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Holiday menu ideas

Curious what you consider the perfect balanced menu for Thanksgiving/Christmas.

by Anonymousreply 45November 24, 2023 12:24 PM

Gin AND regret.

by Anonymousreply 1November 20, 2023 11:30 PM

Pumpkin pie AND pecan pie!

by Anonymousreply 2November 20, 2023 11:46 PM

Utter lack of consideration. It's one day a year.

by Anonymousreply 3November 21, 2023 12:20 AM

Christmas is anything but “one day a year.”

by Anonymousreply 4November 21, 2023 12:40 AM

Greg, where are you?

by Anonymousreply 5November 21, 2023 1:18 AM

I do a big dinner Christmas Eve, usually a roast and all the traditional sides. Brunch on Christmas Day. Leftovers in the evening if anyone is still hungry.

by Anonymousreply 6November 21, 2023 1:43 AM

I'll bite. I think it's important to consider not just flavor, but color, and especially texture. Making sure you have a variety of textures in a menu is incredibly important.

What if everything you served were pureed and stewed? Not so much. Texture matters.

by Anonymousreply 7November 21, 2023 1:46 AM

[quote]I do a big dinner Christmas Eve, usually a roast and all the traditional sides.

Thank you for not typing "and all the fixins."

by Anonymousreply 8November 21, 2023 3:34 AM

Do Thanksgiving meals include a salad? I rarely hear of salads being served as part of TG dinner.

by Anonymousreply 9November 21, 2023 6:09 AM

R5, please don't summon it. It is not the end all and be all for cooking.

by Anonymousreply 10November 21, 2023 3:13 PM

We always do a rib roast for xmas.

by Anonymousreply 11November 21, 2023 3:14 PM

My guests are due to arrive at noon.

Once they’re there, we will go to the beach and have cups of haddock chowder. It will be around 50 degrees outside.

Back at the house we will have cocktails and hors d’oeuvres—simple things like cheese and crackers, Medjool dates, warm spiced pecans, gougeres, and celery stuffed with cream cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon, chives, and parsley.

We will sit down to eat at 3:00 and will have a pretty traditional Thanksgiving dinner:

Roast Turkey and Gravy

Cornbread Dressing

Potato Purée

Sautéed Haricots Verts with Chopped Hazelnuts

Braised Carrots

Creamed Pearl Onions

Cranberry Sauce

Dinner Rolls

+++

Apple Pie

Bourbon Pecan Pie

Sweet Potato Pie

by Anonymousreply 12November 21, 2023 3:35 PM

No such thing. Why would you even want to try?

by Anonymousreply 13November 21, 2023 3:43 PM

That sounds amazing, Greg. Would you share your recipe for Sautéed Haricots Verts with Chopped Hazelnuts?

by Anonymousreply 14November 21, 2023 3:51 PM

And your cranberry sauce recipe (o:

by Anonymousreply 15November 21, 2023 3:52 PM

Greg I am 74 and you are the only other person that I have heard talk about celery with cream cheese which my mother used to make all the time. I wonder if it is a New England thing since that was where she was from. Because of that I just absolutely Love celery, even plain.

by Anonymousreply 16November 21, 2023 5:31 PM

Every Boston Irish mother served cream cheese on celery…kinda blah. Irish dads used peanut butter instead.

by Anonymousreply 17November 21, 2023 5:34 PM

My mother wasn't Irish. She would mix the cream cheese with a little milk and then put it in the celery and then top it with paprika.

by Anonymousreply 18November 21, 2023 5:38 PM

Thanks, R14. Here you go:

[bold] GREG’S DELICIOUS HARICOTS VERTS WITH CHOPPED HAZELNUTS [/bold]

[bold] INGREDIENTS [/bold]

-8 ounces haricots verts

-1/4 cup dried, roasted hazelnuts, crushed

-3.5 ounces of Hazelnut oil

-7 ounces of olive oil

-3.5 ounces of sherry vinegar

[bold] PROCEDURE [/bold]1.

Trim just the top end of the beans and drop in salted boiling water.

2. Cook for just 1 to 1.5 minutes. You want them crisp-tender.

3. Mix oils and vinegar together.

4. Once beans have cooked, drain, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and dress the beans lightly with oil and nuts.

5. Important—start slowly! Don’t pour all of the oil and vinegar dressing on the beans. There is more than you need here.

The oil and vinegar emulsion will provide enough dressing for twice as many beans as is in this recipe.

Enjoy!

by Anonymousreply 19November 21, 2023 5:53 PM

Hello, R16.

Nice memory!

My mother (half Irish) would simply stuff celery stalks with cream cheese and would top with paprika and she would top some with canned sliced black olives.

We always had this before dinner on Thanksgiving.

by Anonymousreply 20November 21, 2023 5:56 PM

Tons of cocaine.

by Anonymousreply 21November 21, 2023 6:18 PM

[quote] Tons of cocaine

On the stuffed celery?

by Anonymousreply 22November 21, 2023 6:37 PM

In the UK, Saint Delia rules Christmas.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 23November 21, 2023 7:17 PM

earrings

AND

Caftans

by Anonymousreply 24November 21, 2023 7:29 PM

.

Butternut squash soup with creme fraiche

Roast turkey with stuffing with pecans and sausage. and graxy Mashed potatoes with garlic Mashed sweet potatoes with orange, cinnamon, maple syrup and butter Fried brussel sprouts Creamed spinach Cranberry sauce with orange

Pumpkin cheesecake

This is very rich but I fast the day before and eat small helpings of everything.

by Anonymousreply 25November 21, 2023 7:30 PM

Well, after reading Greg's menu this is really plain but it is good. Turkey and stuffing with sage sausage, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, Creamed Pearl Onions sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole.

by Anonymousreply 26November 21, 2023 7:43 PM

Sounds very good, R25.

Do you know that you can purée your sweet potatoes in a food processor, if you like them smooth?

by Anonymousreply 27November 21, 2023 7:49 PM

R26, that sounds delicious!

Thanksgiving is a day to stick to the tried and true and to serve food that reminds people of previous Thanksgivings and traditions.

by Anonymousreply 28November 21, 2023 7:52 PM

Yes, Greg. It's a great tip.

by Anonymousreply 29November 21, 2023 8:03 PM

Hazelnuts are nasty. I’ve never had anything they were in where they didn’t make the whole thing taste musty and rancid.

by Anonymousreply 30November 21, 2023 10:07 PM

Greg's shit is always overwrought and pasted from a magazine. Bitch isn't cooking whatever it says it is.

by Anonymousreply 31November 21, 2023 10:09 PM

[quote] Greg's shit is always overwrought and pasted from a magazine. Bitch isn't cooking whatever it says it is.

Oh, okay.

And I cook everything I say I do.

by Anonymousreply 32November 21, 2023 10:50 PM

[quote] Hazelnuts are nasty. I’ve never had anything they were in where they didn’t make the whole thing taste musty and rancid.

You’re not eating in the right places.

by Anonymousreply 33November 21, 2023 11:53 PM

R28 ❤️

by Anonymousreply 34November 22, 2023 2:38 AM

Thanksgiving is a day to mix tried and true with something different and to serve food that both reminds people of previous Thanksgivings and creates new traditions.

by Anonymousreply 35November 22, 2023 2:47 AM

R35, I completely agree.

by Anonymousreply 36November 22, 2023 3:29 AM

Diet Coke and a pack of Marlboro Lights.

by Anonymousreply 37November 22, 2023 3:31 AM

Is R31 GapPlaylist guy?

🤔

by Anonymousreply 38November 22, 2023 4:32 AM

The holiday menus in question are not "Balanced". A balanced meal has a moderate amount of some sort of protein, a moderate amount of some sort of carbohydrate, a variety of vegetables, and possibly some fruit based dessert.

For Thanksgiving, that would mean one slice of turkey breast, a moderate spoonful of potatoes, a spoonful of sweet potatoes, a generous helping of cooked vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, green beans), possibly some salad, and creme fraiche or lightly sweetened yogurt over a bowl of raspberries.

Not one American in 100,000 would recognize that as being an appropriate Thanksgiving dinner however.

by Anonymousreply 39November 22, 2023 6:27 AM

Balance can refer to nutrition as in a balanced diet or flavors. I assume OP is speaking about the latter.

by Anonymousreply 40November 22, 2023 1:17 PM

This chef just won a round of the Julia Child competition in Chopped so I looked up his restaurant, the Heritage Inn, in Madison, Wisconsin. This is their holiday spread for 300. for five people.

Heritage Thanksgiving Feast (Serves 5, reheating instructions included) AVAILABLE 11/22 ONLY

Creamy Apple & Market Vegetable Slaw; side of market greens

Roasted Brussels Sprouts; bacon lardon, chili-candied pumpkin crumble

Maple Candied Sweet Potatoes; cranberry gastrique

Willow Creek Farms Italian Sausage, Pecan & Door County Cherry Stuffing

Rosemary Roasted Fingerling Potatoes; garlic confit

Juniper and Herb Roasted Turkey Breast, Confit Turkey Thighs, Smoked Turkey Drumsticks, Riesling Wine Turkey Gravy

½ Dozen Brioche Buns & Whipped Honey-Thyme Butter

Pumpkin Pie with Mascarpone Whipped Cream

Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce

by Anonymousreply 41November 22, 2023 2:27 PM

My Irish grandmother was born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey and no holiday was complete without celery stuffed with cream cheese and topped with black olives! Make sure to carry the tradition every year in her memory. It does seem dated, but I had no idea it was so regional.

by Anonymousreply 42November 22, 2023 2:34 PM

That chef is a crazy person, r41, but one if the most talented chefs I've ever seen.

by Anonymousreply 43November 22, 2023 3:10 PM

"Mascarpone Whipped Cream"

!!! never heard of this but that sounds great!

by Anonymousreply 44November 24, 2023 12:04 PM

R23 -- "So that is what that Delia Wheelwright is up to these days! She was always such a social climber, always pushing herself and family on others. So people now think she can cook?! Had YOU ever tasted her custard tarts?! Ghastly!"

by Anonymousreply 45November 24, 2023 12:24 PM
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