Christmas traditions

[wendymr]

Having lived in three different countries now, I'm becoming accustomed to seeing how Christmas traditions vary from one place to another. The differences aren't just transatlantic; growing up in Ireland, for example, traditional Christmas dinner was roast turkey and boiled ham with roast potatoes and vegetables. In England, from what I saw, it was

Comments

[dameruth]

So how do you get along with pumpkin pie, just out of curiosity? ;)

[wendymr]

Hate it!

I actually don't like any vegetables/fruits of the squash variety. It's the texture - I don't like it. Same goes for turnip and swede (which also go by different names in North America; I know one of them's a rudabaga). So anything like butternut squash, pumpkin etc is out for me :)

I've had friends tell me that when pumpkin's in a pie, with cinnamon and all the other flavourings, it's delicious and nothing like a squash; but the one bite I did take of a pumpkin pie was enough to keep me convinced that I can happily live without it ;)

The bun (what you call cupcake) with edible ballbearings is okay, though, as long as it's fresh from the oven and still warm :)

[dameruth]

I think that the "squishy orange vegetables" (as Robin McKinley just called them in a recent blog entry about trying to make pumpkin bread in the UK) are one of the true cultural divides. :D I, OTOH, adore pumpkin pie (and most of the other squishy orange veggies), as does pretty well everyone I know here in the US

[wendymr]

Sorry, sweet potatoes are another thing we just can't develop a taste for, and that's my vegetarian husband as well as me. Whether it's a pie, or mashed, or chipped, we just don't like 'em. Ick!

Squishy orange vegetables - you can keep them!

On the other hand, vegetables such as sprouts and celery and leeks are all traditional with Christmas dinner. As is grave - home-made from Bisto powder, not from a can ;) - and stuffing. In England you can get all sorts of fancy stuffings; I just make the traditional sort with breadcrumbs, parsley, thyme and onion. Home-made, from scratch. You mention cranberry sauce; that's another of the minor UK/Irish differences, as you'll almost never find that in Ireland yet it's customary in England.

Green beans... love 'em, but why do north Americans insist on mixing chopped bacon with them? Not only yuck, but it makes them inedible to my veggie husband.

[dameruth]

Squishy orange vegetables - you can keep them!

Good -- more for us that way. :D

The stuffing you describe sounds exactly like my mom's (and the gravy, too -- just a different brand). ;) Huh -- I wouldn't've thought that cranberry sauce would have crossed the Atlantic at all; it would seem like more of an "acquired taste" than pumpkin pie, to me.

I've never mixed bacon in with green beans. I dislike bacon in general. Besides, if you're a purist, green bean casserole is is pretty much just cream of mushroom soup, green beans, and canned fried onions on top.

[garpu]

I hate candied sweet potatoes with a passion, but simply roasted they're edible. Not a fan of mashed sweet potatoes.

If you want to give pumpkin pie another go, I've got a pumpkin pie custard recipe that isn't bad.

[wendymr]

I think pumpkin is something I'd happily never eat again in any form, but thanks for the offer ;)