Best and Worst Holiday Foods

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Jthanmyfitnesspal
Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Of course, even calorie counters may eat a few extra calories over the Holidays. I like to think ahead and aim for the good stuff!

Best:

Roast turkey dinner
Roast lamb dinner
Home-made butter/sugar cookies
Home-made gingerbread cookies
Home-made dark hot chocolate with whipped cream
Home-made mulled cider with rum
Dark chocolate candies (purchase at chocolatier)

Worst:

Roast ham (time to eliminate preserved meats entirely)
Eggnog (best used for French toast)
Fruitcake (I'm sure there are good ones, most are best uses as doorstops)
Store-bought non-butter sugar cookies (why?)
Cheap milk-chocolate candies (again, why?)
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Replies

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,594 Member
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    Chocolate Shortbread Toffee cookies. Fixing to bake a batch after I get back from the gym. Juxtaposition, lolol.

    One from the memory books exclusively for anyone of a “certain age” from Atlanta: Mathis Dairy Eggnog. Sadly, that disappeared about the same time Rosebud did. Man, that was the taste of Christmas.

    Worst: ain’t got time for that. Why eat it if it’s the worst?
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
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    I actually never had fruitcake 😂 I would totally try that recipe
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
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    My favs... all the savory foods. I love holiday meals.

    My non favs... all the sweets. Never really had a sweet tooth. My only weakness is pecan pie and I didn't make any this year.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
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    Home-made anything is better.

    But, if you really want to try something horrible, try English plum pudding with "hard sauce." I had an aunt who insisted in serving it at a Christmas party every year. Tastes like boiled rubber.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
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    Best:
    I've taken a shine to Eggnog this year and told my dh this a.m. when *this* 1/2 gallon was gone, I wasn't buying anymore. :)
    I have a terrible sweet tooth so most everything I bake....
    Winter squash, love it

    Worst:
    Pecan Pie, I got sick during one of my pregnancies and haven't been able to look at a pecan pie since.
    Mince Pie
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,419 Member
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    Traditional holiday meals aren't big-time great for a vegetarian, just sayin'. On my own this year, I'm going with what I feel like making/eating, not what's traditional. That said, focusing on tradition:

    Best:
    * Homemade eggnog (with raw eggs beaten separately, much whipped cream, multiple types of liquor, fresh-grated nutmeg - so thick a spoon will stand up in it, and you'll need the spoon to eat rather than drink part of each glass)
    * Mashed potatoes (too much trouble to make for myself so it's a holiday treat)
    * Sweet potatoes with walnuts and minimal/no added sweetness
    * Pumpkin pie
    * Marzipan candy
    * Good homemade rolls (bread rolls)
    * Anything (up to and maybe including cardboard) with plenty of fresh whipped cream on it

    Worst:

    * Cool Whip on anything - so vile
    * Pecan pie - I could eat the pecans off the top, but the pie part seems Just Sweet
    * Super-sweet sweet-potato casseroles (marshmallows, buckets of sugar, syrup, etc.)
    * Commercial candied fruit
    * Commercial ribbon candy
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I knew someone would say fruitcake, lol. I LOVE my recipe, which comes from my Mom's 1953 cookbook. I made a batch last night. Nom nom nom.

    y88izpbftrfj.jpg

    It's missing the part of the recipe where you wrap the cake in clean muslin cloth and soak the cloth with rum/brandy every few days between the late November making time and December eating time. (It doesn't make it intoxicating, as most of the alcohol evaporates . . . the flavor and moistness, though 😋). The ingredients sound great, but there's also a steamed/baked debate to be had, too, maybe, I think. But that's not the point of the thread, is it? 😉
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    Home-made anything is better.

    But, if you really want to try something horrible, try English plum pudding with "hard sauce." I had an aunt who insisted in serving it at a Christmas party every year. Tastes like boiled rubber.

    I've always wanted to try real Christmas pudding, and this made me only more interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qauMSeqWpU&t=14s
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,594 Member
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    Ooooooh. I forgot about marzipan.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,657 Member
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    Best:
    Goose or duck roast
    Bread stuffing
    Roast parsnip and carrots

    Worst:
    Turkey or gammon roast
    Bread stuffing cooked in the carcass of a fatty bird such as goose or duck
    Sweet potato smothered in sweet glaze such as maple syrup.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
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    One of the things my mom made sure we had every single Christmas was that ribbon candy(yep worst). And a box of Whitmans chocolates(best).
    Looking back food equaled love. And we sure had plenty of it. :(
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,439 Member
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    I don't buy food that I don't like. Thus everything I buy is good by definition :D

    I bought small farm organic pork tenderloin and marinated it lightly. Served with potatoes, beetroot and a not very sweet cranberry compote. Actually, in taste very similar to berry compote I had in Scandinavia. Oh, and lots of cheese afterwards, with port because it was left from making the sauce.
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
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    As a kid:

    Best:
    The Christmas Eve feast of the seven fishes at my grandparent's house. Fried smelts!

    Worst:
    La Florentine Torrone because the boxes were so cute but the candy was gross.

    As an adult:

    Best:
    Bahlsen chocolate covered gingerbread hearts and stars that Santa always leaves in my stocking.

    Worst:
    The gift baskets of mediocre foods that are over-packaged and sent in the mail by people who don't know us well enough to select a gift we'd actually want.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,493 Member
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    Best: Moms apple crumble, all the homemade cookies, roasted brussel sprouts

    Worst: Cheap no name chocolate boxes, any type of mint dessert or anything with the mint/chocolate combo,
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,578 Member
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    I don't think of food being worst unless it's rotten or just doesn't taste good.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,955 Member
    edited December 2020
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I knew someone would say fruitcake, lol. I LOVE my recipe, which comes from my Mom's 1953 cookbook. I made a batch last night. Nom nom nom.

    y88izpbftrfj.jpg
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    [snip]...
    It's missing the part of the recipe where you wrap the cake in clean muslin cloth and soak the cloth with rum/brandy every few days between the late November making time and December eating time. (It doesn't make it intoxicating, as most of the alcohol evaporates . . . the flavor and moistness, though 😋). The ingredients sound great, but there's also a steamed/baked debate to be had, too, maybe, I think. But that's not the point of the thread, is it? 😉

    Mom doesn't let me change traditional recipes but I'm really liking the idea of adding rum...

    I've steamed Boston Brown Bread twice this year and it was so moist! On the stovetop in a lobster pot, which we find hilarious. I hate trying to maintain a steady simmer on an electric stove so am going to get some wide mouth pint canning jars and use my crock pot to steam.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,955 Member
    edited December 2020
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    Re the super sweet sweet potato casserole - we never had this growing up but I have had it elsewhere, most recently at my OH's family Easter. I love it and have made it twice. It really is ridiculously rich to be considered a vegetable side dish, but I think it's just fine as a dessert.

    Last time I left off the marshmallows and doubled the cranberries. Next time I'm going to look at reducing the butter and sugar.

    https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/216246/stacys-half-cup-sweet-potato-casserole/

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