Favorite foods for Christmas, according to Good Housekeeping author Susan Choung, include roasted potatoes (76%), mashed potatoes (75%), turkey (73%), bread or rolls (70%), and stuffing or dressing (70%). Ms. Choung pointed out that this list was from a 2020 YouGov poll that closely resembles the typical traditional Thanksgiving menu. She, however, has her personal preferences: “I’m dreaming,” she said, “of a white Christmas and a holiday menu that features a big hunk of beef, creamed spinach and baked potatoes.”
Take a poll from among your circle of family/friends. It could closely resemble the Good Housekeeping list or vary widely. I suspect you have your own personal preference for your Christmas menu. As families grow, or blend, personal choices—sometimes influenced by medical/dietary needs—change over time. Such changes can become a challenge for planning Christmas Dinner.
My family held onto traditional Christmas culinary choices. My maternal grandmother added raisins and coconut to the sweet potato casserole. She also topped it with brown sugar and roasted pecans. Paige, my late wife, and I added a Christmas Eve menu that I came to enjoy a great deal — oyster stew, served with crackers, and a cheese ball alongside. A cranberry juice cocktail topped off the meal. It was a perfect repast before going to church for Christmas Eve worship.
Another food tradition accommodated the visit from Old St. Nick. We adopted the Christmas morning brunch. Naturally, the first thing Christmas morning was seeing and enjoying what Santa brought during the night! Food was not anywhere near the minds of the children! Finding, opening, playing with, and enjoying toys dominated the attention and activities of everyone.
Combining food preparation with Christmas morning fun was made easier with a sausage/cheese/egg casserole, prepared the night before. It could then be popped into the oven to feed hungry mouths without fanfare and was ready at a convenient point as hunger pangs beckoned toward the tempting smell of that casserole baking. Santa sometimes happened to drop off a lagniappe, such as Krispy Kreme donuts, much to great rejoicing among the natives!
We get excited, and sometimes critical of the food fare at Christmas. Fun, food, and joyful festivity need not chafe or destroy the holy holiday. Good planning and managed expectations are essentials in celebrating this special time of the year. Whatever your food preferences that are served at Christmas, those tantalizing aromas arising from the kitchen linger for a lifetime.
©Copyright Willis H. Moore 2024