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kbfsc
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Does anyone know of a traditional Christmas eve meal? We have planned Christmas day at my parents' home and all of the old Christmas day traditions in my family will be wonderful - but I would love to begin some Christmas eve traditions in our home... Thank you!
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Kiera
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VanessaVH
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We have never been home for Christmas Eve, we usually eat at my grandma's, where the tradition is keilbasa, but I heard a great idea of making shepherds pie for Christmas Eve. We are actually going to have dinner at home on Christmas day this year so that is what I am making Zippy Shepherd's Pie minus the curry powder and I sub mixed veggies for the peppers and peas & carrots.
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Michaela
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We will have a simple dinner of various German wurst (bratwurst, bockwurst...) with German potato salad.
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Michaela
Momma to Nicholas 16, Nathan 13, Olivia 13, Teresa 6, & Anthony 3
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Paula in MN
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Growing up we always had Turkey, stuffing, the works. Now we celebrate Christmas Eve with my In-Laws, and their tradition is pizza rolls. Lots and lots of pizza rolls.
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 Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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JodieLyn
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We go to my sister's for Christmas Eve and she is having taco soup this year.
But for a traditional meal.. I have a lovely polish cookbook that talks about the traditions that reach back to when it was a Catholic country. So the meal is meatless continuing the season of Advent until midnight when they used to be meatless for the whole season. It was traditional to do 12 main dishes but that's often replaced by a 12 fruit compote.. the book recommends a menu of
pickled beets
pickled herring in sour cream
noodles with poppy seed and raisins
borscht without meat
poppy seed rolls
cheese and sauerkraut filled peirogi
Christmas bread
northern pike polish style
light fruitcake from warsaw
fish in horshradish sauce
twelve-fruit compote
stewed sauerkraut with mushrooms
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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guitarnan
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We celebrate with our music group friends and we have the same menu every single year:
ham
cheesy potato casserole
broccoli casserole
green salad
rolls
trifle
cookies
Yum!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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stellamaris
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Wow! That's a lot of cooking. We keep it simple. Our usual dish is salmon with brown rice and broccoli-nice but meatless and easy to make. No dessert!
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In Christ,
Caroline
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For our lunch/afternoon snacks.. we're decorating the house that day.. so I start a pot of a simple soup early in the day and have it set out in a crockpot and have a cheese ball and crackers.. some veggies with a dip maybe.. things we can munch on as we're busy plus the soup for those that want a bit more of a meal.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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ctrivette
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Feast of the seven fishes. Only I don't know how to make 7 fish dishes that we could eat on one night so it is more like the feast of three fish (shrimp, crab, whitefish). All with pasta.
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stacykay
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My dh's family is Polish, so we stick to the meatless Christmas Eve meal, usually with pierogis and appetizers using veggies, fish, and fruit. Usually shrimp cocktail or a crab meat dip, spinach dip and bread, cheese and crackers, and veg/fruit trays.
My sil's family is Italian, and they do the 7 fish dinner! It is usually a rather large affair, with many friends in attendance, so they don't have to worry about leftovers! I don't know how we would do it either, with just us.
In Christ,
Stacy in MI
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organiclilac
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We always go out for Chinese... mostly because we love the movie "A Christmas Story"! 
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KackyK
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Tracy...hilarious!!!
We use to do a traditional type meal...turkey/ham/roast beef...then it just felt like Thanksgiving all over again.
Last year we were last minute with gifts (I was at Toysrus at 6pm on the 24th!) so I hit McDonald's on the way home. We all actually thought it was funny and liked it!
This I'm not sure what we are going to do.
On Christmas Day my parents have started a tradition of crockpot bbq ribs with twice baked potatoes...so so yummy!!!!!
I feel like in some ways you can do anything on Christmas and do what fits your family and their likes. I feel like there's a set pattern on Thanksgiving. KWIM?
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KackyK
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kbfsc
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Wonderful ideas! I'm unfamiliar with the 7 fish tradition. Could anyone elaborate? 
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Kiera
happy mama of ds '02, dd '03, ds '06, dd '09 and little ones in heaven
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folklaur
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In the Southwest, it is *extremely* common to have tamales as the traditional Christmas Eve meal.
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ctrivette
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folklaur wrote:
In the Southwest, it is *extremely* common to have tamales as the traditional Christmas Eve meal.
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we just bought ours from the parish tamale sale:). We have them on Christmas Day for lunch though;)
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mavmama
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I don't know the history of it, but my family has always had potato soup along with either chili OR oyster stew. There is always a big relish tray with crackers and cheese, and the usual veggies/dip. Dh's family didn't have a tradition, so we went with mine. I should ask my mom where this came from...
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Liz
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KackyK
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Yeah, what is up with the oysters? My grandfather apparently would eat raw oysters for Christmas morning breakfast. No one joined him!
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KackyK
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guitarnan
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Could be worse...In Italy the traditional Christmas Eve meal is eels.
My dd used to love to go to the Italian supermercato to see the tank of live eels...not that she would ever consider eating them! 
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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LLMom
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Back in the olden days, the Church law stated that Christmas eve was a day of fast and abstinence. That is where a lot of the traditional meals with oyster soup came from. We usually have shrimp gumbo, cornbread, and salad. Real southern food.
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stacykay
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Here is a link that talks about the significance of the number seven for the seven fish dinner. This one also talks about the seven and the Church's previous tradition of abstinance before a feast.
Funny..even Rachel Ray has a blurb about her family's traditional 7 fish.
And here, Mario Batali talks about the eels.
It seems to be a more Southern Italy sort of thing, according to these articles. Pretty interesting!
In Christ,
Stacy in MI
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: traditional Christmas eve meal?
