The Top 40

Seems to be heavy on those nasty assed brussel sprouts and light on the turkey and spuds. WTF?

Anyway, we do ham at Christmas, after consuming enormous quantities of bird on Thanksgiving.

Did the Honey Baked Ham 1 year....never again. My wallet is still in the ER.

In honor of Trump's win, we're doing prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, Louisianna boiled shrimp and a couple of other things that escape my memory.

Brussel sprouts are surprisingly good if you sautee them in bacon fat and crumble the bacon over the top. Green bean casseroles are, indeed, an aboimination; their presence on a table should be punishable by death.

The dreaded green bean casserole is ubiquitous at Thanksgiving, not Christmas. Casseroles need not be disgusting, oysters do not belong in stuffing and yes, ahem, prime rib roasted (with lots of garlic and red wine in the bottom of the pan) and served with mashed potatoes and squash casserole is excellent for Christmas dinner.

Oops, I meant to say standing rib roast.

At Costco earlier, I heard a stocker say, "You'll never guess what we just ran out of." "What?"
"Brussels Sprouts Medley." (Silence) "Just kidding!"

Oh yeah!! You folks have it right! A nice ham or rib roast on Christmas hits the spot! Garlic mashed potatoes and shrimp!!! WOW!!!

I like Brussels sprouts, but they give me horrid gas. Lima beans too, but they have a similar effect.

The best canned green beans are Allen's. They are the big wide pole beans that have been pressure cooked. Just like from my grandmother's garden to kitchen from WVA, era 1972.

I will be doing the honorary rib eye grilling at my folks' house this year.

Merry Christmas to all, especially Ghost and Gerard!

Same to you and yours Snake!

When I was a kid (many, many years ago) my Ma was an astounding cook (2-d generation Czech-German-American heavily influenced by my 12th generation English American SC farm boy Father) and I ALWAYS loved Christmas dinner AT HOME. However, we frequently ate the meal at my Mother's brother's house and except for the social opportunity to play with their 4 boys (bracketing my age) I dreaded the experience. My aunt (a first generation Italian-American with DEEP European eating traditions) was the type of pretentious cook referenced above who cooked "FANCY" STUFF WHICH TASTED LIKE ASS. Oyster stuffing, mystery ingredient casseroles loaded with little sticks called "capers", pate, chutney, overpowering mint sauce on an otherwise succulent roast lamb (which my southern family called mutton, along with goats and grown sheep), sometimes a spaghetti course with 1 baseball sized meatball, tiny cups of sickeningly strong coffee, AND NO MILK WITH THE MEAL,just water or wine -- in short, all the crap that made you grateful-- grateful that you did not have to eat that $**t everyday.
AND, dessert! My aunt would serve tiny pieces of cake that were TRULY little more than 3 dinner spoons full. A SNACK in my family was a piece of cake 5x that size.

I too,am blessed with a Mother who knows how to cook. At Thanksgiving,Dad loved her oyster dressing,my brother and I hated it,so she made separate sage and water chestnut stuffing for us. Dad loved her perfectly rare rib roast at Christmas,with horseradish dip on the side,as we did. We also loved Brussels sprouts,and if they produced enough gas to achieve lift-off,well,just don't do it at the dinner table.