How is your Xmas going to be ?

[aceflor]

"Traditional" Xmas Eve meal for us: all things fishy oysters and fresh frutti di mare, langostinos, lox, rye bread and blinis, and salted butter. We put everything on the table and everyoe picks what he/she likes. The dessert is usually an ice cream, either vanilla if self made, or salty caramel if I find one.

Xmas day: I make a huge thanksgiving turkey with an old Delia Smith recipe (I know, I get the dates all mixed up , but we love that recipe) with a chestnuts and apple filling, cranberry sauce on the side, and rosmarin potatoes. No dessert as we usually cannot eat, speak, walk for the next week after that .

The presents are opened on the Xmas Eve, the french way.

Oh, and Xmas time is Johann Sebastian Bach (my personal God) time. I listen to Bach all the time, but at Xmas we all listen together and that is nice .

How is your Xmas going to be ?

[pdurrant]

The children are growing up. My youngest is 15 now. But they still will get a stocking of small toys and sweets on XMas morning. Mid-morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we'll have a distribution of presents from under the (artificial) tree. Once all the present have been given out, we'll go around the room, each opening one present at a time, until all have been opened.

We'll have a light lunch, and then get to work cooking the main Xmas meal. Sometimes Turkey, sometimes beef, perhaps even goose. With roast potatoes, mashed parsnips, brussel sprouts with chestnuts, grilled tomatoes, braised celery, some selection of fried mushrooms, peas, green beans, sweetcorn. Also gravy, and perhaps bread sauce.

My parents will come over for the evening meal, and possibly one of my brothers and sisters-in-law.

There will be, of course, crackers at the meal, to be pulled with your neighbour. Everyone must wear their paper hat from the cracker, and most read out the enclosed motto/joke.

And after supper, (or perhaps before if people arrive early), we'll have a further distribution of presents to the people who weren't there in the morning.

And then, the next day, we do it all again (except for the distribution of presents), because Boxing Day (26th December) is my mother's Birthday!

And does everyone know Tim Minchin's song about Christmas?

[Quake1028]

I have the following days off: Dec 23, 24, 25, 26, 27....Dec 30, Dec 31, Jan 1, Jan 2

Don't have any specific plans yet. A lot of time spent with my family and my fiancee's family. A lot of reading time, a lot of video game and movie time. And certainly a LOT of relaxation .

[Bilbo1967]

We always have kedgeree for breakfast, accompanied by orange juice and champagne

Christmas lunch will be turkey, roast potatoes, roast parsnips with maple syrup, Brussel sprouts with bacon, pigs in blankets, carrots, cabbage, mashed carrot and swede, gravy, stuffing, bread sauce and cranberry sauce. I've a couple of bottles of Barolo I've been saving for Christmas to go with that.

Following that, I shall make a brave attempt to eat my body weight in chocolate and fall asleep.

[captkjaneway]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

We always have kedgeree for breakfast, accompanied by orange juice and champagne

Christmas lunch will be turkey, roast potatoes, roast parsnips with maple syrup, Brussel sprouts with bacon, pigs in blankets, carrots, cabbage, mashed carrot and swede, gravy, stuffing, bread sauce and cranberry sauce. I've a couple of bottles of Barolo I've been saving for Christmas to go with that.

Following that, I shall make a brave attempt to eat my body weight in chocolate and fall asleep.

Sounds heavenly Bilbo - do you do welfare parcels?

Not sure as yet, no cooker here in HK so no roast unless I either a) go to a hotel, b) force myself onto the charity of others or c) make do with char sui and rice and a bottle of red wine!

[kindlekitten]

what's kedegree?

[captkjaneway]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

what's kedegree?

A relic of the British colonial history or a Scottish export?
Basically smoked fish, rice and egg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kedgeree
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...rfect-kedgeree

[Bilbo1967]

That's interesting, I'd never heard about the Scottish link before. I always assumed that it was of solely Indian origin.

It's a nice filling breakfast before a late lunch.

[Sweetpea]

I'll try to ignore it...

We'll probably have a extended breakfast (a bit more exclusive than on a normal sunday), maybe even some presents under the tree. But beyond that, nothing special.

Can't stand Christmas. It's all humbug!

[TGS]

Will spend it with my son in the UK, where, according to my family tradition, the two of us will work for eight hours to produce food that takes our spouses and ourselves 40 minutes to eat. The food preparation being interspersed with present opening, doing the big Guardian cryptic crossword, drinking the odd gin and tonic and/or glass of lightly chilled Tokaji, discussing when to put the sprouts on and who's in charge of the gravy. All will be hyggeligt.

[poohbear_nc]

Christmas is what you make it (IMHO)

We open the stocking stuffers on Xmas Eve.
One meaningful present & one gadgety/trinket present each on Xmas morning.
Watch the cats tear up the wrapping paper and crawl into the boxes, and then the trash bag we've stuffed all the paper, ribbon, etc. into.
Consume too much turkey or ham with trimmings.
Collapse into recliner, become cat landing pad.
Lots of rest.

[astra]

Far far away from where I am at the moment



A bit of swimming in a pool or a warm sea

Christmas celebration with a politically correct version of Grandfather Frost

and some food that will suffice for a while



Relaxing breakfasts in a quiet corner and a pleasant afternoons with cocktails or cappuccino and a book in a bar

Some entertainment to accompany lunches

and evening cocktails

Then back home

Spoiler:

to a welcoming sight

Spoiler:

of our fridge

Well, that's the plan. How it is going to be, who knows?


We don't celebrate Christmas as fit the proper ExUSSR denizens. We used to celebrate New Year but gave up on it 5 or 6 years ago. New Year has lost its significance as a Holiday to me while living in Israel because it was not a holiday over there. It is not much of a holiday in England too. Maybe if we lived in Scotland, then Hogmanay would resurrect it somewhat, or maybe not. We gave up on traditional holidays. Every weekend when we are together is A New Year or a Birthday or an International Women Day for us

I know, I know

Spoiler:

I am a weirdo.
But...

We are all a little weird and life's a little weird,
and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours,
we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.

[RainingLemur]

Probably... let the 4-year-old open one present (of our choice, of course) on the eve, then when everyone is up the next morning, we'll make our in-laws rounds (my mom lives here in town, and the lady-wife's parentals live an hour away) for gift exchanges... Then we'll have our dinner at my mom's - homemade ravioli, bruschetta, home cased sausages, some other small dishes that I'm conveniently forgetting for one reason or another, and for dessert...some homemade tiramisu.

[xg4bx]

nothing special. the wife and i will exchange gifts in the morning then visit the in-laws later in the day. always low-key and small.

i've reached the age where i'd rather give than receive.

[Sweetpea]

One advantage we have...

No inlaws (on both sides) to visit. One side lives 2500km away, the other 1500 (but they'll be going to the toes of Italy, so that'll add a few more km)

Our current plan is to lock all the doors and just vegetate in front of the TV