What did you have for supper on Christmas Eve when you were growing up? Do you keep up the tradition of the eating the same thing now with your family?
Oscraps
Christmas Eve Supper
- Thread starter Buddy the O' Elf
- Start date
Veronika
Well-Known Member
In Germany, Christmas with gift-giving is on December 24th. Traditionally, in the afternoon there was always Dresden Stollen and Christmas cookies, in the evening Saxon potato salad with sausages, beetroot salad, celery salad.
On December 25th and 26th, there was always turkey and goose with potato dumplings and red cabbage.
Now I'm keeping up the tradition of potato salad and sausages on December 24th;
on the 25th and 26th, there are always potato dumplings with red cabbage and roulades.
On December 25th and 26th, there was always turkey and goose with potato dumplings and red cabbage.
Now I'm keeping up the tradition of potato salad and sausages on December 24th;
on the 25th and 26th, there are always potato dumplings with red cabbage and roulades.
Christmas Eve is always at my parents' house, ever since I was a kid. That meal starts with snacks and appetizers. Always need the teeny-weenies- meat and vegan options. Quichess. My mom insists on making a lagana and ham with all of the sides. We fill up there and then roll out the door. Next. we head to my brother-in-law's and eat and drink until we burst.
BoatLady
Well-Known Member
Christmas Eve was always a big deal for my family. It was my grandmothers, my dad and a cousin's birthday. So we always had a big family gathering that got larger as we married and started families. Turkey, ham and all the sides plus a birthday cake. Then we opened presents with family that we would not see during the rest of the the holidays. Then a wrapping paper-snowball fight was started so it was family chaos.
Oh yum, Veronika, even though I'm not sure what all of it is it sounds WAAYYY better than what we had on Christmas Eve. That's wonderful to see that you are keeping some of the traditions going. The current menu sounds wonderful too.
We usually went to friends' house to celebrate.
OMG,
we had oyster stew or I actually had hot oyster flavored milk with a little butter in it and some oyster crackers. I would pick out the oysters and give them to my brother, he loved them, everybody loved them except me. I don't know how old I was when I realized you could get so called "fresh" for Minnesota anyway oysters that didn't come out of a can. We didn't open gifts Christmas Eve, but went to midnight Mass, came home had a kolache and went to bed. For years we'd get up and go to 8 AM Mass Christmas morning.
There are a lot of things I didn't eat as a kid that I do eat now so one year I decided to resurrect the Christmas Eve tradition, got fresh oysters, made oyster stew, we had our candelit meal at the dining room table , you know one of the two times a year we use it, and had our meal. We all ate it and then my husband and son both said, ok, we tried the tradition, but you never have to do that again , and I 200% agreed . Now I make a gigantic pot of Greek Lemon Chicken and winner, winner, chicken supper, even though there's not a speck of Greek anywhere in our family line, we've been doine it ever since.
I have tried Oysters Rockerfeller in Key West and they are incredible, but then everything in Key West is.
we had oyster stew or I actually had hot oyster flavored milk with a little butter in it and some oyster crackers. I would pick out the oysters and give them to my brother, he loved them, everybody loved them except me. I don't know how old I was when I realized you could get so called "fresh" for Minnesota anyway oysters that didn't come out of a can. We didn't open gifts Christmas Eve, but went to midnight Mass, came home had a kolache and went to bed. For years we'd get up and go to 8 AM Mass Christmas morning.There are a lot of things I didn't eat as a kid that I do eat now so one year I decided to resurrect the Christmas Eve tradition, got fresh oysters, made oyster stew, we had our candelit meal at the dining room table , you know one of the two times a year we use it, and had our meal. We all ate it and then my husband and son both said, ok, we tried the tradition, but you never have to do that again , and I 200% agreed . Now I make a gigantic pot of Greek Lemon Chicken and winner, winner, chicken supper, even though there's not a speck of Greek anywhere in our family line, we've been doine it ever since.
I have tried Oysters Rockerfeller in Key West and they are incredible, but then everything in Key West is.
Oh, that sounds really good, Veronika, we're all really tired on the 25th & 26th so we have grilled gingerbread & peppermint sandwiches-
Teeny weenie what? Teenie weenie cookies ? Teenie weenie rotini? Ham, sides AND lasagna , wow that's even more than Santa eats, are those things teenie weenie or are they regular size ? Then you go somewhere ELSE and eat? I see why humans can't fly.
Christmas Eve is a very big deal for us too, but I'm sure you already knew that. Does the cake have a lot of frosting? I REALLY like frosting ! That's so fun that you shared opening some presents with family you would not see , it always more fun to see a person's face when they open a gift.
Hmmm, Mrs. Claus always says if you can't think of anything nice to say........I need some hot cocoa.......it was very nice of you to share the oysters with your brother, I'm sure he really enjoyed them. I bet milk and crackers tastes a little bit like milk & cookies. Kolaches sound good though. I'm glad you tried the oyster stew again as a grown up and that your husband and son were good sports. I bet you ate lots of cookies after. The soup you make now sounds really, really good.OMG,
There are a lot of things I didn't eat as a kid that I do eat now so one year I decided to resurrect the Christmas Eve tradition, got fresh oysters, made oyster stew, we had our candelit meal at the dining room table , you know one of the two times a year we use it, and had our meal. We all ate it and then my husband and son both said, ok, we tried the tradition, but you never have to do that again , and I 200% agreed . Now I make a gigantic pot of Greek Lemon Chicken and winner, winner, chicken supper, even though there's not a speck of Greek anywhere in our family line, we've been doine it ever since.
I have tried Oysters Rockerfeller in Key West and they are incredible, but then everything in Key West is.
AK_Tracy
Well-Known Member
We always traded years with friends. One year our house one year their house, back and forth. The dinner was never the same. It could be tradition to non. The only thing the same was the gifts. We always got new jammies that night to wear. it was so fun. I did it with my kids up until my daughter married and started adding her own kids LOL
Now Christmas Eve is whatever I feel like and usually themed. Last year was Chinese food, all made from scratch. The egg rolls were the best. This year our friend (adopted family) requested traditional prime rib and sides. Next year I'm thinking Mexican and Margaritas.
Now Christmas Eve is whatever I feel like and usually themed. Last year was Chinese food, all made from scratch. The egg rolls were the best. This year our friend (adopted family) requested traditional prime rib and sides. Next year I'm thinking Mexican and Margaritas.
That sounds very yummy . You are very organized to already be planning ahead to next year. Mis. Claus has a best friend who would be planning ahead by drinking the Margaritas this year and Mrs. Claus would join her after Christmas. I'm not sure what they are but they always seem to laugh a lot when they have them.
scrap-genie
Well-Known Member
My family didn't have any Christmas Eve special, everything was on Christmas Day. After my brother married we went to his house for the 24th when his kids opened gifts and as they grew up I went to DH's aunt's house but as great a cook as she was, I don't remember the food then. Now it's just the two of us and we do now have a special dinner that I scrapped about back a ways.
That sounds really really yummy.
If we're not traveling, Christmas Eve we open our stockings and watch the movie Elf. It's just me and my husband (and our kitty). It's a nice quiet evening at home. We don't have a specific meal on Christmas Eve - just whatever we feel like that year. Christmas Day we make a small homemade lasagna and for us along with an apple crumble. When we lived in Florida, we would cruise during the holidays and leave the cooking and cleaning to someone else. 
GraceJ
Well-Known Member
My mother is a professional chef, although she doesn't cook anymore because of her age, but when I was a child I would wake up to the smell of walnut cake, butter cake with candied orange, and hot chocolate with milk, in addition to making a delicious creme brulee, to which my sister and I would add a drizzle of eggnog - always secretly, but our mother always caught us because we ended up with very pretty red cheeks
Christmas dinner always consisted of all kinds of fish, turkey, and marinated pork, which we accompanied with mashed potatoes, various salads, and of course, a lot of cookies and wine-soaked gummies. So it was no wonder our celebrations attracted more people, and they kept getting bigger. When I turned 20, I remember we closed off the street where we lived, with police permission, put up lanterns with all the neighbors' help, decorated, and shared a giant dinner in one of the neighbors' garages. It turned out he had built a mega garage to store his motor home, his tractor, and two cars. So, days before Christmas Eve, we all went to decorate his garage, and all of us brought the food that we placed on a makeshift table with planks that the neighbor himself made. Others brought drinks 
, and one even felt like DJing 
. The police visited us several times during the night, just to check that we didn't need anything and that everything was alright, and we always took the opportunity to offer them something to eat, because they didn't be allowed to drink, we celebrated till the sunrise, and it was one of the best Christmas that I remember.
I love Christmas, actually I'm a Christmas junkie
, because of all the good memories I have, and because it was always a big celebration, until I got married. You, who live in the European North Pole like me, know that parties with music aren't exactly what happens, and well, celebrations here are reduced to good meals, I can't deny it, but in silence, or some trivial conversation before to leave, so my siblings and I video call each other, we've even celebrated Christmas via video call, and when we can, we travel, get together and celebrate as much as we can, many of the people where my mother currently has her house are still very close friends, and sometimes we've celebrated Christmas and New Year's together with 3 or four families, of course my mom cannot cook and bake, but my sisters and I try to bake all those things that learned from our mom.
Christmas dinner always consisted of all kinds of fish, turkey, and marinated pork, which we accompanied with mashed potatoes, various salads, and of course, a lot of cookies and wine-soaked gummies
. So it was no wonder our celebrations attracted more people, and they kept getting bigger. When I turned 20, I remember we closed off the street where we lived, with police permission, put up lanterns with all the neighbors' help, decorated, and shared a giant dinner in one of the neighbors' garages. It turned out he had built a mega garage to store his motor home, his tractor, and two cars. So, days before Christmas Eve, we all went to decorate his garage, and all of us brought the food that we placed on a makeshift table with planks that the neighbor himself made. Others brought drinks , and one even felt like DJing . The police visited us several times during the night, just to check that we didn't need anything and that everything was alright, and we always took the opportunity to offer them something to eat, because they didn't be allowed to drink, we celebrated till the sunrise, and it was one of the best Christmas that I remember.I love Christmas, actually I'm a Christmas junkie
, because of all the good memories I have, and because it was always a big celebration, until I got married. You, who live in the European North Pole like me, know that parties with music aren't exactly what happens, and well, celebrations here are reduced to good meals, I can't deny it, but in silence, or some trivial conversation before to leave, so my siblings and I video call each other, we've even celebrated Christmas via video call, and when we can, we travel, get together and celebrate as much as we can, many of the people where my mother currently has her house are still very close friends, and sometimes we've celebrated Christmas and New Year's together with 3 or four families, of course my mom cannot cook and bake, but my sisters and I try to bake all those things that learned from our mom.
Teeny weenies AKA Cocktail Hot Dogs. Although one year, my niece called them Tiny Weenies and we occasionally tease her about that.
