The turkey may be the culinary centerpiece for Thanksgiving, but Christmas entree options are broader. A Dickensian-style Christmas goose? Ham, with all its trimmings? A nicely steamed crustacean?
Judging from recipe searches on Yahoo!, Americans have been slicing into prime rib: That roast beef slab has led prep searches — that is, lookups on Dec. 24 — in the past three years. In 2012, people have been seeking tips for "prime rib au jus recipe," "boneless prime rib recipes, "lawry's prime rib recipe" and "prime rib rub recipe."
Ham seems to have had a bit of a renaissance, at least among procrastinators: Those queries have tied with prime rib, with searches for "brown sugar ham glaze recipe" (+72%), "honey baked ham glaze recipe (+584%), "christmas ham recipes" (+12%), and "slow cooker hame recipes" (+46%). Other last-minute recipe searches checked on how-tos for turkey, lasagna, meatloaf, chicken, pork tenderloin, shrimp, salmon, and Cornish game hen.
Hands down, the standby sides remain sweet potatoes, sausage balls, green bean casserole, and deviled eggs. Brussel sprouts and broccoli have been the go-to veggies, but kale gained ground in 2011 and 2012.
So who's eating what, where? A few Christmas Day regional lookups on Yahoo! — and a toast to you, wherever you may nosh:
- Atlanta: bourbon slush recipe, cranberry cheesecake, is Taco Bell open on Christmas Day
- Baltimore: white asparagus recipe, bread pudding with whisky sauce
- Cleveland-Akron: Domino's Pizza open on Christmas, is Olive Garden open Christmas, IHOP open on Christmas Day
- Dallas-Fort Worth: prime rib rock salt, baked yams with marshmallows, pictures of Christmas cakes
- Detroit: horseradish rub for prime rib, roasting boneless prime rib, Chinese restaurants open Christmas day, baked glazed ham, is McDonald's open Christmas Day
- Hartford-Connecticut: New Years Eve desserts
- Kansas City: hash brown cheese casserole
- Minneapolis-St. Paul: McDonald's open Christmas Day, pomegranate molasses, Red Lobster open Christmas Day, sauce for bread pudding
- New York City: recipe for thumbprint cookies
- Raleigh: Christmas morning French toast casserole, Starbucks open on Christmas 2012, Cheesecake Factory open Christmas Day, Chinese chicken salad recipe, grocery stores open on Christmas 2012
- Salt Lake City: recipe Hollandaise sauce, oven prime rib, is Sonic open for Christmas, temperature prime rib
- San Francisco: Chinese chicken salad recipe, Big Mouth Burger, dungeness crab season, is KFC open on Christmas
- Wichita: lime jello cottage cheese, make ahead gravy, Chinese chicken salad recipe
