I want to hear about all fall/winter celebrations including Jewish holidays, Kwaanza and others. Two things I cannot get enough of are HoneyBaked hams (often imitated but never duplicated) and homemade cornbread dressing with mushrooms and oysters. I used to add sage sausage but that was overkill IMO. last year, I complained on boards about retailers going overboard with pumpkin flavored foods but this year, I can't get enough pumpkin LOL!
I miss Honeybaked Ham. The one near me closed down a couple years ago. They also had fantastic boxed lunches that they should have advertised better because they were a great deal. You could get a ham sandwich on a roll, a couple of sides like pasta salad or coleslaw, a can of pop and a large cookie all for like $5 or so. Their brand of BBQ sauce that they sell there is also excellent on a ham, if you wish to cook it yourself at home instead. I would say it's a tie between the stuffing and mashed potatoes. I eat a ton of both on Thanksgiving to the point where I can barely move around. I had never heard of an oyster based stuffing until recently, but would love to try that some time, if I can find a good deal on oysters somewhere. I have had it with sausage, and that's delicious too, but unfortunately my family is more of a chicken stove top stuffing type of crowd.
I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so I would say Christmas pudding and log cake. I always try and save some room for dessert during holiday feasts, it's my favorite course of all! I am getting a little tired of Thanksgiving turkey though. I'm tempted to opt for something less traditional like roast duck/goose this year
My favorite side dish is stuffing. I love it! So carby and delicious. I like all thanksgiving sides, though. It's my favorite holiday. No gifts just food and family/friends. I voted sometimes in the poll. I do make pumpkin bread and make pumpkin pies this time of year but I don't go all out and drink a pumpkin latte every day or anything
For Thanksgiving sometimes I will go all out with the "traditional" meal with a few twists, a nice turkey and sage stuffing, raspberry cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes included in one way or another. Around Yule I like to give a little nod to our Italian roots for the feast of seven fishes. I love that it's something "different" from what might come to mind for most people and I love seafood, so it all works out well .
Some may consider it weird but my favorite side dish is macaroni and cheese. There are some that eat mac n cheese as a main dish but from my background it has always been side. We simply can't get enough of the cheesy goodness in every single bite!
I usually like some kind of broccoli au gratin casserole. I don't usually make this myself but I have had it a number of times at holiday parties and gatherings. Well Christmas cookies are super of course...who can do without them at holiday time? They are one of the things that makes the holidays special. I will make some...I haven't decided what kind yet though.
I have to agree I love stuffing too. I make it with cranberrries, green apple chunk, sausage meat, onions. The cranberries add some sweetness to the stuffing while the apples add some bite and tartness. I add lots of poultry seasoning and sage. I usually make extra so that we can eat it the week after Christmas.
The most common entree to serve here during celebrations is roast pig where the whole pig is cooked and presented and the skin becomes really crispy. It gets very expensive though especially on the holiday seasons, so not all families buy it and probably not only because of the price but also the effort it takes to make sure you get your orders in time for your parties or celebrations since you also have to consider transport and how busy the shops are preparing these during the season. Aside from this, just regular ham is also a staple during celebrations here, but it's not really one of my favorites even though I would take a bite or two when it's there.
Me what I like is potato and macaroni salad. This Thanksgiving my Cousin brought us some food, you see my Mom isn't as mobile as she'd like to be, so he helps us and kind of sees to us! He surprised us with some goodies from a party he went to. The potato & macaroni salad with real crab was an early Christmas present. Mom and I enjoyed the party tray he brought for us-God bless and protect my cousin Paul! Happy Holidays!
I don't think anyone can relate with our favorite entree called Menudo - that's pork belly and pork liver stewed in tomato sauce with lots of garlic and spices. With the side dish, hmm, I can't think of a favorite. But during holidays, we always have fruit salad. If that can be considered a side dish, I guess that is the favorite only of ours but also for any house you enter. As they say, fruit salad is the dessert of the season.
Cranberry sauce and stuffing are in a neck-and-neck race for me. But I probably lean slightly more toward cranberry sauce. I love sour/tart foods and it hits the spot every time. I don’t care if it’s canned (but whole berry, please), homemade, whatever, I could eat it all day. Apparently this is weird. Oh well.
