Eron I both are in the healthcare field and, as an RN and a Paramedic respectively, we have been working shifts for decades. Consequently, it is very rare that we would ever be both “off” on Christmas. So, we started our own tradition of hosting an annual, “Ain’t on Christmas, Christmas Dinner.” We typically invite family and friends; this year there were sixteen of us for dinner on Boxing Day.

Dinner seating for sixteen.

Our menu consists of our take on a traditional North American Christmas Dinner. There was, of course, a turkey. A ham. Mashed potatoes. Green beans. Brussel sprouts. Candied yams. Sausage stuffing. Scratch-made gravy. And rum-pecan pie and pumpkin pie for dessert.

14.62 kg of turkey (or just over 32 lbs for you non-metric types).

We started off with a 14.62 kg turkey. A butter-seasoning-herb mixture was prepared and put into cavities and placed under the skin.

Butter-seasoning-herb mixture.

Mixture placed into cavities.

Mixture pushed under the turkey skin.

The outside of the turkey was then rubbed with a mix of sesame oil, olive oil, maple syrup, and soy sauce.

Exterior rubbed with oil-maple syrup-soy sauce mix.

Eron had to remind Kagan that the turkey was not his… he wasn’t very convinced.

“The turkey is not yours. That toy is yours.”

We have a 33 1/2 inch wide commercial-grade oven and this bird barely fit!

Our ham was a “store-bought” cooked ham. However, we doctored it by creating an infusion consisting of Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon and orange juice and injecting it directly inside the ham. This mix was also used to glaze the ham during cooking.

Our take on the traditional mashed potatoes is made using garlic browned-butter and a dollop of sour cream for added richness.

The green beans were blanched, then tossed with toasted almonds and cracked peppercorns, sprinkled with lemon zest, and mixed with a butter and garlic paste before being roasted in the oven.

Blanching the green beans.

Toasting the almond slices for the green beans.

Our weirdo-dogs, Kagan and Khai, just happen to love sliced up veggies of all sorts. So, they spent the afternoon in position just in case food fell from the skies.

Kagan and Khai waiting for food to fall from the sky.

The Brussel sprouts were roasted in the oven after being tossed in olive oil and cracked peppercorns. Just before serving, a balsamic vinegar-dried cranberry sauce was drizzled onto the sprouts.

The Brussel sprouts; they have just been mixed with cracked peppercorns and olive oil. The balsamic vinegar-dried cranberry sauce got added just before being served.

The candied yams were prepared with a butter-maple syrup reduction.

Candied yams.

Yams mixed with the butter-maple syrup reduction and ready for oven-roasting.

For more even cooking, we prefer to cook our stuffing separate from the bird. Eron prepared the stuffing with sausage meat, chopped apples, chopped dried tropical fruits (dates, mango, pineapple, etc), slivered almonds and pecans, and the usual celery and onions. Once all the ingredients were mixed, homemade turkey broth was added for moisture and flavour.

Eron’s sausage stuffing ready to go in the oven.

My scratch-made gravy uses the turkey neck and gizzards as the base. The turkey bits were first sautéed in a pan with olive and sesame oils, soy and Worcestershire sauces, and seasonings and herbs. Then the pan was deglazed with white wine, homemade turkey-stock was added, and the pot was topped off with vegetables. This “soup” was left to brought to a boil, then left to simmer for almost four hours. The solids were strained and the resultant liquid was combined with the drippings (with oils separated) from the turkey and thickened to produce the gravy.

The turkey bits just before being sautéed.

The “soup” that is simmered as the gravy-base.

After a little more than four hours in the oven, the turkey was done.

Roasting in the oven-bag ensures moistness and lessens cooking time.

A 14 1/2 plus kg turkey results in quite the platter of meat; dark to the left and white to the right.

Quite the platter o’ turkey meat!

With the turkey finally sliced, it was time to serve-up and dig in.

Self-serve is the order-of-the-day.

After dinner, everyone pitched in to clear and clean up; a great big thanks goes out to everyone from Eron and me! A break for our poor, distended bellies was much needed. So, a number of us retired downstairs to my man-cave/media lounge/cigar sanctum. For those who didn’t bring their own favourite sticks, there was choice of the La Aurora “Untamed” Robusto or the Cain Straight Ligero “550”.

Of course, dinner is not complete with dessert. So, after the intermission, everyone had the their choice of homemade pumpkin pie or rum-pecan pie – or a slice of both! There was also freshly made real whipped cream to go with the pie.

Only two slices of rum-pecan pie left.

Same is true for the pumpkin pie.

Thank you to all our family and friends who were able to join us; our thoughts went out to those who were absent from our table. Eron and I are not heavily involved in Christmas traditions. However, the breaking of bread and the sharing of time with family and friends is very important to us and this annual, “Ain’t on Christmas, Christmas Dinner” has become a treasured tradition in our home.