What are you eating for Christmas? (No advertising thread)

Dear users, dear authors,
what are you having for Christmas and the holidays?

At Christmas, we all just sit together and have a simple meal :)

We don’t need anything fancy or elaborate. We’re just happy to be able to sit together, since almost everyone in the family works shifts—and unfortunately, that doesn’t stop even before Christmas and the holidays...

Nothing special since it’s just the two of us now.

On December 24, we’ll have soup for lunch and a cold meal in the evening. This time, it’ll be geselchtes with bread, kren, and gurkerl.
For my neighbors in nearby countries, I googled it and found out the following: geselchtes is boiled pork belly, kren is horseradish, and gurkerl are pickled cucumbers.
I hope I spelled everything correctly.

On December 25, we’ll be at my parents’ house for brunch. There’s everything your heart desires—my mom asks everyone beforehand what they’d like best, and that’s what we’ll have for everyone. So, nine different favorite dishes for the whole group. That means salmon, ham, spreads, pastries, lots of vegetables, plus salami and eggs. And much more.

On December 26, we’ll have roast pork at my mother-in-law’s. With bread dumplings and salad.

And in between, cookies and chocolate from the Christmas tree.

After that, we’ll all be ready to roll......

On Christmas Eve itself, we traditionally don’t have anything special. Usually just potato salad with sausages. Since we aren’t celebrating this year anyway, we’ll skip that too.

At our house—just like in recent years—we’ll be having raclette in the evening after we open our presents.
For lunch, we’ll just have sandwiches, and in the afternoon, a few homemade cookies—if there are any left by then ;-)

On Christmas Eve, we’re having Schäufele and potato salad, along with homemade rolls. We haven’t decided on breakfast or lunch yet—we’ll just see what’s in the fridge. ;-) 
On Christmas Day, we’ll have the leftovers, and on Boxing Day, our oldest wants pancakes. ^^

At our house, we have herring salad on Christmas Eve—it’s a tradition; my mother-in-law always used to make it. It’s very convenient because you can prepare it as early as the 23rd. Then you don’t have to do any work on the 24th. On Christmas Day, we have something light, like veal rolls or something similar. And on Boxing Day, we traditionally have goose with dumplings and red cabbage. And in between, of course, stollen and cookies. Well, and after that—lots of... dieting!

At our house, we also have raclette on Christmas Eve after opening presents.  It’s sociable and easy to prepare.  Plus, everyone can make whatever they like. My husband absolutely must (!!!!!) have his chocolate cake on Christmas Eve. (It’s not Christmas Eve without cake ..... :-))
And on Christmas Day, I’ve ordered goose from my mother-in-law. 

That all sounds pretty delicious—it’s making me hungry just thinking about it.
There are just the two of us, and I have to work over the holidays, so we won’t be doing anything out of the ordinary. One day we’ll have rolled roast with red cabbage and dumplings; on New Year’s Eve, bratwurst with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes; and for the rest of the days, we’ll see. We also like to just have a mixed salad sometimes, or that good Norwegian salmon with rice.

For me, it all starts on the 23rd: I always go out to eat with people from my school days.
On Christmas Eve, my mom makes turkey roulades with lots of delicious sides, followed by “Apfelküchle.”
On Christmas Day, we have a festive meal at my in-laws’ house; I don’t know exactly what yet, but it’s always something special.
And on Boxing Day, we’re going to a restaurant with my dad’s family, so we’ll be treated to another delicious meal.

After Christmas, I probably won’t be walking anymore—I’ll be rolling ;) 

My parents have always served potato salad, as do I, and my daughter-in-law also makes potato salad using my recipe. It’s been a tradition for three generations. That’s something, isn’t it? My son always says, “Christmas without potato salad isn’t Christmas.”

On Christmas Eve, we traditionally have noodle soup, sausages, and homemade bread rolls.
We’ve been doing this for three generations now!
During the holidays, we have family gatherings, so the menu varies. ;o)

On Christmas Eve, it’s our tradition to have ham in a morel cream sauce, served with homemade baguette and salad, followed by eggnog mousse with raspberry ragout for dessert. On Christmas Day, a big fat goose has to be on the table with Thuringian dumplings and red cabbage, with bone marrow dumpling soup as the starter and crème brûlée for dessert. On the second day of Christmas, we have the beef from the soup with horseradish. After that, it’s time to fast for a week.
On New Year’s Eve, we have raclette.

Since my husband passed away, I’ve been living alone. Just like I used to when my kids were still little, I make a really delicious potato salad with sausages.
That’s what I serve when my kids visit me on Christmas Eve, too.
If my kids are with me on the other two days of Christmas, one day we have turkey with red cabbage and dumplings, and for dessert, vanilla ice cream with rum-soaked fruit.
On the other day, we have roulades stuffed with pickled cucumber and smoked Mettwurst, served with pasta and a vegetable mix of peas and carrots, and for dessert, wafer rolls (which I always make 1–2 weeks in advance) filled with cream.
It’s been this way for many years, and my children always ask for it.
When I’m with my kids during the holidays, the festive meal is always different.
We always figure out who’s staying with whom and when about two weeks before Christmas.
This year, all my kids were with me on Christmas Day. Since they all have steady partners now, my little apartment was packed to the brim but totally cozy.