So I'm in good ole Ohio with my boyfriend and we were going to spend Christmas dinner at his parents' house. His mom has come down ill with covid, so we are obviously not doing that.
Anyone have some suggestions? We both really want to spend time with each other and won't want to spend hours on a meal just for the two of us, plus 'tis the season for groceries to be picked over and scarce.
Ideas?
Ribs in a crockpot
You can make a good turkey breast in a crockpot with like 3 other ingredients
(Both recipes easily found on the ‘net)
The Benihana knock offs (Samurai Japanese joints) are usually open on Christmas Day.
^ About the only places that are open on Christmas are Chinese restaurants and movie theatres.
Nina, you might find roasting a chicken to be an easy solution. Just rub butter, salt and pepper on the outside and bake it on a rack in a roasting pan at 375 until it is darkish golden brown on the outside (usually about 90 minutes but more for a larger bird). You'll know it's done when you the strip peaking out from the inside cavity turns from red to brown.
Even easier still is if you bake some potatoes with it. Just wash them, poke a few holes in each and place them right on the oven rack next to the roasting pan. As a general rule of thumb, I put them in about 30 minutes after the chicken goes in. They usually take about an hour at 375 but can take longer if they are large.
For a veggie, you can always buy some bagged frozen stuff that can be zapped in the microwave.
That's the easy-peasy approach with very little real work involved. Some butter, salt, pepper for the veggies and potatoes and maybe some sour cream for the taters and you're off to the races. If you want to make it a little more complicated, I can get into how to make a gravy with the drippings, stuffing the chicken, doing mashed or twice baked potatoes, etc. if you want, but it sounds like you want something simple that doesn't require much prep.
Good luck!
Oh, but assuming you don't cook much, be sure to clear out the cavity of the chicken first! They usually put a bag with the gizzard and organs in there, which you can just throw away.
I think we've decided on frozen pizzas, stuffing, and whatever best meat our local farmer's market has. But more ideas are still welcome as I haven't gone to the store yet and he won't be home from work till afternoon.
We're also baking cookies for Santa. We don't have kids yet, we just like to eat.
I had planned to do oven swiss steak and mashed potatoes for 2 but since it is now forecasted so warm in Atlanta I am marinating steak for grilling.
Buy tamales
Bake a ham. Super easy and lots of leftovers
Sorry about his mom, hope she feels better soon. But now there's no reason not to let him lick whip cream off you for dessert.
Order pizza and a bottle of wild turkey. It’s not your typical turkey dinner, but it will be memorable.
Grilled shrimp and a salad. Cookies. A bottle of wine with some cheese and crackers. Just simple ideas that you can probably find in a store at the last minute that don’t need much prep time.
When I was in elementary school, "pizza" day was half an English muffin with ragu sauce and a slice of American cheese. It's a simple recipe, and you can immerse yourself in the ratchet boomer childhood experience.
Chinese food is open just sayin
I was at an upscale Chinese place Monday and they were reservations only for Christmas Day. The waiter said they get packed with non-Asians for Christmas.
Sushi if there's a good place nearby.
Volunteer to feed the homeless, you will be feed a “traditional” dinner and do a good thing for Christmas.
Go to a restaurant that has a “Christmas Dinner Special”, make it a romantic night for the two of you.
Remember to save the chicken guts for nicespice.
Not sure if by "Christmas dinner" you mean Christmas Eve or the 25th - if it's Cristmas Eve you could have ordered from a restaurant earlier in the day when they were open then just reheated it at night
Proly some gas stations are open, you could have pop tarts and pepperoni sticks.
You can never go wrong with pizza rolls.
Not sure what part of Ohio you are in but there are several restaurants that are open on Christmas Day.
Cleveland area - news5cleveland.com
Columbus area - columbusonthecheap.com
Cincinnati area - 365cincinnati.com
Dayton area - mostmetro.com
^ I was just about to post a link to the Cleveland restaurants open, but whodey beat me to it
I vote for King Wah just because that name is awesome 😎
Gentlemen, and ladies, you'll have to excuse my boy, Desertbender. His boyfriend's reluctance to engage in golden showers has left him no other option than to piss on himself.
If you're in Cleveland you can roast weenies and marshmallows over the burning river.
King Wah sounds like a boomer place wah, wah, wah
Covid is a scam.
^^^ Give it a rest, Dave. It's Christmas.
So we got frozen pizza but got high and hungry and ate it yesterday lol, we still have some stuffing and ice cream. He also has some sausages and rice that we're going to make little stir fry out of. The neighbors stopped by to introduce themselves the day nefore yesterday and brought huge poinsettia bouqets along with cinnamon rolls. We had the cinnamon rolls with our 6:30am Christmas breakfast.
It ain't the food that matters, it's who you're eating it with.
Around here I've noticed that some of the gas stations near the highway entrances are still open, including some that offer prepared foods. We obviously don't know exactly where in Ohio you are, but I'll bet that there's at least one truck plaza (Flying J, Pilot, etc.) nearby where you can snag some sandwiches, pizza, etc., if the little stir fry isn't enough.
But that does all sound a bit depressing though. I have a Christmas feast in the works. I just can't imagine not celebrating the day with something special in the oven, especially since almost everything is closed anyway. But to each his/her own.
Scrub Club Ad: Ho Ho Ho, "Desert Ridge Marriott" Delight!
Could be Nina has a bun in the oven by now, cause what else you gonna do on a holiday when everything's closed.
I actually just got my period and feel too bloated for sex so I've just been using my mouth the last couple days. 🤷♀️
Daaang you spend X-Mas in O-hell-io for your man, and give courtesy candy when Aunt Flo's in town. You should change your handle to SaintNina.
Personally I preferred tongue kissing and an HJ for an Aunt Flo mercy. But not practical if he's much taller than you.
When Rick cooks something special, I wonder which gets more marinated, him or the food?
Let's eat beans
We woke up and cuddled and I jumped on him and yelledn "it's Christmas" then we made breakfast and were opening gifts by 7am while drinking cocoa his niece made us with Baileys and whipped cream. For dinner we made a delicious stir fry and watched the Warriors beat the Suns. I fell asleep before I could use one of the many bath bombs he got me from LUSH so I will use one today. It was a fantanstic Christmas. I didn't mind at all that we didn't have a traditional Christmas dinner.
===> "When Rick cooks something special, I wonder which gets more marinated, him or the food?"
Depends on the day. 😉
Bath Bombs
This is all over the internet today. Hope it didn’t happen to you
I’m a bit late with my suggestion, but…
I hope your boyfriend’s mother feels better soon.
I was thinking of Chinese food - likely take out.
If you are dining out - you might get lucky and enjoy some caroling!
Thank you guys for the suggestions. We ate well and had a beautiful Christmas.
Celebrate Christmas a day early at a nice restaurant? Some might even be open Christmas day.