Since it's that time of year, a question needs to be asked...

Ok, I really have to ask...

Sprouts?

That's got to be a British thing, I guess...

The only sprouts I know of are Brussel Sprouts -- is that what you meant? If not, then by all means, make this lil French Canadian girl a smarter person.

Yes, Brussels sprouts, traditionally eaten with Christmas dinner... And this now-Ontario girl bought some in the local vegetable shop yesterday.


Wendy

When I was little I enjoyed them when they were small, but hated them when they were big. I hated them while I was in elementary and through my teenage years, BUT if my mum made a wonderful cheese sauce for them, I'd eat them all. Now I can manage to eat them without the sauce, but again they have to be small. I'd only see the cheese sauce though at Thankgiving and Christmas.

My brother used to hide his behind the stove when my mum wasn't looking.

I don't like the chesnut things with them. ICKY.

I wasn't sure what to pick so I picked the one where I'd eat a little if someone cooked some.

Well, the questions were too specific for me to really answer. Sprouts, yes. Chestnuts? Meh, not so much. And love them as I do I do intend to eat other things on Christmas Day. Pringles, mostly.

But, I have to say I adore sprouts. Big sprouts champion, I am. Delicious. I don't just have them with Christmas dinner, but they're a feature in my vegetable drawer all year long. Yum.

LabRat

Christmas tradition? didn't know. What else would end up in my plate if I was eating there? And would I get plum pudding? I used to love that! And mincemeat pie... YUMMMM!

Over here, a traditional meal would have meat pie and turkey with cranberry sauce and ...mmm, I dunno that I can translate this dish's name actually: "ragoût de pattes de cochon" - it's a stew with tiny little beef and pork meatballs and the meat off of pigs' legs... and then mashed potatoes and most probably green peas. Typical Québec stuff.

No sprouts. Pity... I love those. Really love those. But then, I can't think of anything that I will not eat and enjoy (besides sushi, which I will *never* put in my mouth, as long as I live).

Hey! Where's the "I'm Jewish, I've never eaten a sprout, and my family's traditional Christmas dinner is Chinese food"* option? *pout*

*AKA "Other"

I used to loathe sprouts. But then, I used to loathe pretty much anything that was green and boiled, so that's not saying much.

However, a few years ago, I discovered Sophie Grigson's Brussel sprouts 'in disguise' recipe, and have since been converted.

(Basically, you shred your sprouts and stir fry them with olive oil, a couple of chopped garlic cloves and some chopped fresh parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.)

Am I eating sprouts on Christmas Day? No. I had a few when I went out for our work's Christmas dinner, but I'm not going to cook them for myself.

Instead, I'm going along the whole non-traditional cooking route, and am going to try out a recipe for sweet and sour chicken.

Chris

Edited to add: Well, bother! I forgot to buy the pineapple so, looking at the contents of my fridge and store cupboard, I think I'm going to have to cook chicken and mushroom casserole instead. Grrrr.

The things you learn on this board....

Blech! No Brussel Sprouts for me at all! I absolutely loath them. They're eaten all year round here, mostly in the sprout season. So my mom made me eat it when I was a kid. For years, I've tolerated it as long as I got a cold apple sauce with it. But the last five years or so, I just don't eat them anymore. Plenty of veggies I do like, so I stick to them.

Over here, it's not even tradional to eat sprouts with Christmas. As we can have them all year round, what's so special about it? So turkey is more traditional. Although we don't have anything specific anymore. The new fashion is to have a gourmet or stone spit-roater session with the family. So that's what I'll be having tomorrow. And then turkey on Boxing Day.

Saskia

Well, turkey used to be traditional when we spent Christmas Day at my mum's - although in later years she got fed up with it and tended to try other things, like pork with apple sauce.

These days, with it just being Stuart and me, we don't have turkey because a/ Stuart doesn't like it and b/ it's a staple part of my normal, weekly diet, so it's not exactly special.

So we've had our own tradition for the past ten years. We have steaks, with gravy and sprouts, baby carrots, peas and sweetcorn, and mashed potatoes. Getting hungry just thinking about it.

We have a traditional 'pre-Christmas family night' though, usually a couple of weeks before Christmas, when we get to exchange family gifts. And then, we have a traditonal Chinese takeout for dinner.

Which isn't to say that I'm not drooling over the thought of your Christmas Day sweet 'n' sour, Chris. Sounds delicious!

LabRat (who could cheerfully live on Chinese food and nothing else)

Brussels sprouts are evil incarnate.

Two Words: Pecan Pie (homemade)

Well, was I ignorant. When I read 'sprouts', I quickly associated them with 'bean sprouts'. Which I like somewhat. Then I read about 'Brussel sprouts' and had absolutely no idea what it is. Knowing online dictionaries comes in handy at times such as these...

So, I looked it up - and found out that I should have voted differently. I've never tried them with chestnuts, but I surely like them pretty much - as long as I don't get an overly bitter bunch, that is. Though it isn't quite the season for them right now - or so I think. I've never had them for Christmas.

I never knew sprouts were considered a traditional type of thing. My mother tortured me with them all year round!

I can't even look at the things! BLECH!!!

I think I ate them once - maybe twice.

I've always hated cooked vegetables, especially boiled vegetables, especially if they are boiled in salted water. Too bad, because boiled vegetables are supposed to extremely good for you. Nowadays I force myself to eat some boiled vegetables, especially fresh sugarsnaps, which I boil very lightly in unsalted water. (I also eat a lot of uncooked vegetables, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, sweet peppers, radishes, sliced horseradish, mini carrots, uncooked cauliflower, uncooked broccoli...you get it.)

Brussels sprouts? Yeeech.

Ann

We eat a lot of Brussels sprouts here, but we don't consider them a traditional Christmas dish. I am not sure we have any traditional dishes at all, although we do usually end up with pineapple casserole somewhere on the table.

OK, well, after all that it turned out that there weren't any sprouts in the Christmas dinner we had this year - it was cabbage instead. Turns out that goes quite well with the little chesnut things too.

I LOVE having gourmet sessions with the family! We did this for Christmas a couple of times, but lately our Christmas dinners have been more buffet-type stuff just put together for a "meal."

I also like brussels sprouts, but no one else in my family likes them at all--so I don't get them at any time of year. We never had them for Christmas or anything.

Darcy, you can cook, can't you? So cook them yourself!

Well, I love sprouts but instead of boiling them I steam them until they are just barely done. Delicious.

We didn't have any for Christmas dinner, however. I decided a long time ago that Christmas Day should be a holiday for me as well as everyone else. We went out to the Red Lobster on Christmas Eve and I had enough coconut shrimp and shrimp linguini Alfredo to satisfy even me, along with shrimp cocktail, clam chowder, cheese biscuits and all kinds of deliciously fattening foods that I avoid the rest of the year. Then for Christmas Day, we went out to our little local restaurant which is the only one in town open on Christmas and waited an hour and a half to get our dinner (they were crowded).

Nan

I know it will probably have you cook-type persons screaming with the sacrilege, but I just put them in a bowl with a little bit of water, pop them in the microwave for a minute or so and wait for the ding.

LabRat

Yeah I definitely thought about bean sprouts. <g> But fascinating, brussel sprouts on Christmas. I've only had them once, and they're just ok. I'm originally from Texas, and our traditional family meal is tamales, salsa, beans, chips and queso, and benuelos for dessert. (And usually we throw a random ham on the table.) Ultimately, it's not Christmas for us til we throw the queso-Rotel dip on the table!

JD

Sounds like a perfectly reasonable way to steam 'em to me. Probably does an even better job of hanging on to the lovely vitamins than stovetop steaming (which is actually quite a bit healthier than boiling them). I cook lots of vegetables that way.

Yeah, I tend to prefer to believe so. I think boiling them just leeches all the goodness out of them. At least...the way I boil things probably does. With the microwave, I can regulate how well cooked they are much more precisely.

LabRat

Boiling vegetables... no way. I have a steamer inset for my saucepan and cook them that way - also much easier to test how well they're done. Al dente rather than cooked to mush! And then the vegetable water is great flavouring for gravy. Yum!


Wendy

Eww... That is all I can say.

~Jojo, who only has broccoli and cheese grace her table.

Yeah, Mellie, I can cook--when I have a recipe in front of me (or someone else telling me what to do) and I understand all the technical cooking terms used in the instructions.

But the thing is, I've never cooked brussels sprouts myself before--ever. And when I do veggies, it's usually just boiling and after draining, I add a pat of butter to the pot and stir. Steaming makes the veggies too crunchy for my taste--I like my green beans (and brussels sprouts) slightly soft.

They're gagalicious!!!

Well, Darcy, I know your problem. Though I do manage to get the terms right as long as I read it in German... Still, I can only warn you: Don't believe everything you read in cookbooks. I had one instructing the poor user (meaning me) to add freshly hacked chili to heated oil...