Most overrated holiday food

[nessa]

I know they used to be tratitional because fruit was so hard to get. An orange then was like a truffle now. Sugar was hard to come by so an orange was a delicacy. To me its just boring. I had oranges every morning.

My mom is of Scottish heritage. she put oranges and apples in there cause she is thrifty, and they are a cheap way to fill it up!

I LOVE oysters. Just.... not in stuffing!!!

Edited December 18, 2003 by nessa (log)

[elyse]

Ham -- must my family have it for both Christmas AND Easter?!

Ditto on the ham - most tasteless food known to man. Meat for people with severe sweet tooths and no tastebuds.

...depends on where you get your ham.

=R=

Damn straight!

[Gifted Gourmet]

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.

Jason, this is hysterically funny!

Thought only I disliked the stuff ...

Followed the link to Lake Champlain chocolates ... looks divine! Only problem will be getting the 240 piece package to last from Hanukkah to Tisha b'Av ....

[Arey]

Apples, Oranges and nuts.  I used to HATE getting that crap in my stockings.  Apples and oranges are mundane, not festive

My brother and I always got an orange in our Christmas Stockings. It probably goes back to the Victorian period, and earlier when oranges in Winter were a rare and expensive treat.

As for Creamed Onions, yuck!

Cranberries, are, I think, the most abused holiday foodstuff after onions.

[Huevos del Toro]

Baked sweet potatoes with all that marshmallow crap.

A savory souffle works great! I, too, dislike that smarmy marshmallow sweetness!

I made one for Thanksgiving and it turned out great.

[Huevos del Toro]

Ixnay on the ruitcakefay. Though I do recall Grandmother's being flamable and kinda fun. But those brightly colored, formaldehyde impregnated fruit bits? Ew.

Lebkuchen. Looks great. Tastes like hell. I'd rather some nice crisp gingersnaps, or gingerbread, not something inbetween

When I was a child my mother would make those disgusting fruit cakes, wrap them in brandy soaked cheesecloth and store them for a year. Late at night my brother and I would unwrap each one, squeeze the brandy out, drink it, and re-wrap them. I don't think she ever caught on! What awful children we were!

[Huevos del Toro]

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

I actually LIKE that.

Did Santa bring you therapy for Christmas?

[FoodMan]

Fresh chestnuts when roasted are sweet , soft not mushy and certainly not musty or mealy. In other words I love them.

Someone also mentioned bread pudding, what's not to like? I love making mine with chocolate chips, raisins and a rich custard.

"treats" I do not like or care for:

Any Jello salad---just plain yucky

Egg Nog-- I do like the taste usually, but I cannot understand how can anyone drink more than a half cup of the stuff. It is way to thick and heavy for my taste to just sip.

Green bean casserole made from the recipe on the back of Campbell's Cream of mushroom soup

I HATE flavored coffees, all of them--especially the vanilla or the Almond crap.

Elie

[Rachel Perlow]

Any Jello salad---just plain yucky

Not this one, add a touch of neon to your holidays.

Rachel's Rainbow Jello Mold <-- click for instructions

[Gifted Gourmet]

Any Jello salad---just plain yucky

Not this one, add a touch of neon to your holidays.

Rachel's Rainbow Jello Mold <-- click for instructions

This is certainly one Jello mold which has me quivering with anticipation!

Best when lit from below for the optimal effect ?

Thanks for the recipe, Rachel!

[elyse]

No, that was sunlight at the NJ pig pickin' and potlick. It was amazing.

[Mayhaw Man]

Rachel,

I thought you were from New Jersey, but your mastery of gleatinized desserts leads me to believe it must be at least SOUTH Jersey.

You could take that thing to any after church covered dish social in the South and be the belle of the ball (or, if it happened to be a non dancing denomination, just a belle). What a knock out. It looks kind of fun too.

Unlike many of the more sophisticated posters here, I kind of like Jello in small doses (I suspect that they do too, but are tooo cool to admit it ) and I think my 11 y.o. would dig this project. Thanks for the link.

[elyse]

Well, Jell-O isn't necessarily Jell-O salad, is it?

[Pan]

When I was a child my mother would make those disgusting fruit cakes, wrap them in brandy soaked cheesecloth and store them for a year. Late at night my brother and I would unwrap each one, squeeze the brandy out, drink it, and re-wrap them. I don't think she ever caught on! What awful children we were!

Thanks. That was funny.

[FoodMan]

Any Jello salad---just plain yucky

Not this one, add a touch of neon to your holidays.

Rachel's Rainbow Jello Mold <-- click for instructions

Rachel that does look good and I would be more than happy to have a slice...but it is not a Jello salad (thank goodness for that)

Elie

Edited December 29, 2003 by FoodMan (log)

[Rachel Perlow]

True, that one is just layered jello. I do like fruit in my jello, occasionally. I've never attempted to make one of the more "savory" jello recipes I've read about. Shimmering Shrimp Mold* anyone?

* There are no disgustingly savory jello salads on the official Jell-O website, although there are some similar to this one in my Jell-O cookbooklet.

[tammylc]

And why were punches invented?

Because they're a cheap way to serve a bunch of people. (Note that I'm not claiming this is a _good_ reason for their existence.)

[phaelon56]

Methinks all the eggnog bashers have not tried a really god high quality home-made eggnog that was made the right way. I had a coworker years ago whose family had a specific recipe. Super clean and chilled bowls etc, high quality fresh local eggs, heavy cream and some half n half, Jim beam bourbnon and some high qaulity rum and a few spices.

They made this stuff on Thanksgiving weekend alnd let it sit on the back porch until just before Christmas (its cold around here throughout all of late November and December).

Sounds scary and like a sure way to get contaminated goods but this stuff was incredible. Think of somtehing that was like a silky creme brulee custard but liquid and with an incredible kick. You could tell there was some liquor in it but would not tell how potent it really was (and it was waaaaay potent).

These days I imagine that it's tough to get ingredients in most places that you can trust enough although you still can around here (if you shop around in this area there are good sources for very frssh local milk, cream and eggs).

[laurenmilan]

Methinks all the eggnog bashers have not tried a really god high quality home-made eggnog that was made the right way. I had a coworker years ago whose family had a specific recipe. Super clean and chilled bowls etc, high quality fresh local eggs, heavy cream and some half n half, Jim beam bourbnon and some high qaulity rum and a few spices.

Too true... reminds me of that *other* Xmas tradition, fruitcake... I've had 2 truly exquisite fruitcakes (one with dark rum and fresh cherries, the other "golden" with light rum, macadamia nuts, pineapple, coconut AND coconut milk, and mango), and a few dozen ones I spit out.

best eggnog I ever had was my old neighbor's - she up-ended half her bar into it, bourbon, dark rum, brandy, and frangelico, I think. She also whipped half the cream in the recipe then folded it in. The stuff had indescribable texture, so much so you didn't notice how soused you were getting...

I've gotta try reverse-engineering it from memory sometime.

[Lizvert]

* There are no disgustingly savory jello salads on the official Jell-O website, although there are some similar to this one in my Jell-O cookbooklet.

Ok, now. For anyone who's missed this juicy tidbit, the perpetrator isn't Jello, but 1970's Weight Watchers.

Talk about disgusting.

http://www.poundy.com/wwcards.html

[Katherine]

Methinks all the eggnog bashers have not tried a really god high quality home-made eggnog that was made the right way. I had a coworker years ago whose family had a specific recipe. Super clean and chilled bowls etc, high quality fresh local eggs, heavy cream and some half n half, Jim beam bourbnon and some high qaulity rum and a few spices.

They made this stuff on Thanksgiving weekend alnd let it sit on the back porch until just before Christmas (its cold around here throughout all of late November and December).

Sounds scary and like a sure way to get contaminated goods but this stuff was incredible. Think of somtehing that was like a silky creme brulee custard but liquid and with an incredible kick. You could tell there was some liquor in it but would not tell how potent it really was (and it was waaaaay potent).

These days I imagine that it's tough to get ingredients in most places that you can trust enough although you still can around here (if you shop around in this area there are good sources for very frssh local milk, cream and eggs).

So true. The chemical-laden product sold in stores resembles nothing made from dairy products, natural flavors, or quality alcoholic beverages.

A true non-alcoholic egg nog should resemble a light creme anglaise in color, flavor, and texture.

[chezlamere]

It's gotta be the WHOLE meal as far as I'm concerned. But then the most annoying part to me is the conversation ...about the turkey, about the stuffing, about the brussel sprouts...how wonderful, tastying or best ever blah blah blah. Maybe I just need to see some new faces at the table, maybe someone with a sordid past or someone wearing something really scanky. I was bored to tears this year. And the kerioke (sorrying about spelling) was only fun the first year , it's old now. But the worst absolute worst part of xmas has to be "It's a wonderful life" and the $&*% scrougesk of all the sitcoms and the at nausiam mentions of "its a wonderful life" When are they going to stop mentioning that stupid movie.

But the best part of xmas meal for me is the DESSERT.

[Pan]

I actually think It's a Wonderful Life is a great movie - or I thought so the first time or first couple of times I saw it. I think it's quite reasonable for them to show it every year around Christmas, since it's a Christmas movie. I just don't have to watch it every year.

Almost anything can get boring if it's played too much, except Handel's Messiah.

[elyse]

I think chezlamere is referring to the parodies.

[Pan]

Seems to me chezlamere is referring to both the movie and references to it in sitcoms.

I think the movie is boring the same way I think "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" is boring - because it's played every year (and in the case of the song, over and over). Actually, "The Christmas Song" is a great song with imaginative harmonies, and I enjoy playing it. But man am I glad the station that played nothing but Christmas songs - most of them cheesy arrangements, and including that horrible female singer who can't sing on pitch doing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - for the last month will quit it until next year. One of my local laundromats played that all day every day.

But speaking of chestnuts, good chestnuts are never boring.