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Most overrated holiday food

fresco

By fresco
in Food Traditions & Culture

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Jason Perlow

Jason Perlow

Posted
Posted
That green bean casserole with the cream of mushroom soup and the canned fried onions. What's up with that?

I actually LIKE that.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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Jaymes

Jaymes

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Posted
That green bean casserole with the cream of mushroom soup and the canned fried onions.  What's up with that?

I actually LIKE that.

You know, a lot of people must. It's certainly popular enough. I guess I just need to try harder. I'm about nothing if not tradition. :biggrin:

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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Larry

Larry

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Posted
Turkey.

I'm with you on that. Glad to hear that someone else shares my feelings about this meat, no one in my family understands!

I do love fruitcake though, every year we try out new combiantions. This year, my mom soaked currants, gloden raisins, dried pears and dried sour cherries in port and rum for a few weeks and then used those in the cake. It's also being "basted" every few days, cannot wait to try it!

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Mabelline

Mabelline

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Posted
Flavored coffees. Irish cream is meant to come from a bottle and then directly into a shot glass in the bottom of a Guinness, not a pre-ground bean. And calling it Creme de Eirland doesn't make it any better.

Flavored coffee to me means Crown Royal in coffee :smile:

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Mabelline

Mabelline

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Brilliant way to divest one's self of Fruitcake, in my opionion.

:laugh: Can be used as a weapon...

Apparently so, as you are no longer allowed to take them on airplanes in your carry-on luggage.

:smile::biggrin::laugh: OKAY, lady, just drop the fruitcake. I said, DROP THE FRUITCAKE!!!

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jsolomon

jsolomon

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Apparently so, as you are no longer allowed to take them on airplanes in your carry-on luggage.

:smile::biggrin::laugh: OKAY, lady, just drop the fruitcake. I said, DROP THE FRUITCAKE!!!

I always attempt to have the ratio of my intelligence to weight ratio be greater than one. But, I am from the midwest. I am sure you can now understand my life's conundrum.

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Susan in FL

Susan in FL

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Posted

Nice avatar, Jeffy. And

Oh yeah, mincemeat!
... oh yeah, mincemeat! Gross.

I have to disagree with placing all eggnogs on the list. I'll look for my late father's recipe, and post it if I can find it. Maybe there would be some converts. It is decadently good.

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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fresco

fresco

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  • Topic Starter
Posted
And why were punches invented?

Ah, but come and try Mexican ponches. Sheer heaven

Rachel

Everything tastes better in Mexico. Except Nescafe. Not even the Mexican ambience can improve that. :wink:

Arthur Johnson, aka "fresco"
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TrishCT

TrishCT

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Posted

Candy Canes!

The full size ones... Can't eat a whole one... Too sweet and sometimes too hot and not worth the risk of cracking a tooth...

Since they are a popular decoration in our house, I usually end up using some of them crushed in truffles. But on the next workday after Christmas...I'll be bringing 2 dozen uneaten ones into my office.

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sherribabee

sherribabee

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Anything with Jell-O in it. Jell-O is vile. I always regard the bringers of the Jell-O with a bit of suspicion. It's obvious that they're out to get me. I mean, why else would they bring it? Does anyone actually like that stuff?

*gag*

And any pre-packaged stuff that is made "special" for the holidays. Red & green M&Ms, red & green Oreos, etc.

Sherri A. Jackson
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robyn

robyn

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Posted
Candy Canes!

The full size ones... Can't eat a whole one... Too sweet and sometimes too hot and not worth the risk of cracking a tooth...

Since they are a popular decoration in our house, I usually end up using some of them crushed in truffles. But on the next workday after Christmas...I'll be bringing 2 dozen uneaten ones into my office.

For what it's worth - if you don't take the wrapping off - candy canes will last in your cupboard for a looooooong time (years and years). So don't even try to eat them - just save them for the next decade's decorations. Robyn

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robyn

robyn

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Anything with Jell-O in it.  Jell-O is vile.  I always regard the bringers of the Jell-O with a bit of suspicion.  It's obvious that they're out to get me.  I mean, why else would they bring it?  Does anyone actually like that stuff?

*gag*....

Jello looks mighty good when you're prepping for a colonoscopy :smile: .

But here's a recipe you might like to serve with turkey:

Dissolve 1 pack Cherry Jello in 1 cup boiling water. When cool add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1/2 pint sour cream, 1 can drained cubed pineapple, and 1 can whole cranberries. Mix. Chill in mold until firm. Unmold and serve.

Like my husband says - anything with sour cream and nuts can't be that bad :smile: .

I really like to do a lot of "retro" cooking for the holidays. But if an old favorite doesn't taste good - work with it until it does (e.g., I have a half dozen recipes for sweet potatoes - and you'll never find a marshmallow). Robyn

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FistFullaRoux

FistFullaRoux

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Two words that should never ever be mentioned together. Congealed Salad. I have been known to enjoy a serving of jello on occasion. But not with half the produce department and a dollop of mayo added. <shudder>

And I don't mind egg nog. I quite like the stuff to tell the truth. One Christmas party I went to a few years back showed me a great trick to use with egg nog. To keep it cold, drop a whole pint of vanilla ice cream, right out of the carton, into the bowl. It doesn't dilute the flavor, a little extra cream never hurt anyone, and it did keep the bowl nicely chilled for the duration of the party.

Marshmallows are only good for rocky road ice cream, fluffernutters, and s'mores. That's it. If you are ever tempted to add it to canned yams, somebody should hide your oven mitts.

My best example of overrated holiday food is ribbon candy. They taste horrible, the candy itself sticks to your dental work, and the color combination is obnoxious. Also add anything that's made with that same sticky type of candy.

Screw it. It's a Butterball.
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Alex

Alex

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Posted
Okay, here's one to balance out all the goyishe stuff:

CHANUKAH GELT.

I mean, why eat shitty chocolate that is a major pain in the ass to eat? Its enclosed in these rediculous foil wrappers that you need to have dragon nails to open. And by the time you get it open its all melty from you handling it, or the stuff is so old that its totally bloomed out.

Is there GOOD chanukah gelt out there? I doubt it.

EDIT: Okay maybe these are decent:

http://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/php...W=hanukkah_gelt

I've had them; they're not bad. Expensive, though. I'd wait and see if they show up at TJ Maxx or Marshall's after the holiday.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

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Alex

Alex

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Posted

I actually like everything that's been mentioned in this thread except for fruitcake, Jello salad, ribbon candy, and mincemeat. Is there something wrong with me? Wait, don't answer that...

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

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megaira

megaira

Posted
Posted (edited)

Ditto candy canes and ribbon candy.

Thanks to Food Finds, I now know Michelle's Candy in Colorado Springs still makes the stuff the old fashioned way, stretching it by hand, working in the color, etc. Looks like a heck of a lot of hard work for the end result. Usually I can get myself pysched up to try something from learning more about it. I had no desire to go buy myself a box of ribbon candy after watching. ETA - actually, the more I think of shedding skin cells and this guy wrapping the candy around his bare arm over and over again and pulling it...

I like eggnog, pudding (yes, the rum sauce plays a significant factor) and sometimes fruitcake, but I'm unclear whether or not this is my tastebuds or nostalgia speaking.

I don't get, along with many of the other things mentioned, gingerbread houses. You're not *really* supposed to eat them, are you? Tell me everyone just throws them out at the end of the holidays? I've had the sugar monkey on my back since I was a donut munching 3 year old. The gingerbread house was often the only fix I could get my hands on before Christmas...so I'd break off pieces of it out of desperation. It was disgusting.

I do not, also, get marzipan. It does defy the "don't play with your food" rule, but I'm not planning on eating it anyway.

Toblerone & Russel Stovers (?) chocolate oranges. They're not technically "holiday," but they do seem to stock those suckers to the roof at Cost Plus before Christmas. The chocolate orange itself, I got. Chocolate and orange is a nice combo, and it's shaped like an orange and how clever, you can whack it and it falls into slices! Because...it's an orange and chocolate. Get it? hahahaha.

But. Now we have a rasberry chocolate orange with no orange in it...but it's still shaped like an orange. Oh, and lime flavor. And the lime is also shaped like an orange. They not only taste awful, but they don't make sense. :sad:

Edited by megaira (log)

". . . if waters are still, then they can't run at all, deep or shallow."

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