A Traditional Christmas Dinner

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Permalink Reply by patti (snowflake) on November 2, 2009 at 6:41pm

good question I 'd like to know also for i will be out there then. Will all the restraunts be open on Christmas day? thanks also!

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Permalink Reply by Westie on November 3, 2009 at 9:07am

I will also be out there for Christmas Day so would be delighted if somewhere was doing a trad Christmas Dinner.

My partner and I will be staying in an apartment that has cooking facilities and I was wondering what the 'shopping' facilities were like. As I didn't do this last time I was there, I have no idea what is available 'supermarket' wise?

Thanks Sarah (aka Westie)

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Permalink Reply by Kim (mojomom) on November 3, 2009 at 9:26am

We tend to cook and eat in for Christmas. For supermarkets, both City Market and Safeway are convenient to the mountain and both are on the bus route. Safeway tends to be a bit less crowded. If you want to pick up something specialty you might try Steamboat Meat and Seafood downtown. For convenience and some specialty like homemade soups and breads, Market on the Mountain is great, but pricey.

One thought to check out for a traditional type Christmas dinner would be the Cabin in the Grand. I would expect that a hotel would have something . Maybe something at the Sheraton too. You might also check out if Hazies is doing anything special for a Christmas dinner.

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Permalink Reply by Rick on November 3, 2009 at 9:23am

First you have to define "traditional Christmas Dinner". Most people I know consider this turkey, similar to Thanksgiving. But many others consider it ham, and others prime rib. And, of course, many of our forum members from the UK would consider it goose. (this would probably be the hardest to find in Steamboat of the choices listed).

As for the question about supermarkets (for those preparing their own dinner), Steamboat has two large supermarkets from major chains, City Market (local to western Colorado but owned by Kroger), and Safeway. Either one would offer almost anything you would expect in a supermarket. There are also several smaller markets around town, with more limited selections. but sometimes more convienient locations.

Based on past experience, I would expect several restaurants to be open and offering turkey, ham or prime rib, but others to be closed. You will have to contact thr restaurants individually (and soon; those that are open will probably fill their reservations early).

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Permalink Reply by Westie on November 3, 2009 at 9:28am

Hi Rick,

For me it is Turkey etc, never had Goose so won't miss that if not easy to get.

To be honest, I go away this time of the year to avoid it all the rubbish associated with the season, but do love the dinner itself.

Went to Madrid last year and ended up having a very traditional Spanish meal.

We do celebrate Thanksgiving in our house, because my partner works for an american bank :-) Lame excuse, but we don't care, we love it.

Will see about booking 'something' for the day now though, hadn't thought about booking ahead for it!

Thanks,
Westie

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Permalink Reply by Boo Boo on November 3, 2009 at 11:03am

Yes, goose is really quite rare in the UK (these days)... I would say 80+% of us have turkey for Christmas dinner (the other 20% are split between chicken, beef, goose and a few other things).

Westie, definitely book ahead - think that will be a necessity for Christmas day... I would try the Cabin (at the Steamboat Grand): have eaten dinner there before and it has been good and I am sure that they certainly used to do a "traditional" Christmas dinner (so probably still do).

Boo

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Permalink Reply by Rick on November 3, 2009 at 2:31pm

Sorry, I guess I had seen too many versions of "A Christmas Carol". Goose apparently was the choice in England during Scrooge's day, and I guess I thought it still was :-(

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Permalink Reply by Boo Boo on November 4, 2009 at 4:53am

You are right - definitely the traditional choice (at least for well off families and probably those with farms etc), but probably not for the past 50+ years.

I must try it sometime :-)

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Permalink Reply by Kim (mojomom) on November 3, 2009 at 10:25am

I found this discussion from last year.
http://my.steamboat.com/forum/topics/dining-ideas-for-christmas-day

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Permalink Reply by Westie on November 3, 2009 at 10:44am

Thanks for that Kim.... lots of thoughts going thru my head.

Certainly it had not occured to me that cooking at a different altitude would be different in any way - should make scrambled eggs interesting for breakfast - maybe I'll do what I did last time and just head to the Ptarmigan Inn each day for breakfast!

Thanks again, Westie.

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Permalink Reply by Boo Boo on November 3, 2009 at 11:09am

Westie, where are you staying?

I definitely find cooking in Steamboat a challenge (combination of the altitude and US style stoves/cookers perhaps?).... Things seem to boil without being that hot (if that makes any sense). I try to keep it simple if I cook there...

Husband normally cooks breakfast in our condo: pancakes, sometimes fried eggs, bacon (I know it is cheating, but we like the crispy pre-cooked bacon you warm in the microwave), oatmeal in the microwave etc. I like the convenience of breakfast (made for me) in my PJs, by the fire, in our condo... then throwing on ski clothes and out onto the slopes :-)

Boo

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Permalink Reply by Rick on November 3, 2009 at 11:11am

There are two main things that are different for cooking at altitude:

1. Water boils at a lower termperature (I think it is about 1 degree C for each 1000 ft, but don't have the formula right in front of me). This means that things cooked in/over boiling water need to be cooked a little longer.
2. Yeast and other things that contribute to "rising" produce more of a rise (hence the fluffier bisquits). Many food items sold here (especially cake mixes) have "high altitude instructions" on the box to alter ingrediants and/or cooking time.

The lower humidity also can cause some problems.

Some useful websites are:

1. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/high_altitude_cooking_and_food_...
2. http://homecooking.about.com/od/altitude/High_Altitude_Cooking.htm
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_altitude_cooking

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