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Looking back, there are few things my mother did for me in life that were more important than letting me stay in the kitchen with her through the holiday baking and meal preparation. We bonded, I learned, and as I grew older, I became the one doing most of the cooking and baking and sharing the things we love so much with others. I remember when I was little that my mom and I would do simple things like making sugar cookies, and she would always let me frost and decorate them the way that I wanted to. We also did gingerbread houses and other little food/craft projects, and I have such good memories of spending time with her doing these things around Christmas every year.

Today, I'm the one in charge of meals and meal planning when I go home for the holidays, and I am also the whiz behind our cookie-baking and mailing to family across the U.S. Last year we started a tradition of making cinnamon rolls early on Christmas morning to get everyone out of bed, which definitely worked! I think we'll continue that tradition this year. Christmas is also my dad's birthday, so we always bake a nice chocolate cake from scratch to go with Christmas dinner.

As for goodies in the house, we receive tons of food and sweets from neighbors and family members, and we plow right through it well before January 1. We usually don't keep sweets/high-cal items on hand, so it's really a time of year where we go all-out and indulge. It probably helps that we're pretty athletic/active people....

I have been active in a kitchen since I was about 4. Everyone had a job and christmas I loved making pizzelles. I also loved making most of the cookies. My grandmothers both were extremely talented. One of my grandmothers was a classically trained italian chef and baker. Her food was flawless. I often tell of the big cookie. Each grandchild got a cookie the size of a shirt box. Different shapes every year that she used to free hand. She would decorate this mega cookie with simple poured fondant and decors. That cookie alone must have been a huge task.
I always participated in the cookie tray and the cookie making.
Today I still do it. I will start baking for christmas about a week after thanksgiving. I am already putting my assortment together.
I want a recipe for that fortum and mason cookie (chocolate biscuit) who has it?

premature posting, its not just for men. Anyway, these day I dont have any family around and SO's family is across the country, so we dont have many traditions. Those we do have are mainly just goodie boxes for a few friends, and since most are wheat allergic, most of the boxes are just nut brittles, and other candies. I havent tried the gluten free baking yet but if anyone can throw out some tips I'd love to hear them.

Fantasy fudge is at the top of the family tradition list. One son loves divinity and now that we live back in a dry climate, I can indulge him. They also have a thing for that green ( pistachio pudding) fruit salad with marshmallows, cherries, nuts and pinapple bound with cool whip. The good thing about that is that the youngest family member can mix it! There has to be a pecan pie and a chess pie somewhere in the mix. This year I am making mincemeat pie for myself since it was one of my family traditions but none of my offspring nor my husband likes it. Since my Mother died I find I am hungry for the things she made. Anyone else had that happen?

I start making the Christmas cake in September, and feed it with brandy until it is marzipan-ed and iced, ready for Christmas day. Then comes the mincemeat, which is matured for several months to make mince pies. I usually make these on Dec 1st and freeze em until I have people pop in for a cup of tea/coffee and a mince pie straight from the oven, dusted with icing sugar.

Christmas eve, I usually prepare something simple like sausage casserole or poached salmon, or a buffet.

Christmas day is where it all goes a bit mental with roast turkey, baked, glazed ham studded with cloves, braised red cabbage, sprouts with chestnuts, roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots, bread sauce, cumberland sauce, sausagemeat and herb stuffing balls, and gravy.

Followed by the Christmas pudding which has been steaming gently for a day or so (!!!) well a good few hours, anyway. This comes out in all its black, shiny glory, sprig of holly on top, dancing with brandy flames and served with cream or brandy butter, or icecream for the children.

Then...after a long walk on the beach, party games, and a long snooze by the fire/Queen's speech, out come the ham and turkey sandwiches, sherry trifle, mince pies and cake.

To be honest with you, wonderful as it all is, my favourite day is Boxing day, when we go for a long walk on the beach and come home to eat the ham and turkey cold with bubble-and-squeak (left-over vegetables fried like a big pancake until the bottom is crispy, flipped over and crisped the other side), Branston pickle, piccallili and redcurrant jelly.

@snowmoonelk--I want to spend December in your home! LOL. My ex-pat friend used to have a bunch of friends over on Boxing day and we'd get sloshed, eat tons, and never got much boxing done.

we always have steak diane (julia child's recipe) for christmas dinner. that's the one constant!

@ wookie, we have a Korean and American Christmas dinner as well! :)

We don't have specific dishes we repeat each year, but there's usually a good mix of red meat and seafood. Sides are a mishmash of Korean banchan, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows (and other "classics" of that group) and an interesting salad. I love eggnog, but aside from my mom, no one else touches the stuff. We always have lots of wine and beer as well. We don't do much for dessert except store bought pies and ice cream.

Man, this thread is making me so giddy for the holidays, although I am spending more time at home for Thanksgiving this year than Christmas.

I love to bake cookies and build a gingerbread house with the kids during the holiday season. My great-grandmother used to be the baker in the family, bringing over bags of her signature sugar cookies. Now my chocolate chip cookies make the family rounds. During Christmas, I always keep plenty of gourmet goodies on hand. Fancy cookies, chocolates, fragrant teas and Kona coffee are all must-have items. I only serve the pure Kona coffee so I buy it online at https://www.konaluna.com instead of getting blends (they're only about 10 percent Kona) at the store.

Shill mamasaid is baaaaaaackkkkk.

My great-great-great-great grandmother is coming over tomorrow to teach me how to bake her famous Famous Amos cookies. I can hardly wait! I'm going to send her shopping for all the ingredients, but she won't find the pure boycotted coffee at the local supermarket. NO MY FRIENDS, you need to shop online and I'm prepared. Go to boycottedcoffee.com NOW so you'll be ready for the holidays and baking with your ancient, but nearly still living ancestors.

Hey iz - looks like we both got bored with tv (or woke up?) at the same time. I'm surprised they haven't permanently blocked her, Gives me fodder for fun, anyway.

I don't have anything to contribute to the Christmas thread - sorry. I used to bake and shop and decorate and have huge dinners and lots of visitors. If my granddaughter didn't live thousands of miles away, I'd be baking with her for sure, like I did her Mommy. She already loves to cook.

Fudge, divinity, cinammon sugar pecans, cheese straws, chocolate covered pretzels. Christmas morning we always have fruit and "pinch cake" (monkey bread? my family always called it pinch cake). Yum!

Growing up, my cousins and I had the wonderful company of our grandmother - our Nana. For all of the holidays, everyone came to our hose, including Nana. (Okay, why always our house? Well, we lived in a two-apt brick rowhouse in Brooklyn, and it had a full basement. We lived on the first floor, and one of my aunts lived on the 2nd floor. So there were two stoves for concurrent cooking. then, in the back of the basement, was *another* stove, so each cook - my mother, my aunt, and Nana - could reign over her own "kingdom" w/out bumping into another cook.) All the holidays were like this, but Christmas Day was truly special.

Anyway, Nana's specialties were, basically, everything. While my mother and my aunts would be busy making the main dish, Nana would be busy creating a completely homemade Italian Wedding Soup, as well as uncounted numbers of manicotti w/ homemade tomato sauce. These became the two "early" courses while the main course - well, more usually main courses (a turkey as well as a beef roast - when the entire family got together there were close to 3 dozen of us!). The eating went sloooowly, usually taking at least 2 hours, sometimes more. Then the adults would just sit around, though we kiddies would stick to Nana like glue, because by that time she was putting the finishing touches on dessert. And WHAT dessert! On the fried side she had made strouffela (sp?) and plump little Zeppoli (Italian fried dough balls), but that wasn't the extent of dessert, because we all knew that one of her shopping bags also hid a lemony spongecake, as well as two Italian cheesecakes. Italian cheesecake is made w/ ricotta rather than cream cheese. This thing had little shreds of dark chocolate laced through it. It also had those tiny cubes of fruit pieces in it, but Nana knew that none of her grandchildren liked the fruit things, so she made the one w/ the fruit, and the other without.

Dessert could run into the late evening, w/ time-outs for reruns of the different meal dishes (relatives would drop in @ different times, making their rounds of gatherings @ their in-laws, etc.). There'd always be enough leftovers for *everybody* to take home, though there'd always be at least a fridge-ful of leftovers - that was @ the extra fridge in the basement - as well.

That's how we'd eat @ Christmas Day. Christmas Eve? Completely different - but don't get me started on that one now!

Please, Robbo, sounds wonderful!

I have a regular electric oven, a Rayburn and a slow cooker, never thought about distributing my female relatives in this way, think it would work? (ha ha!)