What's your Christmas day menu?

[PeppermintLatte]

those of you that are cooking lunch this year, and those that are eating out at a restuarant, what are you having? starter, main and dessert...

does anyone have any christmas eve food traditions or boxing day food traditions?

[TeaOneSugar]

I shall be lurking here for ideas.

The only things I'm definitely doing are;

Broccoli & Stilton Soup with Ciabatta croutons for the starter on Christmas Day, we have this every year DD considers it essential.

Chocolate Swirl Buns For Breakfast

[GrandPoohBah]

Almost certainly a seafood platter to start (easy to preassemble and pull out of the fridge, looks quite impressive), followed by venison with a port gravy - although we will do a turkey crown for the purists. Usual trimmings, then a Christmas pud - possibly homemade, possibly Heston, possibly Aldi .

We'll also cook a ham on Christmas eve for sandwiches and nibbling.

I was thinking about doing Nigella's breakfast muffins for Christmas morning but it very much depends on when BabyGrand makes an appearance - if it's too close to Christmas I probably won't bother!

[fuzzpig]

Not sure yet! Usually it's just us 4 so we take an easy route but I want to do something more interesting. Roast & trimmings is usually for boxing day when my parents are here, and again when we have DSCs here (they are always at their mum's on 25th).

Need inspiration!

[Titsalinabumsquash]

Ours will be a traditional Turkey with all the trimmings for 12!

Turkey
Roast potatoes
Maple Glazed parsnips
Winterberry Stuffing
Pigs in blankets
Sprouts with bacon
Carrots with thyme
Red cabbage braised
Regular cabbage with a Christmas butter
Gravy

No idea on starters or dessert, no one except me likes christmas pudding so I'm not bothering this year, I will have to do a pavlova for my 92 year old nan to eat by herself and something chocolatey for the rest no doubt.

[nkf]

I have guests from overseas this year so I will go very traditional because I think they will expect it.

[BikeRunSki]

Breakfast - Eggy bread and nice fruit
Lunch - diy tacos/nachos
Tea - Stolen
Supper - Naice ham sandwhiches

[QueefLatina]

Christmas Eve: Nice bread and cheese, fruit and some carrot cake

Christmas Dinner: Retro Prawn and smoked salmon Cocktail or french onion soup with cheese crouton thingy, then Lamb shanks with rosemary and red wine, cinnamon red cabbage, some other veg, dauphinoise potatoes. After we'll have ginger syrup pudding.

Liking the sound of the stilton and broccoli soup though!

[CalamityJones]

Blinis with smoked salmon and caviar about 11am

Roast goose, spiced red cabbage, cauliflower dauphinoise, roast potatoes at about 3

I never usually bother with pudding but there's a cake in Nigelissima that uses pannetone that I like the look of.

[WeAllHaveWings]

My menu is always about what's the easiest so we enjoy a relaxing Xmas day. We usually have about 6 adults and 2-3 kids:

• Prawn cocktail (easy and loved by everyone, with nice mix of tiger prawns, atlantic prawns and maybe smoked salmon). Homemade seafood sauce with loads of tabasco! (got small oven so always a cold starter)
  

• M&S Boneless whole Turkey and Cranberry and Chestnut Roll. Made this roll/stuffing in a loaf tin last year and it was fantastic, making again this year. Can make day before and reheat on Xmas day.
  

Might try home made cranberry sauce this year - anyone got a favourite easy recipe?

• Dessert is what ever our guests bring. Dont usually have Xmas pud as too heavy.
  

• Quality Street

[Titsalinabumsquash]

I'll need a cold starter, my oven is tiny as is my kitchen. I love prawn cocktail and I know DP, nan and my sister like it. Kids I'm not so sure and BIL eats sod all anyway (seriously the man has a chicken leg with Smash and gravy and a zillion pigs in blankets for a christmas roast!)
Anyway I might have to opt for something everyone will eat.

[nkf]

Am going to make that sausagemeat roll. It looks lovely.

[Taffeta]

Boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast

Smoked fish nibbly bits around midday - homemade mackerel pate, smoked salmon creme fraiche lemon dill etc on a thin melba toast type-thingy some lumpfish caviar on top

Lots and lots of Prosecco

Turkey around 3pm with roast potatoes and parsnips, sprouts w bacon, carrots, bread sauce ( made by MIL, tis legendary ), cranberry and orange compote, gravy, bacon wrapped sausages, pecan and apple stuffing

Christmas pud ( made by MIL , tis legendary ), brandy butter, cream

Cook a whole ham Christmas Eve for later on Christmas Day/Boxing Day, serve w coleslaw, crusty bread, crisps, cold turkey, chutney, cheeses, salad etc

Thinly sliced pineapple and passion fruit for pud always popular Boxing Day

[AuntieMaggie]

omg I want christmas dinner now... Can you share the recipe for the soup teaonesugar?

Any ideas for a low carb version?

[elfycat]

We have to have a trifle, it's my traditional boxing day breakfast

Turkey
stuffing balls (pre made by someone else)
Pigs in blankets (pre assembled by someone else)
Many veg (has to include sprouts, peas, swede and carrots)
Cranberry sauce

Thinking of including red cabbage, not included in my family's Christmases but MIL does a mean red cabbage.

[elfycat]

opps forgot roast spuds and parsnips

[TeaOneSugar]

I think I did originally have a recipe but I've been doing it so many years now it's a bit auto pilot.

I make a basic broccoli soup on Christmas Eve,

1. Sweat down some shallots in butter
   

2.Thrown in about a head of broccoli per person,

1. Cover with vegetable stock and cook until the broccoli is done. Not too much stock you want the finished soup to be fairly thick.
   
2. Blend it.
   
3. Leave it to cool and then pop it in the fridge.
   

On Christmas day I reheat the broccoli soup and then crumble in some stilton and stir in some double cream, just to taste really, but a good wedge of stilton and about half a small pot of cream.

I serve with croutons made by cutting up a ciabatta loaf into fairly small cubes, rolling them around in some olive oil so they're lightly coated and them baking them in the over until golden brown. I also make these on Christmas Eve, let them go cold and then pop them into a air tight container.

DD and DH love it and it needs minimal attention on the day.

[hurricanewyn]

DH & I are low carbing at the mo, but have agreed we will both relax go mad on Christmas day. The plan so far is:

Prawn Cocktail & Brown Bread

Carrot & Coriander Soup

Roast Pots in Goose Fat & Mashed Potatoes
Red Cabbage
Sprouts
Yorkshires (I know it's not traditional, but I just want one)
Stuffing
Pigs in Blankets
Goose
Ham

Pudding (am hoping to get a hidden orange one from Waitrose as missed out last year)
Choc cake for the DCs

The list changes daily, depending on what we remember that we like but haven't eaten in a while & I sincerely doubt we'll actually eat all that in one go (more likely to have a staggered dinner over a few hours) but I can't wait

[travailtotravel]

I have a dairy free vegetarian to cater for. This is what is preoccupying me!

[Iteotwawki]

Mmmm. Hadn't even though that far and as of last week I now have a veggie 4 year old to consider!

Breakfast - croissants, pain au chocolat, variations on egg/bacon (for whoever wants).

Lunch - fresh bread, cold roast chicken & stuffing, cold roast ham, rice/pasta/green salads. Crisps, nuts, general picnic nibbles.

Supper - leftovers.

Southern Hemisphere Christmas very different to my uk Christmases!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Ooooooh yes Traditions- they make life easier

Breakfast for Christmas Eve- usually croissants and jam, orange juice, coffee
Lunch- fish fingers for DC, vegetarian grills for DH & I, chips, salad, trifle
Late night buffet- french bread, cheese, crackers, crisps,crudities and dips

Christmas Day - usually toast in the front room (I've given up trying to make DC sit down for breakfast )
Christmas Dinner -when it gets dark
Chicken for DC, Quorn Roast for DH & I, roast potatos,roast parsnips, pureed turnip, carrot, peas,sprouts (compulsary) sage&onion stuffing, bread sauce, gravy and Yorkie Puds.
Pudding- not decided this year, but not Christmas Pudding.

Boxing Day- huge cooked breakfast-Linda Mc sausages, vegetarian bacon ,potatoe scones, mushrooms, fried eggs, toast, beans.

Dinner- usually a lasagne or macaroni dish.
Pizza, garlic bread

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

travailtotravel - my mum can't have dairy (and DH and I are vegetarian but we eat eggs/dairy)

There's a recipe in Good Housekeeping for a nut loaf that's nice. (It has cheese and egg but I made it with Cheesely (dairy free) for my mum, and left out the egg. (I'll look it up later)

I made a filo tart (brush with oil rather than butter) filled with different mushrooms. You can cook alot of it ahead and just pop it in the oven at the end.

[travailtotravel]

thanks, 70is, that's helpful. She can have egg which makes life a shade easier, I have one other veggie who is not dairy free, me DH and FIL who are all carnivores and a MIL who will only eat chicken/fish. Except when its convenient when she'll eat bacon, ham, sausages and anything else she fancies.
This year, I'll make more pigs in blankets now I know that!

[PeppermintLatte]

wow, thanks for all the replies, they've provided some much needed inspiration.

you are all domestic godesses!

it's tradition for us to have a kfc on christmas eve may have to change that tradition this year

christmas day - all i have upto now is breakfast, that will be lots of bucks fizz, pure orange, pain au chocolat, almond croissants, some lovely pork sausages from the butchers to make some nice sandwiches with.

boxing day will start with a full english breakfast - sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, baked beans, mushrooms, hash browns and toast, with lots of hazelnut coffee.

[loubielou31]

There will be 8 of us for Christmas, 4 adults and 4 children.
At some point in the festive season I will bake a ham, serve it with braised red cabbage and dauphinoise potatoes and possibly carrot and swede mash and keep the rest to eat cold in sandwiches.

Christmas breakfast is usually croissants or something similar lovely jams, nice coffee...

Lunch is often a prawn cocktail for starter, but sometimes smoked salmon/ smoked salmon mousse or chicken liver pate. The children usually ask for melon.
Main is always Roast turkey (cooked like Delia says) with sausage meat stuffing and little sausages wrapped in bacon, sprouts, roast potatoes and parsnips, other veg, cranberry sauce, bread sauce and gravy
Dessert is a Christmas pudding (recipe from Sophie Grigson in Good food magazine a few years ago and is gorgeous) with brandy sauce, (mainly for me) and maybe a more child friendly option.

Tea on Christmas day is left overs, a turkey sandwich with pickles, whatever we fancy really. Christmas Trifle (my husbands favourite bit of Christmas food, Christmas cake.

Boxing day is a rerun of Christmas dinner with the left overs, (so no cooking for anyone hurrah)

[HoldMeCloserTonyDanza]

I go completely mad.

Turkey (Nigella in brine)
Ham
Roast potatoes
Mashed potatoes
Potato croquettes
Darina Allen stuffing
Roast veg (carrots, parsnips, turnip)
Candied sweet potato (because I love it at Thanksgiving but no longer have an excuse to cook Thanksgiving dinner)
Gravy
Bread sauce
Cranberry sauce (I usually buy this though, I haven't found a recipe nicer than shop-bought yet)

If requested I will also do Brussels sprouts and Christmas pud but thankfully usually no one wants them.

Last year I did it for 12 adults and a baby, this year it will be the much more manageable 6 adults and one toddler. But I will have a dry run cooking for all our friends one weekend in December, that will be approx 16 adults and three small children.

I LOVE it, it's my favourite meal and between many Christmases and Thanksgivings I now have it down to a fine art with spreadsheets and everything.