Christmas Food Traditions

James: What sort of foods did you eat on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

Anna: Honestly, I don’t think we ever had, like, a traditional dinner. We always did something different.

Anna: Like, sometimes we would do something similar to Thanksgiving on Christmas, like do a turkey or do, like, a roasted chicken.

James: Mm-hmm.

Anna: But, mostly it’s just about desserts. Like, we always did a lot of cookie baking, like, those, you know, cookies that you cut out into different shapes and then put the frosting on.

Anna: So mostly just eating a lot of sugar and stuff like that. How about you?

James: I love that sort of stuff. Yeah, like, same sort of thing. Um, my family does a ham, a Christmas ham…

Anna: Oh yeah.

James: …and, uh, and that’s really good. It’s like, um, it’s kind of- um, it’s more sweet, uh, like, on the sweet side and le- less savory, but so, so good.

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Vocabulary:

traditional dinner – a classic, customary meal prepared for a specific holiday or special event that follows long-established family or cultural customs, “For Thanksgiving, our traditional dinner always includes roasted turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.”

cookie baking – the activity or process of mixing ingredients and baking cookies, often done as a festive or cooperative family activity, “During the holidays, the kitchen is filled with the delicious scent of our annual cookie baking sessions.”

on the sweet side – having a flavor profile that leans slightly more toward sweetness rather than being strictly salty, sour, or bitter, “The homemade barbecue sauce was a bit on the sweet side, but it paired perfectly with the grilled pork.”

savory – describing food that has a salty, spicy, or rich flavor rather than a sugary or sweet one, “I usually prefer a savory breakfast like eggs and avocado toast over sweet options like pancakes.”