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Basic Trope: Instead of cooking Christmas dinner for themselves, characters either order Chinese food or go to a Chinese restaurant.

  • Straight: Alice and Bob order Chinese takeout for Christmas.
  • Exaggerated: Alice and Bob do this every Christmas.
  • Downplayed: Alice gets a recipe for Peking duck and makes it at home.
  • Justified:
    • Alice and Bob are non-Christian, and therefore do not celebrate Christmas, not even in a Santa Clausmas kind of way.
    • Alice and Bob are leaving on vacation the next day; there's no sense in having a ton of food lying around that will probably go bad by the time they return.
    • Alice and Bob are of Chinese descent, so eating Chinese food on Christmas is a way of celebrating their heritage.
    • Alice and Bob are "keeping things simple" this year.
    • Alice and Bob don't feel like having a big to-do for Christmas, or cooking a large feast.
    • Alice and Bob can't cook.
    • Alice burned the roast using Oven Logic.
    • Bob was supposed to take the turkey out of the freezer days ago so it would be thawed in time, but he forgot, and the turkey is still hard enough to cut diamonds with.
    • By the time Alice got to the grocery store, the last ham was gone.
    • The neighbors' untrained dogs ran in and ate the roast.
    • Alice and Bob don't like Christmas, or some aspect of the holiday.
    • Alice and Bob choose to focus on the religious/spiritual side of Christmas, rather than the secular "fun" aspects.
    • The only place that's open is the local Chinese restaurant.
    • Alice is estranged from her family.
    • Alice and Bob have no interest in coming home for Christmas and having Dinner and a Show, so they simply make an excuse about the stomach flu and stay home and order Chinese.
    • Alice and Bob simply don't have time to prepare a traditional holiday feast, between work, taking care of the kids, Christmas shopping, volunteering, or whatever else their schedules demand. Most days, in fact, they're lucky to sit down to a proper home-cooked meal at all.
    • A logical outcome of a roast burned by Oven Logic, destroyed by dogs, or otherwise unable to come to the table in a timely manner or at all.
    • Alice and Bob know uncle Charles and his kids' food allergies and Peking Duck is the closest suitable alternative they know of.
  • Inverted:
  • Subverted:
    • Alice is preparing dinner.
    • Alice puts a turkey in the oven.
    • Alice and Bob heat up TV dinners.
    • Alice makes a phone call to order a pizza.
    • Alice and Bob heat up leftovers.
  • Double Subverted:
    • She is preparing Peking duck.
    • But she burns the roast, so dinner is ruined, and they have no choice but to order out.
    • The TV dinner includes orange chicken or egg-drop soup.
    • The pizza place is closed...but then she places another call for Chinese food.
    • Which include Chinese food from the night before, perhaps remade into "Peking Surprise" casserole.
  • Parodied: Alice and Bob do this every holiday.
  • Zig Zagged: Some years, Alice and Bob cook for themselves, other years they order out or dine out at a Chinese restaurant.
  • Averted:
    • Nobody in this setting celebrates Christmas.
    • Everyone in this setting celebrates Christmas.
    • There are no Chinese restaurants in-universe.
    • Alice and Bob have something else instead.
  • Enforced: "Alice can't cook! What will Alice and Bob have for Christmas? Let's just have them order takeout."
  • Lampshaded: "We don't celebrate Christmas. Unless by that you mean order Chinese food."
  • Invoked: Alice burns the roast just hours before guests are due to arrive.
  • Exploited: The Chinese place markets itself to Jewish families and others that don't celebrate Christmas, and offers Christmas specials.
  • Defied: Alice and Bob just heat up leftovers or TV dinners.
  • Discussed: "This is the part where we eat Peking duck, right?"
  • Conversed: "I bet Alice will order Peking duck instead of actually cooking."

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