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Post by Jaga on Dec 18, 2005 18:18:34 GMT -7
My inlaws are doing usually the same food for Christmas as for Thanksgiving - that means turkey with the same ingredients which are typical for Thanksgiving - cranberry sauce, broccoli-cheese salad, backed potatoes etc.
But sometimes they bake ham instead of turkey
Is there anything characteristic about Christmas which is done differently than on Thanksgiving but I am not aware of?
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Post by suzanne on Dec 18, 2005 18:37:10 GMT -7
Jaga, Many American families do indeed have a Thanksgiving-type meal at Christmas complete with roast turkey, cranberry sauce, even pumpkin pies. I guess it's because people associate that meal with a big, festive family gathering, and cranberries and all that are still in season in December and relatively cheap and easy to find (at least in this part of the US they are).
Some people cook ham or a big roast beef (that's what my mother always prepared) and when my husband was a child, my mother-in-law always made lasagna for Christmas - very nontraditional, but she hates to cook and it was the easiest way she knew of to feed 12 people! I've heard of some families that prepare a very traditional Christmas meal of roast goose and plum pudding.
I guess the main differences are in the desserts: fruitcake, Christmas cookies, and other desserts that are traditions in some families. I can't really say there is any "typical" American Christmas meal, since every family is different and has their own traditions.
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Post by gardenmoma on Dec 18, 2005 22:51:16 GMT -7
Yes...since the U.S. is composed of many different nationalities (and religions!) there is no real typical Christmas meal or traditions. I really can't remember what we had as kids except for lots of candy (we didn't get a lot on a regular basis) and soda (pop)! We did a lot of visiting and it seemed as if we ate no matter where we went Kielbasa, of course... I can't even remember now what I cooked when the kids were little...probably turkey as this is my husband's favorite. My friend (with whom we shared many Christmases) always makes a crown roast of pork ; My daughter will make aomething unsual if she is not working...one year she found a source for "organic goose" (I was not there that year!); other times her mother-in-law (who knows many hunters) will make venison (she calls this "happy meat" because the deer have lived free); my son and his wife cook either a roast of beef for the red meat eater or something like Cornish hens for those who do not. My middle daughter does not celebrate Christmas So, Jaga...you see we are all over the place as far as food traditions go for Christmas Day...now Wilia which is more important to me than the day itself is very traditional...either my daughter or I do it. She tends to be a little more creative with the menu than I am
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Post by rdywenur on Dec 19, 2005 4:47:44 GMT -7
Well we do turkey on Thanksgiving and ham on Christmas. We will usually have mashed potatoes, kapusta and veggies of some sort with a salad. My mom up until last Christmas made a soup that was a beef stock with baby peirogies filled with meat (ground up beef from the shanks she made the broth from) smaznego..yummm. Aslo she wil make the beets with horseradish . I must learn to make this while I have the oportunity still for her to share recipe with.
Now if you are Italian they will have that for dinner also (no kapusta but some sort of soup) and throw in a lasagna with all that would go with that meal. Personally. I always felt that was way too much food to deal with and then think of the people just wishing to have something to eat at all.
A few years back my SIL decided to go off track. She had been going to agourmet cooking class and made a rib roast and all this fancy stuff along with a eggnog tiramusu all excellent and very tasty but it just was not the same for me. I felt I missed my Christmas meal.
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Post by justjohn on Dec 19, 2005 5:25:16 GMT -7
Ham is for Easter, Turkey for Thanksgiving and Prime Rib Roast for Christmas. that's a very Yankee way of celebrating.
In our house nothing beats a good rib roast on Christmas Day !!!! Everybody and their brother will stop by and sit at the table and share our blessings.
Now all I need is Zubrowkaaaaa !!!!!
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Post by Jaga on Dec 19, 2005 12:42:23 GMT -7
Thanks all for your help to figure out what a typical Christmas dinner is. It looks as like the Thanksgiving that is close to Christmas is more unique than Christmas itself in American culture. Nothing wrong about it.
We do not have Thanksgiving in Poland so we have a unique Cbristmas!
As for the cookies, we also have ginger cookies for Christmas - all sorts of 'pierniki" or lebkuchen.
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piwo
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Post by piwo on Dec 19, 2005 20:17:51 GMT -7
Well, the assortment of Christmas cookies that are a staple here is staggering. My mom used to make at least 10 different types of cookies each year (besides those chrusciki). My second favorite cookie was her cookie that was made with apricots and nuts... BARDZO SMACZNY!
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franek80
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Post by franek80 on Dec 20, 2005 14:47:24 GMT -7
Piwo; Do you guys make RUGALA and KOLACZKI
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Post by Jaga on Dec 20, 2005 18:24:51 GMT -7
Piwo; Do you guys make RUGALA and KOLACZKI Frank, do you mean rogale (twisted bread)? Kolaczki - my family did not call it that way but here we have recipes. The article with the recipes is one of the most popular: culture.polishsite.us/articles/art179.htmlTwo Recipes for kolaczki, kolacki, kolachki or kolaczky
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piwo
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Post by piwo on Dec 20, 2005 21:21:55 GMT -7
Piwo; Do you guys make RUGALA and KOLACZKI Niestety żadnego. I've enjoyed both at friends, and at the Polish Falcons annual festival. My mother did not make either however. Mom still makes a bread (we don't know any Polish name for it but my Babcia always made it): mom always called it egg bread because it got it's yellow color from the egg yolks. It had a dark brown crust, was yellow inside, and there were raisins. She still makes it, and I will get the recipe from her so that someone still knows how to make it in the future....
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Post by gardenmoma on Dec 20, 2005 21:50:52 GMT -7
kolaczki, kolacki, kolachki or kolaczky? My aunt (godmother) use to make these by the hundreds - hers were very small and her four sons use to come in and grab handsful to eat. Rugala typically thought of as a Jewish desert / pastry. I've never made them. I have my aunt's recipe for the kolachi if anyone wants to give them a try. I never could make mine as tiny as hers.
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Post by Jaga on Dec 21, 2005 11:52:37 GMT -7
Gardenmoma,
if you could share this recipe with us maybe we should add it to the article with kolachki
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piwo
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Post by piwo on Dec 23, 2005 12:07:50 GMT -7
Jaga is traveling to Texas. They have kolache festivals there, as there is a large Czech community, and they claim the Kolache as theirs as well. www.byelectric.com/~tabor/Links.htmlI've talked to a few people who have attended some of these and they loved it. Those in the Plano TX area need to support "For You European Cafe" just off the Plano parkway. The lady who runs it is from Warszawa, and many of their dishes are strictly Polish. When I would travel there on business, my cousin who lives there would meet me, and we'd ask the owner to cook us up plates of only Polish food. She now has that plate on the menu!
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franek80
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Post by franek80 on Dec 23, 2005 17:56:02 GMT -7
Jaga, Gardenmomma is right.. Rugula is a Jewish delicacy. But also made in Poland especially in Galicia. The yellow bread that Piwo talks about is also Jewish. It is a twisted bread called challa. OK, here you go. Refer to this website. WWW.mymothersdelicacies.com
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franek80
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Post by franek80 on Dec 23, 2005 18:16:51 GMT -7
NANCY; Ty bylas taka dobra do mnie tem caly rok. To ja ciebie posylam cie (PRESENT) RUGALA. dostanies drogi tydzien... HA HA You will like this. Get your dictionary out Oj, ale ten franus dzisiaj jest niespotny
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