Christmas Dinner

Lets see… Christmas dinner – which has no real meaning in this family – generally gets shuffled around the calendar. Way back when… we always sat down to dinner on the 25th – recently it has become the 26th and this year will be the 24th – with the whole fam-damily in the house all day. I will be found with my brother-in-law out on the deck with a cold beer and a pack of smokes, dodging snow-flakes and avoiding the rest of the clan – a highly disfunctional group of descendant Scots and Welsh. I’ll probably be surly and start an argument when the religious sibling wants to pray… short of leaving the country, I can’t avoid this occasion.

Dinner will consist of turkey and ham, herbed whipped potatoes, turnip (Swede), a very nice sweet potato concoction, baked squash, Brussels sprouts and a light cabbage slaw. My mother will insist on bringing a tourtiere because ‘its a family tradition’ – even though there isn’t a single French-Canadian in the entire family tree. And then a freshly baked apple pie for dessert with tea and or coffee – or more beer/wine/spirit of choice… ahhh aren’t the holidays wonderful?

oooohhh just added to the menu – I’m to do my special short ribs this year… (I really do hope I stay sober long enough this year) A nice selection of Australian Reds came into the house today, and the appetizers have already been started…. (cheeses, shrimp, Tequilla – one of my sister’s additions, more cheeses). Oh, and it looks like I won’t be dodging snow flakes – after the 2 feet (60cm) of snow last Sunday, we’re about to be rained on for 2 days – hooray!!!:rolleyes: )

What wine would go best with goose, though? Any suggestions?

A nice Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc or indeed a White Burgundy

Polite and sociable as ever I see.:rolleyes:

Just light hearted really sealordlawrence .;) Care to suggest a nice wine ?

C*ap choice of wine then !!

Polite and sociable as ever I see.:rolleyes:

C*ap choice of wine then !!

It was your own suggestion, smarty-pants, so no brownie points for you. :p

Oh, the long winter evenings must simply fly by…….. :rolleyes:

I wait ’till after dinner when they’re all in the pool …then i open a bottle of 72 Grange Hermitage ..all for myself!!

Hmm. Since goose is so rich my first though was to go for something sharp and light to offset the richness of the meat but the more I think about it, the more a nice intense red fits the bill.

Oddbins are doing the Swan Bay Pinot Noir at a rather good price at the moment, so that looks like a good call.

Thanks, chaps. 🙂

C*ap choice of wine then !!

Hmm. Since goose is so rich my first though was to go for something sharp and light to offset the richness of the meat but the more I think about it, the more a nice intense red fits the bill.

Oddbins are doing the Swan Bay Pinot Noir at a rather good price at the moment, so that looks like a good call.

Thanks, chaps. 🙂

If you’re going all out in the richness stakes, may I suggest a glass of fine port to go with your goose?

As a Uni. student, I am going to saviour my Christmas meal when I return home in a few days. Us students don’t get good family meals very often, so I’m looking forward to it. A lot.

Full works on the Turkey, vegetables (including brussel sprouts; the traditional Christmas vegetable (or atleast used to be, before the supermarkets started to sell year round)), and all those sauces – bread etc. All washed down with a good wine.

There’ll be mince pies and Christmas pud. Crackers, with the paper hats and stupid ‘toys’ which, after about 5 minutes will be thrown in a drawer and forgotten about for ever more, and a Magners cider in front of the telly afterwards.

mmmm

Happy Christmas, everyone. 🙂

Hmm. Since goose is so rich my first though was to go for something sharp and light to offset the richness of the meat but the more I think about it, the more a nice intense red fits the bill.

Oddbins are doing the Swan Bay Pinot Noir at a rather good price at the moment, so that looks like a good call.

Thanks, chaps. 🙂

Swan Bay Pinot Noir 2006 Scotchman’s Hill, Geelong.

Oh yes. That’ll have Al Qaeda and the serried ranks of Islamic Fundamentalism quaking in their sandals, that will….. :rolleyes:

I’m considering goose myself, actually.

Makes a change from effing turkey and it’s authentically traditional, too.

What wine would go best with goose, though? Any suggestions?

I was hoping to be more antagonistic than scary but hey whatever.;) My personal wine preference for Goose is a deep heavy red it just seems to sit well with it.

Personally I prefer Goose over Turkey……….this year I think I will call it Mohamed.:p

Oh yes. That’ll have Al Qaeda and the serried ranks of Islamic Fundamentalism quaking in their sandals, that will….. :rolleyes:

I’m considering goose myself, actually.

Makes a change from effing turkey and it’s authentically traditional, too.

What wine would go best with goose, though? Any suggestions?

Guess you might get away with it, being as yours is bird like.

Personally I prefer Goose over Turkey……….this year I think I will call it Mohamed.:p

Just only 🙂 Santa Claus is symbol of commercial agression in my country, there is a phrase “we didn´t accept some red bolshevik clown from the East – Russian Ded Maroz, we kicked him off to East back, after 1989 the same clown attacks us from West only with different name.” Czechoslovak bolsheviks tried to replace Christ-child and Christian base of Czech Chrismas with Russian Ded Maroz (very similar to Santa Claus) at the start of the 1950s. I am atheist but I respect traditions, so the gifts for me are given by Christ-child, who has been never seen by anybody 🙂 . When I was a small boy it was very magical to get presents from magical unknown Being. Santa Claus is only commercial clown here, people ignore that and more and more people is allergic about Santa symbol and there is some antisanta-movenents 🙂 in the Czechlands under slogan There is all of Christ-child here:-) . Sometimes and somewhere (especialy in supermarkets) it looks like two paraller Christmas – one in TV commercials and in shops with Santa and real Christmas among people in traditional way. BTW I know that Christ-child is Christmas symbol in Slovakia some part of Germany, Austria and in Hungary as well, isn´t it?

Lets see… Christmas dinner – which has no real meaning in this family – generally gets shuffled around the calendar. Way back when… we always sat down to dinner on the 25th – recently it has become the 26th and this year will be the 24th – with the whole fam-damily in the house all day. I will be found with my brother-in-law out on the deck with a cold beer and a pack of smokes, dodging snow-flakes and avoiding the rest of the clan – a highly disfunctional group of descendant Scots and Welsh. I’ll probably be surly and start an argument when the religious sibling wants to pray… short of leaving the country, I can’t avoid this occasion.

Dinner will consist of turkey and ham, herbed whipped potatoes, turnip (Swede), a very nice sweet potato concoction, baked squash, Brussels sprouts and a light cabbage slaw. My mother will insist on bringing a tourtiere because ‘its a family tradition’ – even though there isn’t a single French-Canadian in the entire family tree. And then a freshly baked apple pie for dessert with tea and or coffee – or more beer/wine/spirit of choice… ahhh aren’t the holidays wonderful?

Well, we have the Czech a lot of centuries old traditional meal – breaded carp with potatoes salad, as all the Czechs. Whole 24. December day we don´t eat except noon cabbage soup with egg (maigre meal) for seeing “golden pig” as symbol of good fortune, and around 6 p.m. we have Christmas Eve dinner – carp and potatoes salad and Czech beer. After the dinner people here give presents to each other under Christmas tree. We have symbol of Christmas and donoring the Christ-child, not some Coca-Cola drunked clown in red, because Christmas is celebration of Christ birth, despite the Czechlands are the most atheistic county in the western World. We also celebration old Christian tradition of Saint Nikolas day in 6. December (bishop St. Nikolas was born in year 250 after Christ) he is similar to Santa Claus but in white and with Christian cross and crosier, he is going around the streets or houses with the Angel and the Devil in 5th December evening and ask children if they have been good or bad during a year and give a presents or bad child is taken by Devil to the Hell, St Nikolas is benefactor of children a lot of centuries.

Well said, Xmas has lost it’s traditions in the UK, it’s all centred round the TV and political correctness, ie look at whats happened to school nativity plays, I’m lucky enough to have a Hungarian over for dinner, but carp, no thank you, too many bones, he’s been over here long enough to appreciate sea fish, it will be smoked salmon for us, Scottish sea loch of course.

rumcajs, my mother is German and we have always celebrated Christmas Eve around the tree opening our gifts. This is followed by a light supper and much socialising. Christmas day is reserved for a large mega lunch and lots of socialising and lying around. When I was child, we also celebrated St Nicholas Day with a slipper or stocking that would magically be filled with sweets the following morning. It had nothing to do with Christmas, which appears to be a melding and mishmash of these events from the US and turned into a commercial nightmare.

My wife is Irish and she likes the concept of the Christmas Eve around the tree opening gifts. Much more chilled. My daughter of 17 months is going to love it….:)

Well, we have the Czech a lot of centuries old traditional meal – breaded carp with potatoes salad, as all the Czechs. Whole 24. December day we don´t eat except noon cabbage soup with egg (maigre meal) for seeing “golden pig” as symbol of good fortune, and around 6 p.m. we have Christmas Eve dinner – carp and potatoes salad and Czech beer. After the dinner people here give presents to each other under Christmas tree. We have symbol of Christmas and donoring the Christ-child, not some Coca-Cola drunked clown in red, because Christmas is celebration of Christ birth, despite the Czechlands are the most atheistic county in the western World. We also celebration old Christian tradition of Saint Nikolas day in 6. December (bishop St. Nikolas was born in year 250 after Christ) he is similar to Santa Claus but in white and with Christian cross and crosier, he is going around the streets or houses with the Angel and the Devil in 5th December evening and ask children if they have been good or bad during a year and give a presents or bad child is taken by Devil to the Hell, St Nikolas is benefactor of children a lot of centuries.