frozen roast potatoes are for emergencies not for Christmas day

[PrincessScrumpy]

I made a double chocolate baked cheese cake for Christmas with the in-laws - they didn't eat it and chose tesco value chocolate cake over my homemade dessert. I had to laugh - my dessert was yummy and dh and dd both ate mine. dh was horrified that his family were so rude and also by their taste buds.

I was alarmed when I went to the fridge on Christmas eve for dd's milk to see no sign of a Christmas dinner. My assumptions were correct - all from the freezer - even the veg including roast potatoes and yorkshire puddings to go with the Iceland roast pork and lamb.

Luckily, my aunt made a fab Christmas dinner on Monday so at least I've had real Christmas dinner.

Don't mean to sound snobby, but I come from a family that enjoys homemade food.

I just wish to point out that corn on the cob needs to be added to peas as acceptable frozen veg. It's minging how fast the fresh variety go mouldy, and frankly they're almost as good as fresh, unless you buy from a farm.

I've cooked Christmas Dinner for around 30 years. As well as Boxing Day, New Years day etc. All of which are a full roast dinner since we always have guests on those days. I make my own stuffing, cranberry sauce, bread sauce, mincemeat, rich almond pastry ( for the mince pies), gravy, cake, marzipan and puddings. I prepare fresh vegetables, blanch and freeze them a few days before Christmas. I use frozen roasties and yorkshires. I have never, ever, managed to get my yorkshires right, and frankly, the potatoes are as good as any I can make myself, especially the ones that are done in goose fat. I have spent many, many Christmas mornings in the kitchen instead of with my DCs and frankly, now I want to spend the day with my family, relaxing. So what if I use a couple of frozen ingredients. It's my day as well and I choose to spend it with my family, not with a sack of potatoes.

As for the chocolate cheesecake, nobody in this house actually likes cheesecake, so we wouldn't have tried it either. Not out of rudeness, but because we don't like it.
Maybe next time you could check what dessert they would actually like you to bring. or host it yourself.

YABU and you do sound snobby. Enjoying and making homemade food does not mean that someone shouldn't use frozen ingredients if that is what suits them on a particular occasion.

Amen!!

I have to say, I hate cheesecake too. I have never forgotten politely declining some at a friend of my mother's, only to have "Fat Is A Feminist Issue" pressed upon me with anxious murmurings about how I needed to read it.

I am a feminist, and I'm not troubled by eating a slab of chocolate. I just frigging detest cheesecake.

A masterly post (17.59 last night) from ItsGraceAgain! Demolished Miggsi's position convincingly. Am impressed.

Why thank you, hmc! Bessie sends her regards, too :)

Hmm not sure.

I'm not against a frozen shortcut if I think it's as nice or even nearly as nice if I'm pushed.

The problem is I've never found a frozen roastie that even comes close to the real thing.

They always taste and look like deep fried lumps of mash. If there was a credible frozen roastie I might but there isn't is there?

I can't understand the pud though! Overlooking a gorgeous homemade baked chocolate cheesecake?? Made especially for you - in preference to one of those awful synthetic supermarket value ones?! No contest shurely??

I am shell shocked by this thread - I freeze my own roast potatoes (and parsnips). What does this say about me?

P.S. for the first time this year we had steak for Christmas dinner, not a sprout in sight.

Freezing your own is different. And buying speshal goose fatty or beef drippingy ones from M&S or Waitrose is acceptable if you are a rubbish cook, or have issoos with time/space at Christmas.

But McCain or Aunt Bessie's roast potatoes are firmly in the camp of Fray Bentos Pies and Bisto gravy granules and they have NO PLACE on the Christmas table.

And that's my final word on the matter.

Unreasonable and rude

I don?t like cheesecake

My DP is a trained chef. He made the whole Christmas dinner from scratch, gravy and all. Except for the Yorkshire puddings, which were courtesy of Aunt Bessie, as neither he nor I, despite his years of training, have ever been able to produce an edible Yorkshire pudding! But neither of us would use frozen roast potatoes, I have tried them once, and they were downright foul.

And how is cooking a Christmas dinner for 7 that difficult? I cook for 5 every night, when I've had this baby and he is weaned, I will be cooking for 6 every night. If each of my older 3 dc have a friend round for dinner on the same night, I can easily cook for 8/9 without a problem. I only have a normal sized cooker as well, it's just about timings.

I have to say though, there would be not a rats chance in hell of all the family congregating in my kithen, if there are two people in there and you want to get past each other, one of you has to sit on the counter top! You couldn't swing a flea in there, never mind a cat.

How do people's roasts take so long that they require frozen substitutes? The only faffy bit is timings, but work it all out at the beginning and make a note and Bob's your uncle. Roast spuds are hardly rocket science but make all the difference, ditto yorkshires and gravy. I've never understood people who spend time and money on a roast then pour Bisto and water on it.

We had a full beef roast last night too, an hour from into oven to onto plates...'home made' yorkshires, roasties, gravy and fresh veg, not hard. Every Sunday in winter.

Frozen roasties? Not good but then I can't make decent roast potatoes and have to farm that chore job out. If I couldn't then I would be doing you a favour by making frozen ones, believe me.

Frozen yorkies here too. For the same reason as the potatoes. Obviously, I have roasting ishoos.

As for the chocolate cheesecake. I wouldn't have tried it either. It is my most hated pud on the planet. And believe me, I love my puddings. Just not chocolate cheesecake, it gives me the big time.

Frozen roasties - not good, but understandable.
Not trying the cheesecake - ditto
Eating the value choc cake - their house, when in Rome etc etc

Being poncetastic about it all - rude. If you don't like it, don't eat there. Otherwise suck it up and understand that not everyone is as meticulous as you are.

Me included. We had Chindian. Because I wanted to spend time with my family not cook for the starving hordes.

Is the vitriol against all types of bisto or just the granules?

I agree that any sort 'just add boiling water' to granules gravy is crap but I use bisto powder (the onion one) if I'm making vegetarian gravy and I don't think it's all that bad.

I use gravy granules when I'm making gravy, I add it to everything else I bung in. But then I can't make yorkies or roast potatoes either

OP I think it was very rude of them not to try your cheesecake - I would always try a mouthful of something people have made even it is something I don't like. I really appreciate if anyone has gone to the effort to make food as it is something I would never do myself...which is also why I think it is a bit U of you to be off about their frozen dinner. I would have been grateful to be given anything. I once lived in a flat for 5 years that didn't have a kitchen and everything I did was from a microwave - I just don't "do" home made but I was always seen as a great hostess because I always had a fridge full of vodka and mixers and a large range of crisps.

And that, IMO, is the best sort of hostess

Grace - my dislike of frozen veg has got bugger all to do with any additives or shite like that. They can coat potatoes in cocaine for all I care (ooh, that make them more appealing ) - but freezing veg reallt changes the texture I find, especially starchy veg like carrots, parsnips and spuds.

Can't believe people are so scathing about LeQueen. She is a parody of course (she is really a portly woman with a home perm who lives in a two up-two down in Penge)

I'm gutted too - I missed these inadequate kitchen photos.
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Mind you, in boasting that I cook all the roast stuff from scratch and saying it is easy, I would never make a pudding or cake at all. I loathe baking and cooking swwet food. So for christmas you get christmas pudding and clotted cream, or ice cream, and at a dinner party you would get something piss easy like peach melba or eton mess.