Topic: The Best Things About Christmas.

@Sorteddan They are the devil’s work, whatever the hell is put in them.

Mince pies and Christmas pudding can both go in the bin.

Polish xmas food is obviously very different from British xmas food but I seem to be in the very small minority who doesn't enjoy it all that much. I definitely prefer my everyday stuff

@Voltan
Yeah I work with a Polish girl and she was telling me about all the different cod dishes you guys traditionally have on Christmas. Interesting but I'll stick with what I know thanks. Unless she was just winding me up!

@Sorteddan

@Sorteddan Cod and carp, yeah - among other things. I'm not a big fan of fish in general. Even pierogi usually come in my least favorite varieties for the holidays (no fish in those though).

Somehow I don’t think I’ve ever had mince pie, so I have no context on that one. In the US it’s more just cookies, candies, things like fudge, gingerbread, traditional fruit pies and fruitcakes, lots of peppermint flavored goodies, and of course hot cocoa, cider and my favorite seasonal beverage — Egg Nog. How Egg Nog hasn’t caught on year round, I don’t know.

@Th3solution That actually sounds much better to me.

@Th3solution I am still 90% certain Egg Nog is not a real thing and some kind of American in-joke created to confuse the rest of us.

@Th3solution Also I believe you guys have actual Xmas parties (maybe not this year) while here in Poland it's still a holiday with strong religious undertones (like most things, I guess), which I'm not a fan of

@Sorteddan I think there are still people in the UK who think there is actual meat in them. I'd try anything once.

@Thrillho Send that bin my way

@Thrillho Haha, not at all! It’s a legit thing. It’s like drinking pure heavy cream with sugary spiced additives and rum, bourbon, or can be non-alcoholic as well. Really coats the gullet.

@Voltan The Christmas party traditions here are out of control. Last year they were very much suppressed by the pandemic, but this year they seem to be ramped back up a little, although not to the full extent. Pre-pandemic it was expected that you’d have 1-2 Christmas parties a week all through the month of December (depending how many friends and family you have). But most companies have a Christmas party for their staff, many neighborhoods have parties, most churches have parties, and then individuals just throw parties and open-houses for their friends. There are only 3 or 4 weekends in the month so it can sometimes get crammed.

@Th3solution Oh, I guess we do have those company events for employees too, although they're usually more like a big dinner with some booze - and this year it's cancelled anyway.
A Christmas party you throw at home for friends is definitely not a thing here though.

That is definitely what I need around Christmas as I don't think I'm going to get enough calories from the copious amounts of food alone 😂

@Voltan Do the Polish do Christmas trees, home decorations, Christmas lights, etc?
I think sometimes part of the motivation for people to throw a home party is to show off all the hard work they did putting up Christmas decor with the ornamented tree, lights, special Christmas serving pieces, etc, etc.

@render Haha, oh yeah — the diet is thrown out the window for sure. But at least Egg Nog has egg in it (traditionally anyways) so a little protein to counter all the empty calories 😂

@Th3solution Oh yeah, we do all that, to some extent. The trees are actually very much a European thing (originally a Germanic tradition, I believe). But then you're kinda only supposed to spend the holidays with your family and celebrate the birth of our lord and saviour by exchanging gifts from the coca-cola man in red

@Th3solution I tried to make eggnog last year and I put far too much rum in. The eggs curdled and turned into some sorta weird sweet boozy scrambled eggs. One of the most utterly disgusting things I’ve ever had. The texture will haunt me.

@nessisonett You can probably get something similar in a Heston Blumenthal establishment.

Satsumas.
That's all I wanted to hear.
Satsumas.

The exact same thing happened to me about 15 years ago 🤣... it tasted fantastic until it started scrambling though. I’ve been tempted to try making it again every Christmas since but never actually give it another crack. Maybe next Christmas.