The, “burden,” of family food traditions

It is apparently spelled “pflintzen”. :slight_smile: Or “plintsen” - Google to the rescue! Plenty of recipes on the web for both!

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Our parents on both sides are deceased, as is my brother. My SIL has a large extended family and they do their own thing on holidays. So now it’s just my husband, daughter and me at the table. That in itself reduces the cooking. Also, we are all watching our carbs, so that eliminates most of the baking I used to do.

Thanksgiving– I have decided to stop making turkey. I am not a fan of the taste, and spatchcocking it, and carving it up after it’s cooked, makes my thumbs ache. If I eliminate the turkey, I can stop making the cranberry sauce too!
This November I’ll roast a boneless leg of lamb instead. We love lamb.

Easter isn’t a hard meal: rabbit braised in Chardonnay with garlic and rosemary. I grew up eating rabbit at Easter and my family loves it.

Christmas week is more work-- lots more work, since my daughter’s birthday is also that week. I still bake her a cake. Christmas Eve and Day we eat several labor-intensive seafood dishes I make with salted cod and calamari. But we love them and it’s worth the work! I grew up eating these dishes, and modified the recipes a bit.

In the past few years I’ve also started buying a Smithfield pre-cooked spiral ham, which makes for some easier meals Christmas week. I freeze some of the ham to make bean and lentils soups later.

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My kids like traditions. When the kids were little we would get pizza and drive to see Christmas lights. My two daughters still want to do it if they are in town. They only want my brisket recipe for Hanukkah and Passover. It goes on and on. I’m happy they have wonderful childhood memories but I’m getting tired. My husband and kids are great with cleaning up.
I recently took over thanksgiving from my mother-in-law. I’ve kept things similar but changed the time of day. I also am getting better at having guests contribute with a dish or two. Last year I said if someone doesn’t volunteer for mashed potatoes we aren’t having them.
My pet peeve is the guests who start to clean the table and get at the dishes immediately. It makes others who want to sit and viait feel they need to jump up and help.

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I have made those. Very time-consuming

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We are a small family. Just dh, ds, and I. Even if we travel to see dh’s mom at Christmas, we are still pretty small. Just 6-10 people. I assist mil with her tasks once I arrive.

The challenge for me for any holiday cooking in my home is that even though we are a small family of three, everyone expects all the standard dishes! Paring down the quantity helps a little but not significantly. Thanksgiving is the prime example because it still requires turkey (I do a bone-in breast), gravy, dressing, sweet potatoes, cranberries, something green (usually green bean bundles) and a pie regardless of how many people there are.

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My Oma’s recipe:
6 eggs. beaten
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup sourcream (1/2 pt)
2 tbsp vanilla
2 tsp whiskey
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup flour

combine all of the above
Then take 3 - 4 apples
cut up apples
sugar them
Fry in hot pan

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I’m sure there could be more whisky in those pancakes. :wink: :tumbler_glass:

They sound delicious @oldmom4896. Totally not on my diet. Totally gonna try them.

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Are you worried that the gold, or platinum will wear off…or what. You probably use these dishes three times a year. Put them in the dishwasher!

Why isn’t it able to be washed in the dishwasher, they all have gentle cycles.

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They are hand painted and I worry. The china was my grandmother’s and I’d be devastated if they got ruined. I do use them once in a while when we have a small group.

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Have you tested them for lead?

Never did…I’ve never read anything about Herend China having lead though.

Ha, I thought my mother-in-law was going to have a stroke when she saw Hamburger Helper in my pantry! We got along great, but she was into real cooking. :sweat_smile:

Spoiler alert; I worked for General Mills remotely for 10 years and routinely got free samples. I had never used Hamburger Helper before that, but it became a life saver for feeding son at that time. Not to mention never running out of cereal or granola bars.

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Yeah, the whiskey should be measured in shots.