to our house for a few days. They just got their plane tickets today, so their affordable choices were December 24 or 25. Daughter said, "We are flying in on Christmas Even because I want to make sure boyfriend gets to go to Ala Shanghai (the restaurant) with us." So maybe this is a great new tradition. Or maybe I am a really bad cook.
We used to get Chinese food on the way home from Christmas Eve services, but with a nut allergic kid, we pivoted. A couple years ago I started making this white lasagna and it is now my children’s favorite. I also make a red lasagna because my husband hates white sauce. Bonus: as someone who has long rejected cooking anything but breakfast on Christmas, two lasagnas gives us many leftovers. https://www.thekitchn.com/white-lasagna-recipe-23213953
Great episode!
I am also in the “I don’t want to do anything but bathe in wrapping paper and Christmas music stage,” so I enjoyed the outside of politics immensely. We are a big fan of leg of lamb and I typically make that for Thanksgiving because turkey is boring. Then seafood for Christmas (shrimp scampi or scallops if we want to splurge). I am hosting a new years brunch for my family and will be serving a quiche and having a make-your-own bagel bar with both sweet (various jams, cinnamon and sugar) and savory options (lox, capers, etc)
A long time ago, I ran across a feta-brined chicken recipe on The NY Times and it’s my go-to holiday dinner. It’s easier than turkey and it’s so lovely. You sometimes have to make several if you have a long guest list, but it goes great with an arugula feta salad and some mashed potatoes!
Sounds incredible! I just saved it on the NYT.
I was wrestling with a lot of what Bazelon said, but he’s spot on about Dems having to lead with a rationale for why they are better. To me the universal message should be, “We’re the party that has a desire to make your lives better, and real steps to do that”, with concrete examples, of course. The beauty of this message is that it’s applicable across the country, but can also be tweaked in different states with different needs. It can also be the message of different types of candidates. For proof listen to Zohran Mamdani being interviewed by Heather Cox Richardson. He did not say that he was going to burn it all down to build a progressive paradise. In fact, his most powerful point was that democracy doesn’t work if people’s day-to-day needs aren’t met (aka affordability).
The Mamdani interview impressed me, not because I am as progressive as he (I’m not) but because he is very confident about the ideas he believes will make New York better. Those same specifics wouldn’t be the answer for Albuquerque, but restoring faith in government absolutely would. Here’s the YouTube link:https://www.youtube.com/live/N15L4PoVBL4?si=lJcoZQPgBhYru_Bk
I always crave the food traditions I grew up with. On my mom’s side for Christmas Eve we’d do ham and funeral potatoes and veggies. My dad’s mom is Norwegian so we’d do a big Norwegian feast on Christmas Eve—medistakake (meat cakes), lingonberries, a pork roast and some sausage thing, boiled potatoes, gravy and veggies. For Christmas morning we always made scones and bacon. We’ve done prime rib on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day but my parents footed the bill. I like the idea of raclette or fondue as well. We usually do something like that around Valentine’s Day. On New Year’s Eve we spend with a friends family and we usually do a bunch of appetizer like things and we play games and snack all night. I’ve also had Swedish meatballs around Christmas too.
Christmas dinner is always different but Christmas breakfast is chicken fried steak with biscuits. Our NY meal has always been pork butt/shoulder slow cooked in the crock pot with sauerkraut, cinnamon sticks, apples, and brown sugar to taste with a side of mashed potatoes.
I love the baked potato bar idea! We do lots of BYO salads or bowls: poke bowls, taco bowls, Mediterranean bowls... usually it's just chopping ingredients and making some rice and beans or lentils.