Marthe, never having experienced a Thanksgiving Dinner (also never having been to the US), just a small query. Do you all go through the same turkey dinner menu at Christmas or does it never make appearance then?
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Anna, Christmas is pretty much the same menu as Thanksgiving minus the Pumpkin Pie. For my husband, turkey is obligatory for Christmas dinner because that's what his mother made every Christmas. On Boxing Day his family always had "warm-ups" which consisted of turkey, other left-overs, and gravy warmed up in a large casserole dish. At Christmas we also have Christmas cake (made locally by two English cousins who are doing business as The Two English Cousins.) Our freezer is usually well stocked with turkey soup after the holidays!Comment
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Thanks marthe for reply. Personally I steer clear of cooking turkey, boring, but one of the best things here (comparing your husband's warm-ups) is bubble & squeak, the sprouts, tatties and chestnuts all fried up together topped with a fried egg and bacon.Comment
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Nice tip, Anna - might try making a vegetarian B&S sometime, which I hadn't thought of before.Originally posted by Anna View Post
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Oh, 50% of the time I am vegetarian. The rest of the time I am absolutely disgraceful!Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostNice tip, Anna - might try making a vegetarian B&S sometime, which I hadn't thought of before.Comment
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I'm about 90% vegetarian, Anna - which to a true vegetarian means not a vegetarian at all. Strict vegetarians are often quite puritanical and literal in temperament, living up to a certain stereotype, I have found. All sorts of accusations were thrown at me when I admitted to eating meat once while helping prepare a vegetarian meal. "Haven't you ever heard carrots scream when you slice them up?" I asked my accuser. For a moment she gave me a stony stare, then calmly and kindly pointed out to me that plants, unlike animals, do not possess a central nervous system, and therefore can't scream.Originally posted by Anna View Post
I cook myself fish on Fridays and always have sardines on toast on another day of the week, given the evident benefits of oily fish. And I often give in to a BLT sandwich from a friendly little shop in Kennington, while cycling home from a lunchtime gig in central London. I tend to find that vegetarian food agrees better with my digestion than carnivorous. I also think I'm well-placed should agriculture have to be turned over more to crop production, which would both be more economical and better for the planet if done according to environmental principles.
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Anna, it really is turkey overload here at holiday time, but the turkey tradition holds sway. I'm really not a big meat eater but rather enjoy all the interesting side dishes, even if they're of the sprouts, carrots and turnips variety. Other members of the family can't live without having meat on the table. I work with a woman who is a vegan and is quite strict about what she eats and how it's cooked. Her husband eats meat with great abandon so M. has two sets of pots and pans so that there's no cross-contamination of her vegan food by pans in which meat has been cooked. She became quite ill once because she was served rice that had been cooked in meat broth.Comment
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marthe
What was Christmas like when you were a child? Has it always as important as Thanksgiving Day? I believe turkey came fairly recently to the UK. Wasn’t it goose not so long ago? Well, not so long ago when people when to Christmas market to buy special things for Christmas. About a hundred years ago
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Still got last years Xmas pud in larder....[thought you'd like to know]....
....tend to find at least one of my five a day ....in Carrot and also Dundee Cake....bong chingComment
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Definitely. I find counting the lime wedge in a gin and tonic helps also.Originally posted by eighthobstruction View PostComment
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wotcha eighthO .... how goes the universal greyness .... is it wet and windy in Yorkshire or just my pyjamas?According to the best estimates of astronomers there are at least one hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe.Comment
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In my ideal world, turkeys would not vote for christmasComment
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five veggies a day?Originally posted by eighthobstruction View Post
easy -
a cognac (grapes are a fruit)
a coffee (again, fruit)
- with sugar ( a vegetable) - and cream (made from grass, innit)
chocolate (again fruit)
a cigar (ain't tobacco a veggible??)
- so - a brandy with an irish coffee, a chocolate, and a ceeegar - that's your five-a-day sorted....
PS - those tempted by illegal substances - well, marijuana and heroin ( = opium ) and cocaine - all good healthy vegetarian possibilities...Comment
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doversoul,Originally posted by doversoul View Postmarthe
What was Christmas like when you were a child? Has it always as important as Thanksgiving Day? I believe turkey came fairly recently to the UK. Wasn’t it goose not so long ago? Well, not so long ago when people when to Christmas market to buy special things for Christmas. About a hundred years ago
Christmas was (and is) as important as Thanksgiving though the menu varies quite a bit depending on different family traditions.Turkey is always front and center for Thanksgiving. Chez m. We also have turkey for Christmas because this was traditional in my husband's family. When I lived in England in the 70s, I always did Thanksgiving dinner for friends and co-workers. The trick was finding a turkey a month early (also cranberries...usually frozen and imported from the US).Comment
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marthe
Thanks. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving Day. It sounds as if this is a very busy time for American housewives. How do they manage?!Comment
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