(North Mankato, MN)
A true American Christmas feast honors traditional holiday favorites from all parts of the family’s histories. Today’s home cooks reconcile family tradition with contemporary suggestions and economic challenges. At the end of the day, most of us cook what we know. While we feast on turkey and mashed potatoes, others celebrate with baccala and lasagne. We have a combination of the Christmas tables of melting-pot America. Our Christmas dinner menu represents a combination of German, Scandinavian, and Anglo American Christmas dinners from the 17th century to the 2010s.
In our family, every household brings something, literally, to the table. Preparation may be simplified by modern conveniences, such as flavored jello, canned mushroom soup, and prepared Swedish sausage. But it just would not be Christmas without the turkey and the red and green jello salads.
Here is our Christmas Dinner menu for our 12 family members who gathered at our house on Christmas Eve this year:
roast turkey and stuffing (provided by the host family)
mashed potatoes and turkey gravy (from sister-in-law Beverly)
sweet potatoes (from sister-in-law Beverly)
Swedish potato sausage (from Grandma Elna)
green bean casserole (provided by the host family)
cranberry – raspberry salad (from Grandma Elna)
green jello Christmas tree salad (from mother-in-law Mildred)
pickles plate (from Aunt Ruthie)
raw carrots and celery(from Grandma Mildred)
crescent dinner rolls (from Grandma Elna)
coffee and tea
cream and sugar
butter and jelly
chocolate candy (from Aunt Ruthie)
and, of course, lots of Christmas cookies!! (from everyone who had time to bake!)