Doing anything special for the holiday dinner? I decided to go with cornish hens (12) this year. Stuffed with orange peel, fresh thyme and rosemary with an orange glaze. Fresh spinach sauteed in olive oil and garlic, stuffed mushroom caps, creamed corn from the garden this summer, and Real au gratin potatoes (not boxed). All the normal Holiday pies for dessert, plus my wife's homemade cheesecake
Mark

Sounds wonderful, Mark!

I love this dear boy who married into our family and it's to his and one of our girl's home we'll be going for Christmas dinner. We'll get the 'traditional' turkey - but since he's from Vietnam we get it literally hacked to pieces with the biggest darn meat cleaver one has ever seen!

But normally we eat the my family's traditional meal of turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, whipped potatoes, steamed peas and fresh carrots, steamed broccoli with cheese sauce - and since none of us can figure out how to make my mom's xmas pudding with lemon sauce (at least not one that tastes like hers), we give the kids icecream and cookies and the rest of us munch on various pies.

I'll be thinking of your cornish hens when ducking for cover when our turkey is whacked into chunks on this Christmas day, Mark! Huge happy smile.

Nam huh, bettcha he could spice the old bird up a bit I've collected a decent selection of knives. My favorite is my Chinese cleaver. Paid next to nothing for it, going on 15 years and haven't sharpened yet just used the steel. Doubles as a scraper and a spatula. Best universal knife I own. If you ever get a chance, watch a cooking show with Martin Yan. Swinging that big old cleaver, I swear he can debone a chicken in 5 seconds
Mark

I can (and do) cut myself with paring knives - so find myself wanting to run for cover when I see anyone using a well sharped cleaver! But have to admit they can do impressive work ... 8 whacks and an 18 pound turkey resembles a turkey no more - gentle sigh and grin.

I trust that is 12 Cornish Chickens and not a twelve year-old Chicken garmanma?! Must be a large family! We don't have anything as exciting as a cleaver, just use boring old carving and cutting knives....

Last year we went special.

I always get the Bird and vegetables, just about the only time, (sorry, I know it's bad), that I go to the supermarket......you see my wife is Japanese so I cook the Christmas dinner.....er, yes the only time I do any cooking as well.

Anyhow, last year, I plumped for what appeared to be a large Duck. However when it came to the carving, 'plump' was the one thing it turned out not to be. It barely gave my wife, daughter and I more than a few mouthfuls. It truly was pure bone! Told myself I'd never experiment again at Christmas. But I nearly bought a Goose today!

Decided to put Goose back and 'plumped' for a corn fed free-range Chicken together with Sage and Onion stuffing, Parsnips, Swede, King Edward Potatoes, Large Roasted Mushrooms and Yorkshire Pudding followed up by a Full Fruit Christmas pudding and custard all washed down, (cook only, this part), with a nice tepid glass, (or five), of Bass Bitter Beer. BURP!

This post has been edited by The Colonel: Dec 22 2007, 05:11 PM