What additions to Christmas Dinner do you have that others consider strange?

[MyGazeboisLeaking]

Off the back of the Thanksgiving thread (I'm drooling!), I thought about our Christmas dinner.

Over the years, we've added the following that have now become standard:

Cauliflower cheese
Steamed red cabbage & raisins
Sweetcorn (for me!)

What additions do you have?

Cauliflower cheese, mash, red cabbage, Yorkshire, roast potatoes, parsnip. I thought these were the law with Xmas dinner! We don’t do starters as get to full but we always make sure we have puddings, pâté & cheese and biscuits. My fave thing about the day is having a Christmas dinner butty with the left overs later in the evening. Gravy included. It’s the best thing.

And we have both roast and mash. And sweetcorn. And yorkshires.

I think @Svelteinmydreams baked beans are my obscure winner so far!

The apple sauce is with turkey

😂

Oh DH likes mint sauce with his Turkey. Bit weird.

You're all so weird

Yorkshire puddings.

Anyone else hungry reading this thread?? 😂

@Cookerhood

When I was growing up we used to have tiny onions (like silverskins) in white sauce. I think they were frozen. I absolutely loved them but I don't think you can get them now. We have gammon with our turkey but I don't think that's unusual. And mash, cauli cheese, red cabbage, yorkies.

@Cookerhood - you can still get those tiny onions from Ocado

@CthulhuInDisguise

We have what we call 'jacksey meat' which is the sausage meat which is stuffed into the turkey - my mum refuses to eat it because she thinks it is bogging, but most of us love it. It's even nicer cold the next day on a sarnie!

Isn't that just normal stuffing? I make that every year and stuff the turkey with it. It's lovely and it also helps make the turkey lovely and moist and tasty. I use Delia Smith's recipe for pork, sage and onion stuffing, which is sausagemeat, onions, sage, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and a little hot water.

Unusual things - when my children were little, neither of them would touch Brussels sprouts so i did peas (frozen petits pois) so there would be something green on their plates which they would eat. I still do them for old time's sake. I love peas and gravy..

@quickkimchi

Ours includes an unusual number of prunes, I guess that's not normal? We have prunes in bacon with a glass of champagne before dinner, then I soak the rest in port, add a little chocolate and puree to have with shortbread and ice cream. Also nice to mix prune puree (sans chocolate) with mustard to spread on turkey sandwiches.

I rarely touch a prune the rest of the year, not sure how our festive celebrations have become so prunecentric.

Blimey, bet you're queuing for the bathroom by the evening!

We have Cauliflower cheese.I thought that was standard

Cauli cheese and red cabbage here too, though they seem totally normal to me.

I also have Yorkshire pudding with all roasts, including the Christmas turkey or goose.

@Shortsinwinter

Mint sauce. My Ex H & my son have it with every roast

And beetroot for me

@mumsiedarlingrevolta - in the 90s I worked in a hotel that was kinda posh but stuck in the 70s. They had this wonderful eleventy billion course Christmas menu with amuse bouche (small mouthful of something random from the chef to start), but also sorbet courses etc. I remember orange sorbet with a dash of Cointreau being a thing. Also a fantastic Boxing Day and New Years buffet with epic 70s aspic centrepieces. I doubt you would find anywhere like it these days. I was a teenager and I loved working Christmas, it seemed so decadent and so magic!

My in-laws think having cauliflower cheese with a roast is very strange...

@Strokethefurrywall

Roast haggis in Yorkshire puddings.

Sounds amazing!!

@MyGazeboisLeaking thank you! Although I'm not sure I could make the White sauce taste the same. I've just googled & Birds Eye sell them in the US.

Additional to what though? Ours is normally, turkey with stuffing,roast potatoes, sprouts, roasted parsnips, braised red cabbage,bread sauce, cranberry sauce and gravy.

We always have Christmas Dinner with at my parents house. My brother always comes too. For years, my parents and my brother have always said that they don't like turkey and they would prefer roast beef. I've always regressed to some sort of toddler or teenager and stropped and tantrummed until they've agreed it has to be turkey at Christmas. Anyway I spoke to me brother the other day. He's delighted that covid rules probably mean myself and DH won't be there for Christmas Dinner and they'll finally get their roast beef (he's in a support bubble with parents.)

Sprouts fried with garlic and bacon. Covered in gravy, best thing about Christmas lunch.

Cheesy leaks. Essentially cauliflower cheese but with leeks and a brown bread crum on top. It's lovely. Mum also sometimes does a basin of suet pudding - nothing in the middle. Just a bowl of stodge. It's amazing with every condiment under the sun. I love a sauce. Stuffing, Yorkshires, all the veg, pigs, beef or pork. Although one year it was lasagna which was really nice!

Cheesy leeks*

[quote Cookerhood]@MyGazeboisLeaking thank you! Although I'm not sure I could make the White sauce taste the same. I've just googled & Birds Eye sell them in the US.[/quote]
Ooh - good luck!