Don’t think you can call a 5day plateau a plateau anyhow…..lol..."
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Dining Out for Christmas
While Norman Rockwell’s version of the holidays shows us all enjoying a dinner around a large, picturesque table, I have a feeling this isn’t the “norm” any longer. Perhaps it never was, and these idyllic holiday scenes are just that: scenes.
We prepared a traditional turkey dinner last night. I fixed myself the minimum 3,000 calorie plate and once again renewed my membership to the clean plate club. But after six hours of preparation and six minutes of consumption, I really began to wonder if it just wouldn’t be better to have the Bumpus hounds run off with the food and force us out to a restaurant.
In fact, as long as I’m thinking about that, let’s watch some of that, now that TBS has stopped running it for another year:
So how about you. Did you fix a turkey at home or go out for a duck? Did you bake a ham or order in pizza? Is having the large, home-made, Norman Rockwell dinner part of your unbreakable tradition or does grabbing a burger make you happy?
The three of you still reading my blog here at the end of the year can let me know your thoughts on dining out for Christmas (or any major holiday, for that matter). Is this what you live for or does it just feel wrong?
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on December 26, 2008 at 4:50 am
You know, I don’t think I could ever convince my family (husband and two grown boys) to eat out for a holiday meal…but it sure sounds nice considering I’m the person who does all of the cooking for these meals!
on December 26, 2008 at 5:57 am
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas Charlie!
How about if you cook next year, and we all come over?
on December 26, 2008 at 6:10 am
We went for Chinese food with a bunch of other Jews… fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra
on December 26, 2008 at 7:10 am
oh em gee
my favorite movie!
i like going to other people’s houses and eating their food for christmas. plus i’m jewish.
on December 26, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I’m like you, all the preperation for just a few minutes of pleasure. Sure puts thing in perspective, doesn’t it? Then there’s all the dishes and pots and pans and casserole dishes and cookie sheets and cake pans to try to fit into the dishwasher, if you’re lucky enough to have one, which I’m not (when you’re on a well it is extravigant to waste all that water).
Course I feel that way about most every meal I prepare even on non holiday days.
on December 26, 2008 at 8:38 pm
That is probably my favorite scene of the whole movie! “He’s smiling at me!” CHOP!
on December 27, 2008 at 4:51 am
We have tried the eating out on Holidays, this is not the way to go. We all know how annoying our own families are on Holidays, but strangers are waaaay more annoying. Stay home, use paper plates and buy all the veggies prepared at your local supermarket.
on December 27, 2008 at 7:32 am
We don’t do any traditional meal stuff at our house. We did stop by the in-laws for dinner and there was lots of cussin and smokin. LOL I hardly ever run into people that smoke anymore, but the majority of hubby’s family smokes ….oh well.
on December 27, 2008 at 9:08 am
Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra! I’m Christian, my husbands Jewish. Christmas eve his kids came over for roast chicken and latkes, Christmas night we went to a movie and went out for chinese. My family is too far away, so there you have it. I actually like it, no pressure for the perfect Hallmark holiday, which just gives me spilkes.
on December 27, 2008 at 9:12 am
We had Christmas on Christmas Eve – folks in our family had to work on the 25th. Nonetheless, we had a warmed up casserole (easy but good) AND gnoshed happily on all the candy/treats we’d gotten in our stockings. Nobody here counts calories on Christmas Day. It is a guilt free zone for just the day.
Friday however ChefSon came over and we made (read:he cooked and others stood around/watched) braised lamb shanks with polenta and greens. Totally amazing and I’ve got the kitchen full of dirty everything to prove it!
Merry! Happy! Burp!
on December 27, 2008 at 2:34 pm
I’ve found that the more I “invest” in a meal or dish (i.e. spend lots of time planning, preparing and baking), the more of it I eat. Fortunately, my MIL and mother did the cooking on Christmas. But both meals were a little too close together and I ate a bit too much.
on December 27, 2008 at 3:01 pm
We are not Jewish, but we went to Katz’s for Christmas dinner. Man, they have good stuffing. We may never cook for a holiday again. Happy Holidays Charlie!
on December 27, 2008 at 4:20 pm
It’s a good thing Katz’s Never Kloses!
on December 27, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Holidays give me a reason to cook for people other then my immediate family. The funny thing is we normally eat out the day or two before the “big day”. So I guess I get to do a little of both.
on December 28, 2008 at 11:00 am
We have instituted the Christmas Chinese Buffet dinner at our house. It’s nice to have that with just my husband and kids. We do enough eating and running around at the holidays, that this gives us something to look forward to that is just us. Plus I’m not a big fan of turkey
on December 28, 2008 at 4:59 pm
If it weren’t for my parents having Christmas dinner at their place, I’d prefer to take my kids out for dinner…
I’m no chef.
I did bake upwards of 20 dozen cookies, though…
on December 30, 2008 at 9:30 am
We ate our way through Christmas. Let’s see . . . lasagna, salad and cheesecake Christmas Eve. Homemade donuts Christmas morning. Three hours later (different house) roast beef, ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, salad, homemade rolls, three kinds of pie. Cookies and candy in between.
I’m disgusted with myself, but I am pumped about getting back on the wagon. I think it takes overdoing it to shock my system into thinking I need to eat better and get back on the treadmill. I hate to think what I did to my cholesterol!