to think starters with Christmas dinner are superfluous?

There is always a need for a cheeseboard 😜

That seems completely nuts to me.
Have a two course lunch a few hours before the biggest meal of the year which will be followed by multiple desserts 🤪

Always did very simple starter - nice pâté and toast for mum and a lobster/prawn cocktail (M&S or Aldi for me). Usually around midday while other food was under control. We’d then have main meal around 4pm. No hassle or prep, was a relaxed way to do it.

No need for breakfast and cheeseboard and sandwiches in the evening either!

I know, it is like a comedy sketch, every request proceeded by 'Oh shall we just have xxxxx as well for Christmas dinner'! 🤣

🤣 your ‘normal’ roast turkey dinner is going to get more and more fancy as the days go by

Absolutely agree. Spoils the excitement of the top act!

Starters, no way.
Just myself and DH for Christmas lunch. Got him to agree to a 'normal' roast turkey dinner (to keep the calories and stress down) which he was happy with, however, over the past few days the following additional requests have been made:

Special turkey gravy
Chestnut stuffing
Red cabbage
Pigs in blankets
Cauliflower cheese
Parsnips

No doubt there are further additions to come!

Yea we don’t do starters as too interested in the main and don’t want to blunt our appetites! We have brunch then Xmas meal about 4.30, later on leftovers.

Yes - I too remember my mum getting up at some ungodly hour to put the turkey in the oven - and we still didn’t eat till 3! That’s probably why I am not a fan to this day 🤣 Were ovens really crappy back then? And I’m only talking the 80s and early 90s

We have light starters - usually smoked salmon and prawns then a break before the main course.

Although my memories of childhood Christmases are of the turkey being in cooking when we woke up - god knows how long the beast had been cooking for!! Then when we had dinner we had starters, lentil soup, main meal (turkey and all the trimmings) followed by pudding (Christmas pudding and trifle for all the adults, ice cream and sprinkles for us as we didn’t like the other choices) and a cheeseboard!!
Don’t know how my parents did it as they were skint! We hosted one year, my aunty the next and it was the same there. How the hell we ate all that I have no idea!!

YANBU to do Christmas dinner however you happen to like it. YABU to think it’s superfluous for everyone and to profess to be baffled that anyone can manage it.

Personally, I don’t bother with breakfast on Christmas Day; never have. I’m not a breakfast person, I hate getting up early and I’m likely to be eating a lot later in the day. But I don’t think it’s ’superfluous’ for other people if they want a fancy Christmas Day breakfast. People can and should just do what they want.

Sometimes I do a starter, sometimes not. If I don’t, I usually put out some salmon pâté and crackers or a plate of blini for people to graze on with a glass of something while they’re opening presents or whatever. When I do make a starter it’s always something really light and fresh, probably something like ceviche or a citrus winter salad.

Starters at 12.00
Dinner at 3.00
Dessert at 6.00

Have never had starters with Christmas lunch. Probably only had dessert a handful of times, too. Just the large main course, thank you, around 2 pm. Piece of two of cheese and a mince pie around 7 pm.

And never have breakfast either.

It’s a midlands thing 🤣 Not a crappy supermarket porkpie - a proper one from the butcher the size of your dinner plate 🙈 everybody has a slice with bread and butter on the side. Best tradition!

Pork pies at 9am!

Only me and DP here, so we try and make it a special meal.
He has pate with toast triangles and I have melon and Parma ham.
We keep portions small and just have the Turkey meal whenever we’re ready. Nice and relaxed!

Canapés with fizz darling 🍾

Aw that is nice. I will probably do the same when my dad has gone except it won’t be bloody turkey 🤣

I suppose it depends on timings. We eat our Christmas lunch at 2 as we have elderly relatives to get home afterwards, also I wouldn't like to eat a huge meal in the evening, so the lunch is more than enough without a first course. We do tend to get peckish later, I think some of those lovely starters could make a good supper, not sure why I've not thought of it before!

Every year my dad orders a turkey from his local butcher. I do a chicken as well as not a big fan of turkey. This year I said let’s have beef instead of turkey. But after 40 years of my 81yr old dad buying turkey from this local butcher he just can’t cope with changing 🤣 I tell him he could order beef from the local butcher instead but nope. He enjoys the practice of going into the butcher, the butcher looking up in his paper diary what size we ordered last year and get the same again this year then my dad walks away feeling chuffed that he is supporting the local butcher. That he only uses once a year 🤦🏽‍♀️ I just let him get on with it and will happily cook it for him and he can take home the leftovers. Only for him to then moan for days that he’s had enough of turkey and says next Christmas we will get something different. Then the next Christmas the whole conversation starts again and he still orders another turkey 🤣