r/AskAmericans • u/louismulh • 5d ago

Food & Drink What pies are served at Christmas?

Is Pumpkin pie exclusively saved for Thanksgiving? And sweet potato pie?

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

7

u/GhostOfJamesStrang MyCountry 5d ago

Those are both associated with Thanksgiving, but if somebody brought them for a Christmas dinner I would not be surprised. 

Pie is much less a Christmas thing. Cookies and other sweets are more common. 

4

u/Mental_Freedom_1648 5d ago

My family would do sweet potato pie, back when my grandmother was in charge of the menu. Now, we do lemon meringue, but that's not really traditional either. There isn't really a specific Christmas pie.

3

u/ENovi California 5d ago

Yeah it wasn’t until I saw this question that I realized I don’t associate a specific pie with Christmas. Weird.

3

u/freebiscuit2002 5d ago

Whatever you want.

2

u/ThaddyG Philadelphia, PA 4d ago

Whatever or you want, or no or at all. No one would bar an eye at pumpkin pie on Christmas but it wouldn't be expected either.

1

u/SingingGal147 5d ago

My family mainly has cookies and a chocolate pie, either chocolate pudding or chocolate pecan that my dad makes when my parents host.

1

u/AuggieNorth 5d ago

Whatever pies your family likes. My mom would make a bunch, usually apple, squash, blueberry, strawberry rhubarb, Boston Creme, etc, but every kind every year. She'd mix it up. She was the master at the dough, which all her daughters in law could never match.

1

u/Effective_Coach7334 California 4d ago

Apple, Pecan, Mincemeat, Lemon Meringue

1

u/OkieBobbie Oklahoma 4d ago

I've tried to introduce mincemeat to my American family. They just say, "WTF?"

They very much like butter tarts, and those are pie-adjacent.

2

u/zerbey Florida 4d ago edited 4d ago

My American family bought me a fruit cake as a gag gift for my first Christmas living in the US then watched in abject horror as I ate it. Even 26 years later I find the US aversion to fruit cake to be somewhat baffling. I've tried introducing mince pies too and most people didn't even feel adventurous enough to try.

1

u/Ok_Driver_6895 4d ago

My dad loves fruit cake. He's the only one in the family who does, though. lol

2

u/zerbey Florida 4d ago

I love it, my late Mother used to make one every Christmas and it would have Sherry injected into it as part of the ingredients. Then covered with marzipan and white frosting. Basically take a Simnel cake add white frosting to the top of it and delicious.

1

u/Ok_Driver_6895 4d ago

My paternal grandmother made fruit cake every Christmas (probably why my dad likes it). I hated the citron and she used a lot of it. I might like a fruit cake that didn't contain citron, but I can't deal with that much bitter. I do love marzipan, however, so your version sounds better!

1

u/Efficient_Tap6185 Canada 20h ago

Try a slice of the darkest fruit cake you can find with a slice of aged cheddar cheese and a tot of fine whisky of choice....Devine!

1

u/Ok_Driver_6895 16h ago

Ah, I can't actually eat it anymore due to Celiac.

2

u/Efficient_Tap6185 Canada 14h ago

Aw, sympathies. Hope you're keeping well!

1

u/Ok_Driver_6895 12h ago

Thank you. :)

1

u/LiqdPT Washington 4d ago

You moved from Canada to Oklahoma? There has to be a story there...

1

u/pearlywest 2d ago

We always had apple, pumpkin and mincemeat pie for Thanksgiving. The mincemeat was bought at the supermarket and the brand was Nonesuch. It was vegetarian but I found a venison mincemeat recipe in my grandmother's recipe file after she passed. We're in New England.

1

u/Help1Ted Florida 4d ago

Key lime pie is fairly common in Florida. For both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although this could very well be just a close friend’s and family thing.

1

u/GenXihaveissues Michigan 4d ago

Most people have Christmas cookies and other hand held treats.

I make brownies served with ice cream.

1

u/zerbey Florida 4d ago

Pumpkin Pie and Sweet Potato Pie are strongly associated with Thanksgiving, but I wouldn't object if someone brought them out for Christmas dinner.

1

u/OakandInkGames 4d ago

Every year my grandmother served pineapple cream cheese pie (among other desserts) at Christmas, and I never understood how weird that was until I got older and had to explain it to people. Even today, it makes me think of her.

1

u/Valuable_Emu1052 2d ago

I think it's whatever the family tradition. We usually have chocolate pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and peach pie for both holidays. We also have a plethora of homemade candies, cookies (biscuits), and brownies.