Holiday Dishes for The End of the Year (Thanksgiving Onwards)

To celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Solstice, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Hogmanay.  And any other date you want to celebrate, whether for familial, spiritual, traditional, or friendship reasons.  After all, any Holiday is what YOU make it to be.  I apologize that the Canadian Thanksgiving is over by now, but there was only so soon towards the end of this year that I wanted to set this up.  (I have to see if I can fit Saturnalia in here, too!)

In other words:  Happy Holidays!  Plural, for any and all!  I find it hard to be politically correct and just concern myself with… just one occasion.  Not with so many flavor bombs out there!  Or a variety of spiritual endeavors, or a plethora of various family occasions and connections (and confections).

Photo by Ekaterina Bolovtsova on Pexels.com

These are listed roughly in seasonal order.  Desserts will be listed at the end.  I don’t have a standard meal for holidays, other than Thanksgiving, and the fact that the Feast of Seven Fishes (Christmas Eve) needs to contain at least SOME fish (not necessarily seven as these days I usually don’t eat that meal with others, AND because fish up where I currently live is, well, marginal).  As for Thanksgiving, I’ve typically been at other homes or locales where the hosts are providing the Turkey.  But as of this year, there’s a recipe for a small heritage-breed pastured turkey here.  The other exception being the Year of the Broken Ankle (see the first recipe). 

I am however eager to make Mom’s stuffing and gravy, and this shows up this year!  She used the giblets.  The gravy certainly NEEDS the giblets, and doesn’t need to be pulverized into a pallid pasty creamy  nothing, either. USE the drippings from the turkey, please!  (My ex-sister-in-law liked the awful stuff from jars.  You know, the wallpaper substitute mess they serve at school cafeterias.  Mom, Dad and I shuddered at that.)

EDIT:  I am getting a small heirloom turkey this year, but I won’t be cooking it until after this is posted.  I’ll add it in here, and plan to re-blog this post periodically.

Also, we never grew up with any dish that was specific to Christmas day itself.  Hey, one year we even dined out at a Chinese restaurant!  Another year it was a suckling pig, which I would include here except that I’ve never made one myself.  (Dad named it Daisy, which freaked out the teen next door, whose family had joined us for dinner… She became vegetarian for the night…)  So I just found some fancier dishes for that meal.

As for New Years – to welcome in 2019, I went Soul Food / Southern style.  To welcome in 2020, I went Scottish / Hogmanay.  Both are reflected below.  For 2012, I’m going to an Italian New Year’s Day (not yet posted – or made).

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Basic Small Heritage Turkey

Braised Turkey Thighs.

Mom’s Poultry Dressing/Stuffing & Her Turkey Giblet Gravy

Roasted Brussels Sprout Casserole:  Bacon, Onion, Cranberry, Smoked Gouda.

Stuffed Delicata Squash: Apple, Cranberries, Onion

Stuffed Delicata Squash:  Potato, Cabbage, (optional) Thai Pepper

A Side with Turnips, Spaghetti Squash, Bacon, Cranberries.

Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes.

Scalloped Potatoes au Gratin with Cabbage and Onion.

Potato, Mushroom and Onion Casserole

Mashed Potatoes.  Add a pinch o’ nutmeg!  Thank you, Karl!

That Green Bean Casserole Dish (Fresh Ingredients).   Appearing  Monday.

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Liqueur.  A potent aperitif.

Sweet Potato Latkes.  Originally created the year Hanukkah coincided with Thanksgiving.  Won’t happen again in any of our lifetimes, but a great dish for either holiday.

Eyerlekh  – Unborn Chicken Egg Soup.  Probably not many will make this (or the next one these days) for any holiday, but…

With Boar’s Head in Hand Come I (Cambodian Pork Head).  Taking that song literally.  Old English Yuletide, even if this is a Khmer recipe.

The Salad of the Seven Fishes.  All in one swell foop.

Dad’s Salmon Tartare.  When he was making this, it came out every Christmas Eve.  (And on other occasions.)

Seven Fishes (NOT Italian) 2016: Smoked salmon, smoked trout, tobico, marinated herring, yellowfin tuna sashimi, eel, smelts.   But following Dad’s lead.

A Tale of Four Fishes:  Lobster, Salmon Roe, Tuna Sashimi, Eel.

Greek Broiled Eel with Ladolemono Dressing.

This was a truly yummy delight!

Italian Red Snapper / Green Sauce.  (Do use less oil!)

Baked Ham with Mustard, Balsamic Reduction, Maple Syrup, Cloves.

Sous Vide Beef Bottom Round Steak (& Tangy Gravy Sauce) – Whole30

Eye of Round Roast

New World Tamales – Vegan: Beans, Squash and Arbol Chilis  – A Mexican Christmas tradition.

New World Tamales – Turkey & Tomato A Mexican Christmas tradition.

Just Ducky, Part I. Duck Breast

Just Ducky, Part IV: Baked Duck Breast with Shiitake

Soul Food:  Trotters/Pigs’ Feet.

Soul/Southern Collards and Ham Hocks.

Vegetarian Ethiopian Black-Eyed Pea Stew.

Soul Food:  Black-Eyed Peas with Collards Soup/Stew.

Scottish Cock-a-Leekie Soup.  With a real cock.  Or at least, a real cockerel.

Cock-a-leekie soup, a warming Scottish meal.

Forfar Bridies. (Hopefully this recipe will be linked here by the end of November, for the Feast of St. Andrew, as well as Hogmanay.  BUT it looks like sometime in December, now.)

Scottish Skirlie Mash.

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The desserts are alphabetical.  They’re simply good ones that go at any time.  Currently, apparently the only type of pies I make seem to have meat in them, so pies for T-Day are not probably going to happen here.  I am always grateful that desserts are at the end of the meal, so I can decline: “I’m satiated, I cannot eat another bite!”  Sugar, frankly, is an over-rated condiment.  

Apple & Plum Buttermilk Upside Down Cake with Fresh Fruit

Banana Strawberry Cake.

Dark Chocolate Covered Blueberry Clusters.  (Gluten-free).

Flourless Chocolate Cake.  (Gluten-free).

Melomakaroma: Greek Christmas Cookies with Almonds and Chocolate.  This one is specifically FOR Christmas, and thus will be posted closer to that date, and will be linked back here as well.  (No, I haven’t made this yet.)

Pear Upside Down Cake with Buttermilk.

Scottish Shortbread.

Yiaourtopita: A Greek Yogurt Cake.

AND – HAPPY HOLIDAYS, ONE AND ALL!

Shared with:

Fiesta Friday – co host:  Jhuls@The Not So Creative Cook

Full Plate Thursday

What’s for Dinner?  Sunday Link Up.  

Homestead Blog Hop.

Farm Fresh Tuesdays.

 

 

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