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Christmas Day meal

88 replies

OttoGraph · 22/10/2023 15:11

Do people still cook a roast on the day? yang

Or do more and more people cook something else? tabu

Id like to have a curry or a red wine casserole but my dd2 loves a roast dinner so I cook one each year and do the other dishes around xmas day. It is just the two of us and I do love cooking, so its not a chore and I prepare everything before hand.

Thinking this year I may get some ready prepared stuff from M&S. Oh and we never have turkey, but lamb or chicken - with all the trimmings though

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hadrianswallsycamore · 22/10/2023 21:11

We have a roast every Sunday but on Christmas Day we all have our favourite meals. One often has burger and chips, one a curry, others steak and dauphinois another pizza It's a faff but my DP cooks! We love it and it's fun to have your favourite food!

Rainbowqueeen · 22/10/2023 21:04

We do a roast because it’s easy and everyone likes it. My point of difference is the puddings. I also never do a starter and don’t bother with a lot of the trimmings such as sprouts and Yorkies

pilates · 22/10/2023 21:02

Sounds perfect @Bellyrumble

Bellyrumble · 22/10/2023 20:39

My DH loves a roast and does them all year round, the other day I picked up a Frozen stuffed turkey breast thing for the two of us and our 2yo DS- it was £5.49 in Aldi. Looking forward to just putting that in the oven and doing some air fryer roasties and some veg.

My aim this year is Christmas dinner for less than £15, with fresh veg etc.
it upsets me how much I see going to waste. My in laws almost seem to take pride in having the biggest turkey and spending lots of money on it, I can’t face that this year so it will be just the three of us.

so far I have bought wine (decent bottle from France) , said turkey thing and that leaves me about £5 left in the budget for some veg and pigs in blankets. I like this challenge!

pilates · 22/10/2023 19:11

Turkey and all the trimmings - love it 😍

Elvis1956 · 22/10/2023 19:07

Judging by the age outside of out butchers many still do the traditional Christmas meal.
we have a buffet Christmas eve and if mother in law is here the full works. If she's not we are having egg and chips. Boxing day was a big family day with the traditional family shoot but with the passing of my aunt's and uncles that has fizzled out. We will probably have a curry.
I like the traditional meal, but it's a fag to do and we'd rather pop to the pub lunchtime and have a drink with friends

hattie43 · 22/10/2023 18:53

We always have a full roast and all the trimmings . Always a turkey and beef joint . The dogs always have the same minus the gravy ( they have veg water to moisten )
We couldn't have a curry , dogs don't eat curry .

flippydiflipflop · 22/10/2023 18:43

I plan not to cook at all this Dec 25th. It will probably be a mad buffet selection instead. We'll go out for a traditional Xmas meal one day in December but not on the day itself as that's £70-100 a head!

Any ideas for interesting no cook options welcome.......

Hibernatalie · 22/10/2023 18:40

Always a traditional roast turkey here! Wouldn't feel like Christmas without it

Dontcallmescarface · 22/10/2023 18:33

WhamBamThankU · 22/10/2023 15:46

We have a different theme each year. Last year was a birthday party for baby Jesus so we had a buffet and birthday cake 😅 we've previously done Mexican whilst wearing taches and hats, Australian bbq wearing cork hats with inflatable kangaroos round the house. Lots of fun to be had!

My birthday is December 25th and 2021 was the very first time I ever had a "birthday tea" on my actual birthday (I'm mid 50's now). Jelly, ice cream, sandwiches, chocolate fingers. crisps and a birthday cake DP had bought for me. It was amazing.

Nonplusultra · 22/10/2023 18:13

Roast turkey and all the trimmings for me please. And plum pudding, Christmas cake, trifle and mince pies.

I don’t particularly like those things except at Christmas but the taste of nostalgia is wonderful.

Cakeorchocolate · 22/10/2023 18:06

Traditional roast.
DH and I would prefer chicken to turkey but he's too traditional to actually do that for some reason.

Addition of pigs in blankets compared to any other roast of the year though.
Also bread sauce for my dad.

Wemetatascoutcamp · 22/10/2023 18:03

We do the traditional turkey & all the trimmings (I do a crown) as I enjoy doing it and have done it that long the kids would be up in arms if I didn’t!
But I do think its your xmas cook what you like. When I moved out my dad and brother had steak & chips for xmas dinner for a few years because thats what they wanted to eat.
I also knew someone whose family ate chinese takeaway on xmas day as her mum wanted to have the day off cooking! Anything goes!

Prescottdanni123 · 22/10/2023 17:59

We have roast turkey on Christmas day and left over turkey curry on boxing day

Womencanlift · 22/10/2023 17:58

We got the Cook’s Christmas bundle a couple of years ago. Never again. Completely tasteless. Portions were tiny, considering the cost

We were so disappointed that we went straight to M&S when it reopened, bought as much Christmas dinner stuff as they had left and done it all again to make up for it

themonkeysnuts · 22/10/2023 17:51

how can you bin a roast 😮a lot of it will keep for a few days or freeze it

Createausername1970 · 22/10/2023 17:48

We all like the traditional turkey roast with some gammon and all the trimmings. But I also don't want to spend all day in the kitchen on Xmas day.

So we cook the turkey and gammon on Xmas Eve, and we have a take away for dinner on Xmas Eve. It's quite nice because the lovely smell of roast turkey makes us all feel quite festive. We usually carve a bit too and munch some for a bit of supper.

Then on Xmas day I am just doing "the trimmings".

maddiemookins16mum · 22/10/2023 17:47

Last year we had steak.
This year I’m ordering a Beef Wellington from our local Butcher. 40 mins in the oven and some nice veg and potato dolphinose and that’s it.

MsRosley · 22/10/2023 17:42

Do people still cook a roast on the day? yang
Or do more and more people cook something else? tabu

Wut?

PuttingDownRoots · 22/10/2023 17:37

We love the traditional Christmas Dinner. Just not on Christmas day. When our DDs were baby/toddler, we realised we wanted to spend the day together not cooking. We often BBQ as its sociable.

We do the roast another day.

Missymarple · 22/10/2023 17:36

I love a good trad Xmas dinner. We cook one on Xmas day and have the in laws round for it, then go for another on Boxing Day at my mother's. We lived away for a good few years and even when it was just me and DH we still went the whole hog. I'm head chef and deal with timings, trimmings, table, gravy etc, DH is in charge of turkey and roasties. Much as I love a takeaway, I just could not do one on Xmas day.

mrsbitaly · 22/10/2023 17:35

Xmas is about what brings you joy and happiness so eat what you love!

We don't have a roast at all in December and wait until Xmas day with all the extra trimmings
We do go m&s for starters and desserts

Gettingbysomehow · 22/10/2023 17:31

We have what we want. Traditional xmas meal isn't any good for us as me and DS are coeliac and vegetarian and DiL is vegetarian and allergic to milk and eggs so finding something festive we can all eat is a nightmare.

lemonyellows · 22/10/2023 17:30

Traditional roast turkey. Wouldn't feel like Christmas without it. We all love it including the kids. Don't have roasts that often so it does feel special, especially with extra trimmings like pigs in blankets and chestnut stuffing.

WinterQueenie · 22/10/2023 17:28

We do a Christmas dinner between Christmas and New Year when all the children are here. DH and I have had a seafood platter the last few years, brown crab, lobster, clams, mussels, scallops and langoustine normally followed by a cheeseboard for the rest of the night. We have a roast every Sunday.