My family is Pennsyvlania Dutch and our holiday menus (Christmas and Thanksgiving) were pretty much the same:
Roast capon (we're not a turkey family)
Filling (NOT stuffing!)
Homemade chicken gravy
Cope's creamed corn (a PA Dutch staple)
Lettuce with hot bacon dressing
Potato rolls
Variety of homemade cookies and cakes (no mixes), esp. tollhouse cookies, sand tarts and a dark chocolate cake with peanut butter icing.
The holiday period generally also included one meal of chicken and waffles, one roast pork with mashed potatoes and sauer kraut, and at least one hastily eaten Moravian cake (it gets stale in less than 48 hours, you have to eat it quickly), plus of course the Love Feast at the Christmas Eve services at our local Moravian church.
Gibbles potato chips and cheese pretzels were de rigeur for snowy afternoon pinochle or Oh Hell sessions.

I'm half Polish so definatley kolachkes-preferably apricot! Although we're not Italian at all, my mom also makes the best pitzelles (sp?) and a major ruckus ensues if they are not present.

We started our own tradition when our kids were little: a birthday cake to honor JC.

Because the Cuban still runs so strong through life here, we have black beans and white rice, yucca, and roast pig, sometimes done in a pit in the backyard (my in-laws). For dessert, there is turron (nougat), and many times we go to midnight Mass after dinner.

I always hated the thought of Christmas eve and christmas day dinner b/c it was made up of all the things I hated: baked ham; cole slaw; german potato salad - YUK. Finally, my mom got a clue that I hated that meal and started making lasagna just for me - along with all of that other junk!

Fun thread! I grew up in England, so Christmas at our house means roast turkey and all the trimmings, including my mum's stuffing. In a concession to our US inlaws and outlaws, we now add sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce (and they are learning to like Brussels sprouts, especially now that I steam them.) Mince pies (little pastry tarts, yum) have to appear on Christmas Eve after midnight church. If I have time, I even make Christmas pudding, even though DH and I are the only ones who like it!

My wise daughter-in-law added a new rule for the gathering: if there is something without which your Christmas will not be complete, then bring it with you. We've had some fun with that over the years (and it's a big help to the host family, too.)

J_Correa

Yep, Tamales and Chicken Mole

we are an irish catholic family, and some of the things that have appeared over the years are: seafood (shrimp, stews, lobster, whatever), ham, irish bacon for breakfast, mimosas...there is some german down the line, and my mom taught me how to make my grandmothers stollen. it's a chore, but i love it.

English also--brussel sprouts with chestnuts, roast turnips, Yorkshire pudding, mincemeat tarts, Christmas pudding with custard, are essential. If we have roast turkey, it has to have sage and onion stuffing--we also have added sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce for the Yanks aka the nieces and nephews.

JimmyK64 - When I was growing up my family had a birthday cake for baby Jesus (and we sang and blew out his candle before eating it). I always thought that was a cute way to remind kids what the day is for (before they get like me and treat it like a secular holiday)

BTilke- Like reading our own holiday menu since my Grandparents grew up near the Amish in Pennsylvania. Sand tarts are a "must" but so are "Whoopee Pies"--do you all have those?

No, sorry, I don't! What are they?
My husband's Christmas traditions are a total mess these days...his mother is English, his father German, so they had all those traditions, but then they turned vegetarian, which meant a completely different holiday menu and certainly not traditional British OR German. His sister and her family are also vegetarian, but his brother isn't and his wife is Armenian, so there's another set of traditions (including celebrating Christmas on a different day altogether). So DH finds it much less complicated to go along with our PA Dutch menu.

jimmyk64: We have always had a birthday cake, too! Now as a Parent Educator and Preschool teacher, I think it is a great way to bring the holiday to a level kids can understand.

In my birth extended family we stayed up all night on Christmas Eve. We all went to Midnight Mass and AFTER that had home made everything including our our sausage afterwards. Fried cakes the entire kit and kaboodle. It was FUN. And yes it was hard on parents doing presents for kids and kids tireness ratio etc. But we lived. We slept under coats on beds or chairs etc. and/or fought for chestnuts until 3 am in the morning while our parents played cards and put n' take.

In my married Italian family they had the traditional seafood Christmas Eve. We did this for over 20 years. It started on Dec. 22 or 23 with a trip to the Chicago fish markets before dawn just to purchase. I cleaned fish, shrimp, etc. for at least 1/2 of Christmas Eve. But it was the best traditional dinner that I have ever been lucky enough to attend, and we all just loved it. Dinner was about 5pm, then presents, then church.

Now I go to some good neighbors for dinner and then an earlier than midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. And I do Christmas Day with my extended family at my mother's with Turkey, Roast, Lasagna or Ravioli etc. My kids are either at their in-laws or with their dad's family who are left in the area.

We do Christmas within my own base family (kids and their spouses and children)that includes presents and a simple dinner of homemade pizza with salad, on the Saturday night before Christmas. This year it's the Friday night, Dec. 23. We have too many people to see on two days, let alone one. So I have mine on a third day to give everyone else some quality time and breathing space from rushing.

My oldest kid's 3 children always do a little birthday cake for Jesus too.

I do pizzelles, spingie, kolachki etc.
I do apricot, poppyseed, almond, and strawberry or cherry.

Having grown up in southern Louisiana, I always look forward to the seafood parts of the holiday meals -- turkey or a big baked hen with cornbread dressing (stuffing) that contains oysters, shrimp, crawfish, or some combination of the three. A couple of great side dishes are crowder peas and southern potato salad. Soups might include crawfish or shrimp etouffe, oyster stew, seafood gumbo, and shrimp bisque.

This is making me too hungry to continue, but thankfully I'll be enjoying this food soon when I travel back to Louisiana for the holidays.

I should have also pointed out that the new replacement for the turkey is now turducken -- makes my mouth water just to think of it. When you slice it, you get a piece of chicken, duck, and turkey all at the same time. Turducken was "invented" in a small town named Meurice, Louisiana.

amcc: I'm interested in the yucca...how do you prepare/serve that?? I've never had that experience.

Otto: Now that mimosa tradition sounds like a NICE one!

Belle

Another Brit who has has called the US her home for a great many years. The one food that my grown adult children still MUST have is Yorkshire Pudding. My son and daughter-in-law can not quite understand what all the fuss is about but eat it to be polite!

After attending Christmas Eve worship everyone returns home and we enjoy snacks such as crackers & cheese, dip & chips, nuts, salami etc. I am unsure where that came from other than my husband's family (German) always opened their Christmas presents following this service.

Our children followed the English custom and the gifts were opened on Christmas Day first thing in the morning.

AuntAnnie - what a very nice thread. Thank you.

Sandy

Maryland stuffed ham has pockets made all over a whole ham and then they're stuffed with kale. It's really marvelous and seems to be unique to this area.

Our Christmas started at my in-laws house where we always had Christmas Eve dinner, visited and waited for Santa to come for the children. The kids generally had no trouble getting to sleep as we had a five hour drive up to NE Penna. Santa would then visit and we'd awaken the kids and let them enjoy all that Ssanta gave.

That has helped now with our own children as we still have our major celebration on Christmas Eve with our family and the grandkids. We try to include different heritage food and it sometimes works and other times the kids find it yucky!

On Christmas Day we visit our children's homes after mass and watch the little ones enjoying their loot!

Another southern girl here...it 'aint' Christmas dinner without Sweet Potato Souffle and Pecan Pie!

It's dumb, but I always have toasted ravioli and marinara sauce on Christmas Eve in honor of my hometown of St. Louis.