What are you having to eat on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Inspire me please!

[LarryUnderwood]

We're at home for Christmas this year and I am off work from 23rd - absolute luxury. So I have time to plan and cook some nice food. I've dug out the old Delia Smith's Christmas, and rifled through the Kitchen Diaries, but I can't decide. We will definitely be having turkey on Xmas day with roasties, pigs in blankets, chestnut stuffing. But what other sides? And I always like to have some kind of smoked salmon starter, but what kind? And I fancy making a pudding - none of us love Christmas pud and we're always too full. So some kind of fancy but light dessert is in order. As for Christmas Eve, I haven't got a clue. Do I just get loads of ready to bake Christmas bits from the supermarket, or do some proper cooking? Inspire me with your tasty menus please!

Vegan Christmas Pie | The Veg Space
with all the usual trimmings
Then tiramisu

We don't bother with a starter

I'll be no help whatsoever because I'm on my own, have cheese and crackers for Christmas eve and have ordered a Christmas lunch to be delivered.

I didn't expand on the trimmings.
Vegetarian pigs in blankets for DD and her friend
Pork pigs in blankets for DH and me
Roast potatoes
Roast parsnips
Roast carrots
Sprouts, blanched and sauteed in butter and maple syrup and chestnuts
Mashed swede
Gravy
Cranberry sauce

DH and I aren't vegetarian but are happy to eat a mainly vegetarian diet when DD is home as we like just about everything, but we do particularly love pigs in blankets so it's non negotiable on Christmas day

Mmmm sounds lovely. I'm thinking of making clementine trifle for pudding, I really fancy port jelly but fear my 12 and 14 year old are not quite ready for that! Maybe I'll do both.

Ordering in sushi for Xmas day.

I will make some puddings - Queens trifle & pavlova. We make hot chocolate & salted caramel sauce for on ice cream too.

lots of cheese, nuts, nibbles.

decadent nachos for Xmas Eve.

Do you mean the queen’s jubilee trifle? I love making that and have done so for 3 years. This year I may change it to mango & passion fruit

Chinese take away on Christmas Eve. Mushrooms in cream and sherry on toast for late breakfast then my husband’s fantastic chicken and coconut curry with naans on Christmas evening.

For Christmas Eve I’d really recommend some nice picky bits from M&S, easy & low hassle but lovely! We love an M&S picky tea for Christmas Eve!

I really like nigellas passion fruit ice cream cake. Dead easy

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/passion_fruit_ice_cream_67878

Ours isn’t super exciting as we have a few people with different allergies (one gluten intolerant, one dairy intolerant and two soy intolerant!) and I refuse to spend hours making different things as we have little ones I want to be spending the time with so I’ve tried to pick things that mean most is suitable for all.

So Christmas Eve is chicken Balti curry (with spinach, peppers and chickpeas in) with boiled rice, naan bread, poppadoms with chutneys and onion salad.

Christmas Day we’re having bacon sandwiches for breakfast, and then for Christmas dinner we’re having, slow cooked lamb shoulder, gammon, pigs in blankets, stuffing, red cabbage, roasties, swede and carrot mash, peas, Brussels sprouts with bacon and honey, roast carrots and parsnips and gravy.
I'm also making a dairy and gluten/soy free Yule log (I’ll be honest it’s a Betty Crocker gluten free chocolate fudge cake mix, and the frosting which happen to be accidentally dairy/soy free too) and then we have mince pies (mix of free from and ‘normal ones’) and Christmas pudding.

There will be 10 of us with 4dc and partners. DS will bring a big lasagne on Christmas Eve, DD will bring a veggie one. Another dd doing antipasti. Youngest dd still lives at home so will be generally helping. They are all very considerate and volunteered.

Christmas day, some of them are doing Park Run, others of us are walking the dog and supporting with fully loaded travel cups of coffee. Then back for whatever people want for breakfast - panettone, bacon rolls, smoked salmon bagels...

Kids all contributing to lunch too bringing sticky toffee pudding, cauliflower cheese and doing veg prep etc. I have red cabbage and cranberry/orange sauce in the freezer. There will be too many vegetables to go with deboned stuffed duck and turkey crown. Two kinds of stuffing (no nuts allowed), sprouts with and without bacon, carrots and parsnips honey roasted, roast potatoes and of course, Yorkshire Puddings.

We always do something posh on Christmas Eve as dh is half German and they always did Christmas Eve when he was growing up. Last couple of years we’ve had fondue. Starter of smoked salmon on pumpernickel or pitta, then cooking your own meat in the oil, sides of many dips and salads, potato wedges.

Christmas Day we stay traditional. Starter of asparagus soup, Turkey and ham, roast, mash and croquettes potatoes, honey glazed parsnips and carrots, peas, broad beans, pickled red cabbage, sprouts with pine nuts. Gravy and Yorkshire puddings.

Dessert with be mil’s pavlova, though it’s sometimes Boxing Day until we get there!

Xmas eve we will likely be at the pub so goodness knows what we will scoff but xmas day starts with the traditional croissants, smoked salmon and scrambled egg. Dinner is chicken for me and Ds1 DH who doesn't eat meat but does eat fish will make a crab starter, simple with salad garnish, then will cook monkfish in a-cream and white wine sauce for him and DS 2. There will be pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, roast parsnip, carrots, swede, sprouts, possibly cauliflower cheese and certainly stuffing. Copious amounts of gravy all followed after a suitable interval with a cheeseboard and pickles, and a trifle as well as my homemade mince pies for which i have the mincemeat freshly made today cooling on the hob. I make a no added sugar version which is nicely tart and delicious in pastry from my mums recipe using icing sugar and cornflour added in.
Over the holidays we are hosting friends and i will cook for starters, homemade mackerel pate or mini baked camembert with crusty baguette for one group, stuffed small peppers or buffalo cauliflower florets for the others followed by salmon encroute new potatoes and fresh veg, and the others i will make a cheese and onion quiche with veg and buttered potatoes, dessert will be apricot frangipani ( Mary berry) and a no cook orange and ginger cheesecake for the second set of visitor's. Looking forward to it all xx just filled the fridge with bottles of fizz and resisting the urge to open one already😂

Doing a huge buffet on Christmas Eve with sweet and savoury options.

On Christmas Day it'll be Scotch Pancakes with honey for breakfast, traditional Christmas Dinner, then raiding the buffet leftovers through Christmas night.

On Boxing Day, scrambled eggs and smoked bacon with toasted English muffins for breakfast and turkey, gammon, stuffing and cranberry sauce Sheldon's barms later on in the day ........ not sure about dinner that day yet but have bought a Bailey's Caramel Pavlova and some caramel cream for dessert.

My waistline despises me for even typing it but I simply don't care.

A normal meal on Christmas Eve - have no idea what yet as we’ll be doing numerous airport runs collecting family.
Christmas Day there are about 20 of us - no one likes the traditional Christmas meal so we always have a huge cold buffet of everyone’s favourites. Very easy, very relaxed. No one stuck in the kitchen.

This looks delicious, I'm not vegan, or even veggie but I'm going to bookmark this for next year.
Im currently living off ready meals as I've broken my shoulder.

I usually make lasagne and garlic bread on Christmas eve.

We tend to do fish or seafood on Christmas Eve. I’m doing linguine with fresh crab , garlic, chilli and herbs. Garlic flatbreads and salad on the side.

I'm having a curry on Christmas Eve. Need to make that soon. Steak, ale and Stilton pie on Christmas Day and I have a joint of gammon to roast on Boxing Day.

We definitely don’t subscribe to spending the whole of Christmas in the kitchen. It will be something simple Christmas Eve like burgers, croissants Christmas morning traditional roast Xmas day with Christmas pudding mince pies/apple pies and cream in and smoked salmon sandwiches in the evening. Boxing Day buffet is pizza, quiche, crisps, crackers and cheese, cold meats, sausage rolls and sausages and salads. A few desserts or ice cream.

Left overs on 27th until New Year’s Eve with probably a stir fry/risotto/vegetarian dishes

Christmas Day - the usual.

Christmas Eve - no idea, possibly pizza.

This sounds delicious and I might copy! Do you have a recipe you could share please?

Thank you. I'll report back. You could use pork sausage meat instead if you prefer. I will be using leeks instead of sprouts as, although we all like sprouts, DD can't eat any brassicas for health reasons and doesn't want to be ill over Christmas (or at any time). She is fine with leeks though.

Christmas Eve.. Gammon macaroni cheese picky bits

Christmas Day...Filet of beef, stuffed duck, roast potatoes piggies
, roast carrots and parsnips creamed parsnips Dauphinoise potatoes

We always have a cheeseboard on Christmas Eve. We get out my nice cheese plates, buy a box of festive crackers and some good cheese, always have a blue, a brie and a cheddar.