Not an ethnic thing...just ethnic holiday food.

Spiky Bugger

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So, my sister and BIL are, again, hosting our annual get together. I'm the "free spirit" and my sister is pathologically organized. PATH.O.LOG.IC.AL.LY. And, we are 1/2 Mexican and 1/2 Italian married to...well...kinda white trash guys from (adjacent) flyover states.

Growing up, my sister and I enjoyed lasagna and other pastas and Italian sausages and cheeses and all kinds of delicious Italian stuff. And then, we also enjoyed tamales and chili con carne and frijoles de la olla and/or refried beans. And there was usually a ham and other gringo stuff.

MiniSue's boyfriend grew up w/Italian influences and makes a mean lasagna. My nephew's wife's part-time gig is cooking Thanksgiving baskets and other holiday meals for SEVERAL (very) A-LIST film stars...so we're talking some fancy foods. MiniSue can throw together a mean charcuterie and cheese board.

My sister just "assigned" us what we need to bring to her party: pizza, a bucket of chicken, cold cuts and King's Hawaiian rolls. (I'm allowed to bring tamales because I can't eat that other stuff.)

Upon hearing of the menu, my nephew asked, "When the hell did we start celebrating White Trash Christmas?"

So...we--one at a time--are now in the process of, as delicately as possible, asking if we can please bring "a little something extra." We love my sister and appreciate her generosity in hosting this gathering. Nobody wants to hurt her feelings...but she is THE MOST RIGID woman on the planet and already knows where, on her table, each of the items SHE requested "belongs." If we screw w/that, it might make her quite uncomfortable. Really.

(A good six or eight months before her last HS reunion, she had her outfit ready to go. She is never, ever late...or on time...to anything. She's the guest at your door a half hour before your party starts. We live 1.7 miles apart and she somehow manages to get here ten or fifteen minutes early, so she parks and waits around the corner. Honest. She's the employee who has to be told to NOT clock in when she gets there, because she's not allowed to start work that early. Even in killer LA Traffic, she was never late to work. Ever.)

Oh. And she wants the pizza and chicken because a while back, she learned that her grandsons will eat those items...a LONG while back, when they were little kids. These days, one is in high school and the other is an employed adult person.

So...there will now be ten days of increasing tension as we troublemakers try to add grown-up food to an otherwise fun gathering without making the hostess a basket case...and without having to bring one of these:
https://goo.gl/HsVA6s
 
Have fun being trouble makers! If she does this next year, start a few weeks earlier so you can spread out the suggestions a bit.
 
Have fun being trouble makers! If she does this next year, start a few weeks earlier so you can spread out the suggestions a bit.


Liz, she has, I'm sure, already factored in next year. Same guests, same spaces on the table for the same foods. She is the Queen of the Imaginary Village of A Place for Everything, Everything in its Place.


Full Dislosure...I LIKE a tidy home, but my life is not ruled by having to know where each heating tray is going to end up. Our mother was a bit rigid. At her memorial service, my step-brother said that at his home, finding a place to sleep was a victory. At my mom's home, he felt like he moved into a tv show or movie set, where everything was neat and organized and where it belonged.
 
I LIKE a tidy home as well...but I also want comfortable.
I'm the type who alphabetizes the spices (but don't care if others do), I just find it easier to locate that way.
I do make the bed every morning...cause I can't stand wrinkles in my sheets at night, esp around my feet (it's really bothersome to my neuropathy) and that's the only way to get everything fixed for me the next night.
In the rig, I DO have to put stuff away right after using it and preferably in it's home.
But then again, we've still managed to lose things in 430 sq ft. We actually lost a cat for a few hours and tore the place apart trying to find said cat. Turns out he had gotten into the island, under the drawers and couldn't get back out.

BUT I do have blankets all over the place, being used. Cat and dog toys scattered.

I'm not a slob but I also am not the queen of neat. That's my mother in law.
 
she is THE MOST RIGID woman on the planet and already knows where, on her table, each of the items SHE requested "belongs." If we screw w/that, it might make her quite uncomfortable. Really.
serious suggestion: can you bring another table? folding, I mean. for the extras and not to mess with the main one.

and I want that jello "salad"!!! my Mom would have loved it, too. and called it a salad. :geek:
 
Wine. Extra wine. Or special holiday cocktails. That will tie it all together perfectly. ;) Best wishes!

P.S. If it's any consolation have local, organic, vegan, gluten-free houseguests arriving Thursday. I plan to get through cooking with cups of cheer and pretending it is an episode of Cutthroat Kitchen.
 
Regarding that raspberry pretzel jello salad... When we first moved here, the menu had "congealed salad" on the menu. "Congealed", in my mind as someone in the medical field, made me think of blood clots. Yuck! So I asked and gave away my not so southern upbringing. Waitress looked at me like everyone knows it a jello thing. I still cringe a little when I hear "congealed salad", but only for a nanosecond. :eek:
 
I have a houseful of food and just the two of us to eat it - and Charles still isn't eating much, so I'm slamming protein for a change. In order of what spoils first: finishing off king crab legs; a turkey breast; ribs; and a Honeybaked ham. All pre-cooked, though I'm going to make some homemade cranberry sauce in the next couple of days. It's going to be too quiet for Xmas, as our in-laws are going to CA to be with the kids, but we got to spend quite a bit of time with them at Thanksgiving, and Charles still isn't feeling well.

I was inspired to buy our kids Omaha Steak boxes of meat as their presents - I was a little surprised at how happy it made them! This is what I sent them (not bad for $110 each, with free shipping, and each box feeding a couple):

We took the easy way out, but hope you’ll like them!
We sent the meats! And a few extra treats!

NOTE DELIVERY DATE: they are perishable! DON’T STICK THE BOX UNDER THE TREE!!!
Standard Shipping

Sat, Dec 22
The Favorite Gift Upgrade plus 4 FREE Burgers
24 total items [I count 40 items]
· 4 (5 oz.) Filet Mignons
· 4 (4 oz.) Boneless Pork Chops
· 4 Boneless Chicken Breasts (1 lb pkg.)
· 4 (4 oz.) Omaha Steaks Burgers
· 4 (5.5 oz.) Stuffed Baked Potatoes
· 4 (4 oz.) Caramel Apple Tartlets
· FREE 4 (4 oz.) Omaha Steaks Burgers
· PLUS 2 (5 oz.) Top Sirloins
· PLUS 2 (4 oz.) Boneless Pork Chops
· PLUS 4 (4 oz.) Omaha Steaks Burgers
· PLUS 4 (3 oz.) Gourmet Jumbo Franks
 
Bring extra alcoholic beverages too! You may need them.
I switch it up. This Christmas is cheese, sausage, salami, cheeseballs, cocktail franks in BBQ sauce, turkey, and ice cream! Still a few days left so maybe I will add a few cookies or something!
 
I have a houseful of food and just the two of us to eat it - and Charles still isn't eating much, so I'm slamming protein for a change. In order of what spoils first: finishing off king crab legs; a turkey breast; ribs; and a Honeybaked ham. All pre-cooked, though I'm going to make some homemade cranberry sauce in the next couple of days. It's going to be too quiet for Xmas, as our in-laws are going to CA to be with the kids, but we got to spend quite a bit of time with them at Thanksgiving, and Charles still isn't feeling well.

I was inspired to buy our kids Omaha Steak boxes of meat as their presents - I was a little surprised at how happy it made them! This is what I sent them (not bad for $110 each, with free shipping, and each box feeding a couple):

We took the easy way out, but hope you’ll like them!
We sent the meats! And a few extra treats!

NOTE DELIVERY DATE: they are perishable! DON’T STICK THE BOX UNDER THE TREE!!!
Standard Shipping

Sat, Dec 22
The Favorite Gift Upgrade plus 4 FREE Burgers
24 total items [I count 40 items]
· 4 (5 oz.) Filet Mignons
· 4 (4 oz.) Boneless Pork Chops
· 4 Boneless Chicken Breasts (1 lb pkg.)
· 4 (4 oz.) Omaha Steaks Burgers
· 4 (5.5 oz.) Stuffed Baked Potatoes
· 4 (4 oz.) Caramel Apple Tartlets
· FREE 4 (4 oz.) Omaha Steaks Burgers
· PLUS 2 (5 oz.) Top Sirloins
· PLUS 2 (4 oz.) Boneless Pork Chops
· PLUS 4 (4 oz.) Omaha Steaks Burgers
· PLUS 4 (3 oz.) Gourmet Jumbo Franks
Great idea! Decent meat is NOT cheap!
 
Considering it was delivered too, not too bad.

20 oz of filet @~$18/lb = $22.50
10 oz of top sirloin @~$10/lb = $6.25
24 oz of boneless pork chops @~$10/lb = $15.00
4 lbs of boneless chicken breasts @~$5/lb = $20.00
3 lbs of hamburgers @~$5/lb = $15.00
12 oz of franks @~$5/lb = $3.75
Potatoes and apple tarts - $10?

So it looks like about $92.50 of meats + treats, delivered for $110. Not too bad.
 

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