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Jim's Cafe - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025
- Thread starter Angie
- Start date
I'm in the US so there are Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
Thanksgiving is turkey, stuffing, and the traditional sides such as sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole.
Christmas is either a turkey or a ham.
New Year's Day can be whatever, but must include black eyed peas for luck and cabbage for wealth (I may have gotten that one backwards lol ) My mom was a stickler for those traditions.
One thing I remember from my childhood is mom making homemade candy. She would start in October (candy freezes well). She would make divinity, fudge, date loaf (my favorite), and peanut patties (and other things which escape me right now).
Thanksgiving is turkey, stuffing, and the traditional sides such as sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole.
Christmas is either a turkey or a ham.
New Year's Day can be whatever, but must include black eyed peas for luck and cabbage for wealth (I may have gotten that one backwards lol ) My mom was a stickler for those traditions.
One thing I remember from my childhood is mom making homemade candy. She would start in October (candy freezes well). She would make divinity, fudge, date loaf (my favorite), and peanut patties (and other things which escape me right now).
I am in the USA also.
This year I will will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner and having turkey which is traditional. Pies are apple and pumpkin typically which I will not be making this year - my responsibility is the turkey. I love pecan pie which is also traditional but the bringer of the pies is not bringing a pecan pie.
So it'll be madness for for a few hours and I'll both love it and hate it at the same time.
Christmas will be different this year. Usually we used to do pot luck sandwiches and finger food on Christmas Eve but as grandchildren came and need to get home early for Santa that tradition has gone away. I make the family Christmas candy - a recipe handed down from my ex-mil. It is chocolate and walnut covered toffee and I have just made my first batch. I also do cookies for presents but they are not traditional. Christmas dinner will be generic as we - the people who show up - will be Christmas orphans.
Same with NYE.
Tagging @Lane @JMG @Inastorm @Witty_Sarcasm @seabird @SillyOldBear
@LumberJack @KM76710
Please help tag!
This year I will will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner and having turkey which is traditional. Pies are apple and pumpkin typically which I will not be making this year - my responsibility is the turkey. I love pecan pie which is also traditional but the bringer of the pies is not bringing a pecan pie.
So it'll be madness for for a few hours and I'll both love it and hate it at the same time.Christmas will be different this year. Usually we used to do pot luck sandwiches and finger food on Christmas Eve but as grandchildren came and need to get home early for Santa that tradition has gone away. I make the family Christmas candy - a recipe handed down from my ex-mil. It is chocolate and walnut covered toffee and I have just made my first batch. I also do cookies for presents but they are not traditional. Christmas dinner will be generic as we - the people who show up - will be Christmas orphans.
Same with NYE.
Tagging @Lane @JMG @Inastorm @Witty_Sarcasm @seabird @SillyOldBear
@LumberJack @KM76710
Please help tag!
Hey, thanks for posting a cafe for today Angie and for the tag cymbele 
Pretty good today I guess, just quite tired as didn’t get enough sleep.
Same as you guys said more or less with the thanksgiving foods. Not in the US so thanksgiving is celebrated in October instead of November. Christmas is traditionally celebrated with a turkey, stuffing and similar stuff to thanksgiving. We personally don’t cos of my sis and her husband being vegan, but the majority of people here do typically have the traditional kinds of foods.
Lotsa good memories of holiday foods, pretty much every year really. I sometimes miss the childhood and teen years when it was the more traditional foods, especially stuffing which we rarely have anymore. It’s not a good thing for me to eat these days anyway though, so probably for the best.
Some more tags: @AmberMarie @cev77 @Innocent Forever @JanisSPK @Mid Night @Walker @Citizen Insane @Auri
Pretty good today I guess, just quite tired as didn’t get enough sleep. Same as you guys said more or less with the thanksgiving foods. Not in the US so thanksgiving is celebrated in October instead of November. Christmas is traditionally celebrated with a turkey, stuffing and similar stuff to thanksgiving. We personally don’t cos of my sis and her husband being vegan, but the majority of people here do typically have the traditional kinds of foods.
Lotsa good memories of holiday foods, pretty much every year really. I sometimes miss the childhood and teen years when it was the more traditional foods, especially stuffing which we rarely have anymore. It’s not a good thing for me to eat these days anyway though, so probably for the best.
Some more tags: @AmberMarie @cev77 @Innocent Forever @JanisSPK @Mid Night @Walker @Citizen Insane @Auri
Thanks for opening up the cafe!
Does your country have any traditional holiday foods?
Yes! And just thinking about them makes me happy now
What day do you eat these foods?
Usually on the first day it would be the best time. They'll usually go along for the next 2-3 days but usually on the 3rd day I'd get bored of them already
Do you have any good memories of holiday foods?
Good foods always bring us together, it's so nice to see.
Does your country have any traditional holiday foods?
Yes! And just thinking about them makes me happy now
What day do you eat these foods?
Usually on the first day it would be the best time. They'll usually go along for the next 2-3 days but usually on the 3rd day I'd get bored of them already
Do you have any good memories of holiday foods?
Good foods always bring us together, it's so nice to see.
So glad the door as opened today. Thank you @Angie once again, for a great topic. And thank you for the tag @JMG
Yes... however i don't like to have them. i always tried to make it different. So we used to have everyone bring one dish from what nationality their family is from. (usually extended or partner's) That way we had food from around the world. Every time i hosted, i tried to do this. Recently we just would do take offs from traditional dishes. Example... instead of a full turkey, i would make just the white meat. No one left in the family likes the dark meat.
This is another thing i changed to help with the stress on new families. i refuse to force my kids to come choose or be stressed over who they will see and when for the holidays. i had to do that and now hate holiday time. i wont do that to my kids. It's Not the day that matters. It's the time spent together. So... whatever day they all can, is when we do something together.
Being able to try different nationality dishes. i learned a lot about different country's traditions this way. It is something i want to start doing again. Especially now that all 3 kids have partners. Otherwise... i had always been tired of the traditional holiday foods. Rarely did it ever taste good... and then the leftovers... The only time i enjoyed leftovers was the white meat turkey sandwich on white bread with mayo. That flavor combo was always comforting to me. i have never been able to figure out why, or who started me on that. Probably my dad.
Yes... however i don't like to have them. i always tried to make it different. So we used to have everyone bring one dish from what nationality their family is from. (usually extended or partner's) That way we had food from around the world. Every time i hosted, i tried to do this. Recently we just would do take offs from traditional dishes. Example... instead of a full turkey, i would make just the white meat. No one left in the family likes the dark meat.
This is another thing i changed to help with the stress on new families. i refuse to force my kids to come choose or be stressed over who they will see and when for the holidays. i had to do that and now hate holiday time. i wont do that to my kids. It's Not the day that matters. It's the time spent together. So... whatever day they all can, is when we do something together.
Being able to try different nationality dishes. i learned a lot about different country's traditions this way. It is something i want to start doing again. Especially now that all 3 kids have partners. Otherwise... i had always been tired of the traditional holiday foods. Rarely did it ever taste good... and then the leftovers... The only time i enjoyed leftovers was the white meat turkey sandwich on white bread with mayo. That flavor combo was always comforting to me. i have never been able to figure out why, or who started me on that. Probably my dad.
Thanks for the tag and the cafe, @Angie. I am sorry to be "that guy," but today's the 20th, not the 30th 
.
I had a moment of panic when I saw the 30th because I have some deadlines between now and then and I was like, oh sh- I missed everything! My own anxiety, so not your fault.
Does your country have any traditional holiday foods?
What day do you eat these foods?
These are pretty much the same for me as in your first post. I do not practice the black-eyed pea soup on New Year's Day, however. New Year's Eve is coupled with some painful memories for me so I try to just go to bed early.
Do you have any good memories of holiday foods?
Absolutely! I am and always have been fond of meat and potatoes meals.
Now for holiday food memories, I loved my mom's cooking. I would enjoy very much all the foods, but in particular the cranberry sauce and the dinner rolls. She made nearly everything from scratch. The only thing she started with that had more than one ingredient was that she used jello mix as a thickener for the cranberry sauce. IIRC, she also started with store-bought bread for the stuffing, but the rest was all scratch.
I grew up on that, and when I first tried canned cranberry sauce, I felt it was a pale imitation and would be inedible if not for the sugar content. Also the texture was not right, and a sketchy texture more than anything will make a food gross to me if it's slimy. So, pretty much any year enjoying the smells of cooking and the whole thing with cheese and crackers in the middle of the day while waiting for the turkey to roast, and taking a nap afterwards, which I even did when I was a kid, lol! It also seemed to be a little more peaceful between my siblings and I.
.I had a moment of panic when I saw the 30th because I have some deadlines between now and then and I was like, oh sh- I missed everything! My own anxiety, so not your fault.
Does your country have any traditional holiday foods?
What day do you eat these foods?
These are pretty much the same for me as in your first post. I do not practice the black-eyed pea soup on New Year's Day, however. New Year's Eve is coupled with some painful memories for me so I try to just go to bed early.
Do you have any good memories of holiday foods?
Absolutely! I am and always have been fond of meat and potatoes meals.
And sausage and sauerkraut, for that matter. I was in food heaven when my partner and I took a romantic trip to Bavaria.
I grew up on that, and when I first tried canned cranberry sauce, I felt it was a pale imitation and would be inedible if not for the sugar content. Also the texture was not right, and a sketchy texture more than anything will make a food gross to me if it's slimy. So, pretty much any year enjoying the smells of cooking and the whole thing with cheese and crackers in the middle of the day while waiting for the turkey to roast, and taking a nap afterwards, which I even did when I was a kid, lol! It also seemed to be a little more peaceful between my siblings and I.
I make fresh cranberry sauce every Thanksgiving and Christmas time. Includes fresh squeezed orange juice, rind, cloves, cinnamon stick, on occasion a splash of rum or cognac cooked out and whatever else pops up like maybe a few raisins or lemon rind☺️
And I still love canned cranberry sauce as well so a can always gets opened.
Oh, I have a memory of oysters in the turkey dressing. My mother did not pass on the recipe so it remains a lovely childhood memory.
And I still love canned cranberry sauce as well so a can always gets opened.
Oh, I have a memory of oysters in the turkey dressing. My mother did not pass on the recipe so it remains a lovely childhood memory.
Hi Angie and the café
Traditionally I go on a run Thanksgiving morning to get an appetite for the afternoon's dinner. : ) If I can, I try to drag other people out the door with me to make it more fun. Then it's coffee time and start cooking.
Does your country have any traditional holiday foods? Yes, and I love all of them. I still feel a bit as though I have a foot in 2 countries so have to mention pav at Christmas with raspberries and custard, and on this side of the ocean for Thanksgiving a roast turkey and lots of sides. Christmas here is usually a slow cooked stew, homemade rolls, cole slaw, crab, Chocolate cake, my own (no gross stuff) fruitcake lol and a favorite Calfiornia bubbly apple cider - the non alcohol sort.
What day do you eat these foods? What day, as in what holiday? ...Thanksgiving day, and the following days as long as the leftovers last. Also Christmas day, same for the leftovers.
Do you have any good memories of holiday foods
Yes. homemade sour cream-onion dip with celery and carrot sticks and potato chips, highly flavoured sage stuffing my grandma and mom used to make with the scraped turkey liver, and chopped up stomach, heart and neck meat mixed into it, (almost like a savory bread pudding) slices of roast turkey breast meat with mushroom gravy, Pumpkin pie with whipped cream
thanks for the tag @cymbele
Traditionally I go on a run Thanksgiving morning to get an appetite for the afternoon's dinner. : ) If I can, I try to drag other people out the door with me to make it more fun. Then it's coffee time and start cooking.
Does your country have any traditional holiday foods? Yes, and I love all of them. I still feel a bit as though I have a foot in 2 countries so have to mention pav at Christmas with raspberries and custard, and on this side of the ocean for Thanksgiving a roast turkey and lots of sides. Christmas here is usually a slow cooked stew, homemade rolls, cole slaw, crab, Chocolate cake, my own (no gross stuff) fruitcake lol and a favorite Calfiornia bubbly apple cider - the non alcohol sort.
What day do you eat these foods? What day, as in what holiday? ...Thanksgiving day, and the following days as long as the leftovers last. Also Christmas day, same for the leftovers.
Do you have any good memories of holiday foods
Yes. homemade sour cream-onion dip with celery and carrot sticks and potato chips, highly flavoured sage stuffing my grandma and mom used to make with the scraped turkey liver, and chopped up stomach, heart and neck meat mixed into it, (almost like a savory bread pudding) slices of roast turkey breast meat with mushroom gravy, Pumpkin pie with whipped cream
thanks for the tag @cymbele
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Does your country have any traditional holiday foods?
Living in the United States we do have the typical that most think of with the turkey and trimmings. As we all get older we are pretty much whatever sounds good, whether BBQ, pizza, fried steak, so nothing really set in stone.
What day do you eat these foods?
Thanksgiving coming up other than when my grandmother was alive and it was on the day, we just get together whenever and wherever with mostly last minute planning.
Do you have any good memories of holiday foods?
Most all of them are good memories, but the more casual ways are stronger now with parents and grandparents gone. Holidays do get like birthdays...another year has passed so it is more of just however we meet up for what, where and when.
Living in the United States we do have the typical that most think of with the turkey and trimmings. As we all get older we are pretty much whatever sounds good, whether BBQ, pizza, fried steak, so nothing really set in stone.
What day do you eat these foods?
Thanksgiving coming up other than when my grandmother was alive and it was on the day, we just get together whenever and wherever with mostly last minute planning.
Do you have any good memories of holiday foods?
Most all of them are good memories, but the more casual ways are stronger now with parents and grandparents gone. Holidays do get like birthdays...another year has passed so it is more of just however we meet up for what, where and when.
Thank you for opening the cafe @Angie and for the tag @cymbele
Does your country have any traditional holiday foods?
Yes, like pumpkin pie, gingerbread, candy canes, and lots of other goodies.
What day do you eat these foods?
I eat these throughout the holiday season, and sometimes later if I have any left over. lol
Do you have any good memories of holiday foods?
I just remember family gatherings and togetherness and freshly cooked food that was always good.
Does your country have any traditional holiday foods?
Yes, like pumpkin pie, gingerbread, candy canes, and lots of other goodies.
What day do you eat these foods?
I eat these throughout the holiday season, and sometimes later if I have any left over. lol
Do you have any good memories of holiday foods?
I just remember family gatherings and togetherness and freshly cooked food that was always good.
Does your country have any traditional holiday foods?
That's a complex question.
There are traditional foods on the holidays here in Brazil. But I don't think any food around here is really "brazilian tradition" in that sense.
Here we have some sort of Turkey on christmas. But what we eat every year it is actually a mutant made in a secret lab chicken that nobody has ever even taken a picture alive (Chester).
(Now searching on google, there is actually 1(!) picture of a Chester alive, but I don't trust the system)
But I think most people hear prefer to eat some sort of "ham" thing in christmas (Lombo defumado)
There is also panetone (some sort of Italian bread thing, that some people fill with ice cream), which has many flavors (raisins, chocolate) and everyone likes (it even sells through the year because people like it so much)
There is pave (a french dessert) and "pudim de leite" (a pudding made with milk and eggs).
There is also "arroz com passas" (rice with raisins) around here on christmas, which nobody likes, but everyone makes for some reason.
Some fancy people here makes cod ("bacalhau") on christmas, but cod is kind of expensive and hard to make, and only rich fancy old people or people with Portuguese descent really do it around here.
What day do you eat these foods?
We eat everything around the 24th of December. No one here celebrate christmas around 25th I think.
Do you have any good memories of holiday foods?
When I was 14-15 years old I ate half a watermelon and got sort of drunk with some fruit punch (?). I didn't know about the alcohol and watermelon rule (eating watermelon with alcohol makes you sick apparently).
I got paper white and my entire family got around me and they forced me to go to bed. They were crying like I was going to die.
That's a complex question.
There are traditional foods on the holidays here in Brazil. But I don't think any food around here is really "brazilian tradition" in that sense.
Here we have some sort of Turkey on christmas. But what we eat every year it is actually a mutant made in a secret lab chicken that nobody has ever even taken a picture alive (Chester).
(Now searching on google, there is actually 1(!) picture of a Chester alive, but I don't trust the system)
But I think most people hear prefer to eat some sort of "ham" thing in christmas (Lombo defumado)
There is also panetone (some sort of Italian bread thing, that some people fill with ice cream), which has many flavors (raisins, chocolate) and everyone likes (it even sells through the year because people like it so much)
There is pave (a french dessert) and "pudim de leite" (a pudding made with milk and eggs).
There is also "arroz com passas" (rice with raisins) around here on christmas, which nobody likes, but everyone makes for some reason.
Some fancy people here makes cod ("bacalhau") on christmas, but cod is kind of expensive and hard to make, and only rich fancy old people or people with Portuguese descent really do it around here.
What day do you eat these foods?
We eat everything around the 24th of December. No one here celebrate christmas around 25th I think.
Do you have any good memories of holiday foods?
When I was 14-15 years old I ate half a watermelon and got sort of drunk with some fruit punch (?). I didn't know about the alcohol and watermelon rule (eating watermelon with alcohol makes you sick apparently).
I got paper white and my entire family got around me and they forced me to go to bed. They were crying like I was going to die.