Shit Christmas dinners...

[wheresmymojo]

I'm at my parents...once upon a time my DM used to be an awesome host and Christmas Day involved, if anything, way too much food.

As they've got older they've decided to do 'what they like to eat'. Fair enough.

But it's sooooo disappointing.

Today's Christmas dinner was two slices of beef, three halves of roast potatoes, three mushy sprouts, one carrot boiled for 500 years, two small boiled potatoes and bisto gravy.

No pigs in blankets. No roasted parsnips. No cauli cheese. NOT EVEN A YORKSHIRE PUDDING.

Then trifle...made with room temperature custard out of a packet and ORANGE jelly disgrace.

I think my parents have been replaced by lizard people.

Has anyone else had a terribly disappointing meal today?

(Lighthearted...of course I ate it and told them how lovely it was, etc)

I actually wouldn't class Yorkshire pudding as a Christmas dinner necessity, and feel it is abit much and not missed by time you have all trimmings (obv not applicable in op's case).

We aren't 'allowed' to host as my miserable stepfather refuses to have Christmas anywhere but his own home.

He refuses to come to visit us at all - he's only been to my home once and that was for about 1 hour.

There's nothing wrong with our house BTW, he's just awkward.

We've already decided to have dinner at home with just the two of us and our petting zoo of animals next year so we can have what we want.

@plinkplinkfizzer

Honestly some on here should grow up and cook dinner for their parents , I could not in honesty expect elderly parents to continue to cook Christmas lunch . Why ?

Also they're not elderly - my DM is 58!!!

How old ate you? Was it you and your partner or kids too?

No mine was lovely. But seriously OP, either host or do the food, this is horrible - you can get it from Cook or Marks if you don’t cook, (NB eating Yorkshire’s with turkey is psychotic, caul cheese is borderline.)

I don’t think it’s you - when parents get older they naturally eat less and just forget that more active people need more. I remember my mum when I went to visit with our newborn giving me half a chicken breast with snap peas for dinner (no lunch) when I was breast feeding and I was so hungry I could have eaten the entire kitchen - not an option sadly because a lot of it was out of date. You just have to realise they are moving on and have different (and smaller!) expectations. I had half a chicken breast for my own dinner the other night and felt stuffed so I’m turning into them, though I’m still more than a decade away from 58!!

I'm in my early 50's and can't wait for to be able to say (after 30 yrs of doing dinner ) I'm no longer cooking , the younger ones can do it now .

My shittest was at the nursing home where my mum was receiving palliative care
I quite enjoy cooking the dinner but by the time it's done I get a bit bored of it as I have already tasted everything and sneaked bits of cheese and snacks so I don't end up eating much. Once dd is off doing her own thing I will probably scale back a bit and make things easier.

Sorry to tell you by my Christmas dinner was absolutely BANGING
Seriously amazing!
Dh and I have displayed exemplary teamwork over the last 4 days of cooking and preparing, it all came together today.
Even mil who does a Boxing Day dinner and she’s a brilliant cook, has decided to scale it down this year and it will still be bloody fabulous.
Your Christmas dinner sounds sad!! Oh well, there’s always next year

Boiled for 500 years 🤣🤣🤣

Sorry OP

Relatives invited us for Xmas dinner a few years ago. We were discussing the ins snd outs mid November and we asked what we could bring/contribute anc the response was "no need. All fine. Whole meal cooked already."
? So what they'd done was cooked it all break months before snd froze the whole thing heating up plates in the microwave on the way. The prawn cocktail was a bit fishy having been defrosted then frosted then defrosted again. The sprouts were so over cooked they were slimy and they had forgotten gravy. 🧐

Um what? She’s only 58?

They phone her up and ask what you can bring. You’re a grown up. You can contribute you know.

Fgs have people forgotten the meaning of the word light-hearted?

Does every thread have to involve people piling on to bitch at an OP who just wanted to have a lighthearted rant about, let’s be frank, a shit meal?

I had a bit of a shit Xmas dinner today...I cooked it !

Yabu op. As an adult you get to choose to celebrate your own way.
They sounds friggin awful.. Make 2022 the year you woman up.

@Bluntness100

Um what? She’s only 58?

They phone her up and ask what you can bring. You’re a grown up. You can contribute you know.

I asked what to bring, she doesn't let me bring anything.

If I'd have known the only sides would be sprouts and carrots that disintegrated the moment I put them in my mouth and a liberal sprinkle of racist comments through the day from misery stepfather then obviously I would have brought some!

Honestly it's the company that makes a good Christmas you can work round any problems with the food if you are with the right people. Staying home with the pets next year is the right call here OP.

We only come here every other year but we've already said we're going to do Xmas by ourselves next year so then it will be every 3 years.

We live 200 miles away so can't just pop in to swap presents, they won't allow me to cook at theirs as they don't like other people cooking for them and misery DSF would complain about every single thing and Stepfather refuses to be hosted by anyone else at Xmas.

It's just made me feel a little sad as DM loves Christmas but The Dementor (stepfather) has ground her down over years about not liking anything that isn't plain...so now she says this sad dinner is 'what they like' but what she really means is it's 'what your Stepfather likes and so I do it this way to keep the peace'.

I thought you were going to say that they were in their 70s!!

We did Christmas with the in laws once...... and had a similar experience. And never repeated it....... my own DC all went out the door groaning tonight that I'd cooked far too much.

Ha...no...my DM had me quite young, so I'm 39 and she's 58.

Stepfather is 68 (but a hangover from Victorian times so perhaps secretly 168 like a vampire).

It's just me and DH here so the four of us are having an awkward Christmas of small talk over soggy sprouts since DSF is too much of an arse to risk real conversation.

I'm mainly looking forward to February when DM will visit us for a few days on her own and we'll actually have a good time!

Ungrateful. Perhaps they're tired of always doing the Christmas dinner. How about you cook for them?

I wouldn't bother to visit in 3 years time OP! Just tell them you prefer to stay home from now on!

Well to be honest, I bought a all our Xmas dinner from Marks, was quite disappointed with it all.
Back to Tesco for 2/3 of the costs for next year. Roast potatoes were absolutely dire and you can't have a Christmas dinner without decent roasties!

Next year you just host :)

I can't understand why you can't contribute food or courses, regardless. Or extras, like cheese and biscuits or baked ham.

The first Christmas after my DH and I got married he suggested we went to his mother's for Christmas Day which included dinner.She was quite agreeable.
Never again.I had been brought up with lovely traditional home cooked Christmas dinners and expected the same at MIL's.
What a mistake.It was obvious he had never known what a proper Christmas dinner was.Her idea was cold meat ,dry lettuce and tomato etc followed by jelly and tinned fruit, I kid you not.
We had supplied the alcohol.
Ever since then I have stayed at home and made my own.