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ghporter · Dec 25, 2024, 01:55 PM

Somebody has to start it…

Merry Christmas, and happy whatever else you enjoy, celebrate, etc. All of you. Really.

subego · Dec 25, 2024, 02:51 PM

andi*pandi · Dec 28, 2024, 11:57 AM

Hope everyone had a great christmas! We fried latkes last night. Now that the hubbub is over perhaps time to relax.

subego · Dec 30, 2024, 07:59 PM

Did our traditional mac and cheese from a box. People are appalled, but we love this.

Thorzdad · Dec 31, 2024, 06:58 AM

Did eve at my cousin’s home and had the traditional pulled pork. Xmas day was just the two of us, as our kids have their own families to do their own xmas day with. We all then got together on Saturday.

ghporter · Dec 31, 2024, 09:21 PM

Our local extended family tradition is green bean casserole. Just like in the recipe on the french fried onion can. Always a crowd pleaser.

Last time we did boxed mac and cheese, we sliced up hot dogs in it (good ones, Hebrew National low fat franks). Actually you slice the hot dogs, warm them up, and then mix ‘em in, otherwise they don’t get warm all the way through. There is NOTHING wrong with boxed mac and cheese, unless you’re allergic to convenience, or have an OCD thing about hand-made cheese sauce. Which, by the way, is a real pain to make.

andi*pandi · Jan 1, 2025, 05:23 PM

our normal mac and cheese "recipe" to jazz up the box stuff is hot dogs and broccoli, and extra cheese etc.

subego · Jan 1, 2025, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

There is NOTHING wrong with boxed mac and cheese

The issue here isn’t coming from a box but that it’s the main and only course of a Christmas dinner. Like I said though, I love the stuff so much that’s not a problem for me in the slightest.

It does point to the related issue. Maybe 1 in 20 homemade mac and cheeses beat the box variety.

ghporter · Jan 2, 2025, 01:30 PM

subego, if it’s your dinner (as in you’re hosting), I don’t see a good excuse for guests being appalled. Not out loud, not where you could notice. Of course I was brought up to NEVER say anything bad about food someone else cooked for me.

subego · Jan 2, 2025, 04:53 PM

Oh… no guests per se, just me and my dad. I’d definitely clear a mac and cheese Christmas dinner with guests beforehand.

I get the appalled response when I’m asked what I did for Christmas. It doesn’t meet their standard of variety, both in terms of food and the number of people involved. I’ll also get “that’s depressing”.

No, honestly… it isn’t.

ghporter · Jan 3, 2025, 09:49 AM

Ahhh. Other people being appalled at something they have to imagine…not something I personally give much weight to. I’ll bet it was great. And how can comfort/traditional food be “depressing”?

andi*pandi · Jan 3, 2025, 10:18 AM

If that's what you like, it's what you like. And probably a lot less stress than other things. Christmas time comes with a lot of pressure to do "all the things" that previous generations did. It's why I made the tortierre, but it was a ton of work, and can't be got in a store. Next year something easier!