What do you have for dinner on Christmas Eve?

[TallulahTwinkle]

(Apologies if already done)

Need ideas :)

[flipchart]

It's just a normal meal to us.
Always has been,even when I was child st home.

[HeirToTheIronThrone]

When I was little, always lasagne. I don't really know why (though now older perhaps for it's make-ahead properties?) but I really liked having the tradition. Nowadays usually fish, last year baked salmon with pesto crusty bit and olives - fish somehow seems a good 'light' option ahead of the next day's gluttony.

[PenguinsDontEatPancakes]

We always have fish pie. No idea why. Always did growing up and do now. Sometimes 'posh' versions though.

[MrsPresley]

Take away, usually Indian.

[CiderwithBuda]

Lasagna. My dad did it one year and for some reason it stuck with DS and now we have it every year. I would love fish pie but am only one who likes it!

[noddyholder]

We always go for a curry!

[ouryve]

I cook a small ham to eat over the Christmas period, so we eat that, still warm, on Christmas eve.

If I've made some spiced red cabbage, then we have that with it. Some years, we just have veg and oven chips, and maybe top it with a fried egg. Delicious either way!

[Dillydollydaydream]

We usually have a smallish buffet for dinner.

[Isthiscorrect]

We have a lovely rich casserole with baked potatoes, always have done. It means its ready whenever we want it, so we can be flexible with timings. Lots of steamed veg, with something chocolate and creamy for pud with fruit. We always had lots of people turning up unannounced (which I love) including the 70 year old paperman ;-)

[KungFuBustle]

Takeaway when we're at Mothers. When home it's boiled ham, cheeses and crusty bread.

[evertonmint]

I love the ritual of our Christmas Eve dinner as much as Christmas Day really, mainly because it is much less effort but still totally yummy! We cook the Christmas ham on Christmas Eve so have that with mashed swede and carrot, cauliflower cheese and green beans. The swede/carrot and cauli cheese are always M&S bought to minimise effort required! We always have shop-bought profiteroles for pudding. Utterly yum!

[enormouse]

Lasagne. It's come to be a tradition in our house.
We eat it whilst watching the Tim Burton batman films.

[Baileyscoffeeandcampfires]

Chinese buffet ( after the afternoon panto) then home to crack open the baileys.

[574ejones]

We cook a ham as well, so we eat that with cauliflower cheese or something else that's not too preparation heavy.

[MyDaydream]

If its just the three of us we have steak and vegetables so were not spending hours cooking as neither of us is bothered about the big dinner. MIL does turkey and my parents either have beef or ham, so we'd have meet and all the trimmings if we visited family.

[hoppingmad]

We have a buffet, always did as a child and still do now. It's just habit.
I'm liking the lasagne idea better though - mainly because I don't really like buffets!

[eurochick]

Any old thing. We treat it as a normal meal. We do crack open the Xmas choccies and other treats on Christmas Eve though.

[Notonaschoolnight]

I get dinner table ready oh goes out with friends and gets drunk while me and the kids do cinema and pizza hut

[GlitteredPinecones]

Usually just a small buffet.

[mummratheevertired]

We've always had gammon and chips with pineapple and egg.

[MrsOakenshield]

nothing special, but me, my mum and my sister always went to Midnight Mass, leaving my dad at home, and when we came back he'd have heated up sausage rolls and we'd crack open the champagne. Lovely!

[RobinVanPrissy]

Don’t recall my mum doing anything special growing up, but since I’ve been in charge (reluctantly!) we have done it all for Xmas Eve dinner over the years.

We did something fishy for a few years – lemon sole, I seem to remember, and fish n chips from the chippie. We have done Indian and Thai takeaways (good for less washing up, but quite heavy the day before a big blow out). Year before last I did (a huge) Nigella’s ham in coke and served with roasted root veg, and we had the leftover ham with Xmas dinner. Then last year we did a buffet type thing (I did homemade sausage rolls and all sorts of Domestic Goddess-ery, which is most unlike me).

I fancy switching it up again this year, though ?…so will watch this thread.

[CrotchStitch]

We don't really have a tradition but this year we will be having a lovingly handmade from M&S buffet with ham, cheeses etc.
Just the three of us and my DPs so not a big deal and I will stock up several times over the next few weeks when I am in town :)

[Pooka]

Ham with something creamy (macaroni cheese/cauliflower cheese/daupinoise potatoes) and a green veg like runner beans.

[wfrances]

party food as its ds birthday