Why were they have their Christmas dinner on Xmas Eve?

At my house we generally have a big dinner on Christmas Eve. Not fancy, though. I will load up the smoker the night before. We will have a turkey, a pork shoulder, and if the mood strikes, maybe a chunk of beef brisket or eye round roast. I'll serve it with cole slaw, maybe some baked beans, and some kind of potatoes (mashed, baked, fried... I haven't decided yet.) We'll probably do an early church service, then eat, then open presents.


On Christmas Day, we will go to my parents' house, where ham has been the traditional main course for years. We'll eat, open presents, then hang out with the family.


And we will be eating the leftovers for the rest of the week.

You do know that there is a whole wide world that goes beyond the tip of your nose, right? I'm sorry to be this blunt but I simply cannot stand people who think the world and how it works revolves around their own world view. To be perfectly honest, I've never heard of a traditional Christmas dinner outside of some Victorian English poems and songs(goose, figgy pudding, etc). Turkey, even though it's is a traditional Thanksgiving entree, is a common choice for big meals. I know of many people who eat turkey on Christmas. As for big Christmas Eve dinners/get togethers, some of my most fond memories are of Christmas Eve with my extended family. It is Italian tradition to have the Feast of the 7 Fishes on Christmas Eve. I really miss that. Christmas Day was usually a smaller get together with ham and the trimmings.

Christmas Eve is always the big event for our family, so we'll have the big turkey dinner then. Christmas Day has always been more casual, and we'll typically gather together again and have leftovers (as well as a few newly-made dishes). I always preferred it this way, as I still had another gathering to look forward to after the big family dinner on x-mas eve.