Does your family have a traditional Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meal?

[Azalis]

My family's Christmas Eve dinner is a huge appetizer spread. We have added things to it every year and now end up with 10-15 dishes of things like buffalo wings, bacon wrapped scallops, meatballs, mini sandwiches, nachos, egg rolls etc. with all sorts of dips and chips/crackers. About of unhealthy as you can get and I look forward to it every year!

[Deleted]

Bockwurst and toast hawaii each year as long as I can remember. Oh, and noodle salad.

[zoefschildpad]

We mostly use christmas as an excuse to get the family together, since everyone has the day off. Big meal, my grandmother buys us some gifts and my parents and aunts and uncle buy my grandmother a gift and that's about it.

Easter though... we eat eggs and raisin bread with cheese, have a walk, a cooking contest, play baseball (as best we can with at most 8 people in a forest) search for chocolate eggs. and that's just easter day, the days before that are meticulously planned as well. I know already what I'm going to have for dinner Friday and Saturday, and I'm the one with the lightest schedule because of all the clothes-shopping the ladies need to do...

[Bolson13]

The Netherlands has both the 25th and the 26th off (which we call "second christmas day").

Christmas eve we usually have finger food etc.

My mom always cooks a big dinner on one of the 2 Christmas days where we need to go to (she switches it off with a sister and a brother of hers so she doesn't have to cook 2 days in a row). The other is usually with other side of the family.

So me or the mss. don't have to cook at all. My mom always cooks the same thing pretty much.
Appetiser is salmon salad
Starter is vegetable soup for which she cooks the broth like 5 days in advance already (skim off the foam etc.).
Main is 2 kinds of meat (always beef and she switched the other between pork, turkey or wild game, even cow tongue ), different kinds of vegetables (like chicory with ham, ever heard of that?), usually cooked potatoes and mashed potato croquetes because the kids like them. Basically you can just take what you want from the dishes, pots and pans.
Finisher is pudding and ice and fruits.

That is for around 10 adults and 3/4 kids (depends on who is there).

[Adam Jensen]

Ham with pineapples. Orange and cherry jello. Scalloped potatoes. Creamed corn. And some amazing breadrolls my mother makes. Those five things at minimum every year.

[Kurioxan]

Not religious family but still celebrate the day, without attachment to christmas, because why not.
Poppy cake and chestnut cake generally, mealwise something meaty, varies

[Forgettable]

My family has a traditional turkey dinner. We're Christians, and because we're German we do our celebrating, caroling, story reading and present opening on Christmas Eve. Christmas day is for pajamas, leftovers, lounging around and enjoying each others company and the gifts we received.

[Zonned]

On Christmas we typically bake a ham along with a bunch of traditional sides.

[Sekhmet]

We celebrate the proper way ofc, that is to get so stuffed on pig-based products that you cannot move. Jesus would be so proud!

Ofc there are pickled herring, salmon, sweets and other stuff aswell, but the pig-eating is the important part, and probably goes back to before someone decided that it should be christmas and not Yule!

[Zonned]

We celebrate the proper way ofc, that is to get so stuffed on pig-based products that you cannot move. Jesus would be so proud!

Ofc there are pickled herring, salmon, sweets and other stuff aswell, but the pig-eating is the important part, and probably goes back to before someone decided that it should be christmas and not Yule!

Thanksgiving = Turkey

Christmas = Ham

[Sevyvia]

About as traditional as possible here. We go to church, then we come home and have rice pudding with butter and cinnamon sugar. Main course is roast pork with crackling (Flæskesteg), white potatoes and small, caramelized potatoes. Red cabbage as well. We usually end it with... I'm not really sure what the English term is. Apple cake? Except it's not really a cake, since it's in a bowl.

Then we all groan from the food for a little while, then sing while we go around the Christmas tree. Then presents. Then a drink. Then bed.

[Deleted]

I'm doing the same as i do every year i guess..

1-2 large ducks (depending on how many will attend)
Ducksauce
Brown potatoes (regular potatoes that you "fry" in a caramel mixture you make from sugar and butter)
Red cabbage, a cold batch and a warm batch
Asparagus potatoes (dunno what they are called elsewhere, i'm from Denmark. They're like, small firm and awesome!)
Stuffing for the ducks ofcourse that we munch down with the course.

And for desert its ris a la mande and then we'll have a cheese platter later on in the evening.

This is ofcourse all done on the 24th. The 25th is for rolling around and being lazy, eating leftovers and whatnot.

Oh yeah, and then we flush it all down with beer, whiskey and wine ^_^

[Priya-tan]

I can't recall Christmas Eve, but I know that Christmas morning we have mimosas, breakfast casserole, chipped beef (<3), scrambled eggs, and bacon. Christmas dinner is always a honey baked ham.. but other than that things tend to vary year to year because we will do dinner at my parents' house and my sister's house (alternating).

But on New Years eve I grew up always having Chinese takeout; was probably my favorite tradition haha I love Chinese food.

[Khoranth]

I am seeing "red cabbage" pop up. How do you all cook this? or is it plain?

[ghotihook]

It all depends on who his hosting. The last year we had Christmas at my house, we had "make your own tacos". I was absolutely fantastic and everyone loved it. We had 4 different kinds of meats, at least a dozen vegetables, lots of cheeses and all kinds of stuff to put inside them. I am hosting again this year and I am probably going to do the same thing.

[belfpala]

I am seeing "red cabbage" pop up. How do you all cook this? or is it plain?

Typically you'd braise it. Same way you might cook kale or collard greens, etc. Unless you've fermented it.

Last year I did cornish game hens, half per person. Might do that again.

[Frozenbeef]

My families christmas is very lame, it's basically just a sunday dinner but at 2pm :S

[Independent voter]

I like to get drunk and wonder around the neighborhood an watch people celebrate through their windows.

[Zonned]

I like to get drunk and wonder around the neighborhood an watch people celebrate through their windows.

Best done in a soiled Santa outfit.

[Sevyvia]

I am seeing "red cabbage" pop up. How do you all cook this? or is it plain?

For Christmas, at least where I'm from, you cut it in thin slices and cook it in a pot with some fruit juice or jelly. Basically, add a bit of sweetness. Some also add cinnamon, or even some grease from all the various bits of pig also made, but not all.