Who grows your Christmas dinner?

Celebrate your holiday Island style this season with local ingredients and inspirations grown and produced by fellow Islanders - and consider setting an extra place at your table for a newcomer to experience the spirit of a Prince Edward Island Christmas.

Since Prince Edward Island is Canada’s Food Island, it is easy to find everything you need right here. Below are menu suggestions with links to recipes. Find local growers and makers at What's In Season or the Island Food Map created by PEI Food Exchange, or get inspired on Pinterest.

The setting

Your Island-grown Christmas tree sits adorned in the corner of the room while the '13 Days of Xmas' by the Prince Edward Island All Stars plays softly in the background. The candles are safely lit and a locally grown poinsettia adorns the table.

Christmas Eve

Acadian Meat Pie and PEI Seafood Chowder are traditional Christmas Eve dishes for many Islanders. Modernize a buffet-style meal with a PEI cheese and charcuterie board and a selection of local spirits. Another suggestion is to pair Oysters Rockefeller with a white sangria and apple cider.

The main event: turkey with all the trimmings

PEI's food ambassador, Chef Michael Smith offers a recipe for Honey Roast Turkey with Gravy, which we'd suggest serving with garlic mashed potatoes and other local vegetables such as brussel sprouts, carrots, turnip, and cabbage for the coleslaw.

Potato dressing requires many local ingredients including apple, onion, summer savoury, sage, potatoes, eggs and butter.

For pickles, you can raid your own larder or source some from a local craft fair or bake sale.

Turkey dinner is not complete without cranberry sauce - make your own with cranberries from one of the Island's seven cranberry growers.

The toast

Salute the sea and the season with the salty kiss of a freshly shucked PEI oyster. It is said that “only then, can you truly embrace the spirit of PEI culture.”

Desserts

For a sweet ending, top cranberry pudding with a butter and cream sauce, pair it with a local dessert wine or liqueur and serve with a selection of homemade cookies and made-in-PEI candies and chocolates.

Relax with a mug of locally roasted coffee or a cup of PEI-blended loose tea (you might be forgiven if you choose to serve King Cole - from just across the bridge in Sussex - if your guests prefer a traditional orange pekoe) served with milk and cream from one of our PEI dairies.

Now that your meal is planned, have you considered sharing your holiday meal with a new immigrant? The PEI Association for Newcomers to Canada coordinates the annual holiday host volunteer program. If you would like to volunteer as a host, contact PEIANC.com or call (902) 628-6009.