to think its just a roast dinner

[mamamibbo]

my mum keeps going on about christmas dinner and how i wont be able to manage it by myself and she will help, do i need to borrow a gravy boat?

why would i need a gravy boat, i have a pyrex jug;-)

what makes it different to the roast dinners i make my family all the time?

we dont eat turkey, it will be lamb and beef and maybe a cola gammon.

She probably just wants to feel or be useful. Would it kill you to let her?

because if you can do it easily, then it suggests that what she did over all those years wasn't special!

I don't know what makes it different - but it is! At least I find it so.

Maybe it's because there are more elements to it in our house. Maybe it's because I do more fandangly versions of things. Veg that are normally steamed suddenly find themselves being sauteed with lardons. Three veg become five. One or two courses become four. The best dinner service, cutlery canteen and crystal come out. There are NAPKINS!!!!!! AND RINGS!!!!!

Or maybe it's the pre-dinner sherries I imbibe freely on this one day of the year .

None of these things would offer me any problems throughout the year - I'm a pretty good cook, but somehow, on Christmas Day, with everything all going on and every single thing needing to be "right" because it's just once a year - it is different.

And because it's different I'd say yes to the gravy boat if nothing else it means you have somewhere to put the gravy when you discover you used the pyrex jug for something else and it hasn't been washed up.

lol im nearly 30 and i have 4 children, its control freakery, trust me she's known for it

Alternatively - say yes to the gravy boat because the pyrex jug is SO much bigger than a sherry glass and will save you wasting precious cooking drinking time refilling your booze

YABU. You'll never manage it.

You don't have the correct equipment and you don't know that turkey isn't optional.

It's a no-brainer. Your mother absolutely must supervise or you'll be a laughing stock for the next twenty-five years.

It's that serious.

theres going to be me, my husband and 4 children, i doubt any of them will care, they'll be too busy with their presents... and dh will be putting them together.

My friend had a chinese one year - her mother had an apopleptic fit .

Oh and you're not even thirty yet? Nothing like drip feeding eh?

Hah! Well that's even more reason for you to be realistic here.

Your timings are going to be all out. Your trifle will be runny. You won't have enough food. The list goes on.

You will probably even resort to paper table covers.

I feel sorry for your family tbh.

hmmm... i like chinese...

coola - best christmas dinner every was pizza. I was overseas, and hadn't had a pizza for 6 months. We got together with some other ex-pats and decided pizza was what we really wanted. So my friends cooked it and we all pitched in.

it was truly amazing sigh

Every year my mum throws a fit when she finds out I'm not doing sprouts. I hate sprouts. My husband hates sprouts. My daughter hates sprouts. Heck even the dog hates sprouts and he eats his own poo. "But it's traditional" Yeah, and so hanging, now give over.

I hate roast dinners. All the last minute stuff to do. And this year the ILs are coming. i won't be able to drink Bucks Fizz all day like i normally do. Not looking forward to it!

YANBU! I have never seen the problem. Everything goes in one huge tray at carefully timed intervals. Its not exactly rocket science!

Flamingnora...you don't have to actually eat the sprouts, they just have to be there, like a kind of special guest at the table.

I thought everyone knew that.

Actually, my family are really strange. They would KILL for sprouts. They even pop some into a bowl, cover them in clingfilm and microwave them. Even when it's not Christmas.

I think they're changelings.

Lol,

I really don't know what all the fuss is about!

It is just a normal roast with extras.

Starters (if you want them. They are not composlatry(sp?) ) can be made in advance and my friends actually cook the turkey on Xmass eve (!) and serve with hot gravy.

Do whatever you like.

Have a merry Xmas xx

But their vileness contaminates the air itself and the paper starts peeling off the walls. :(

I had a soggy sandwich once for Christmas Dinner, wasn't even a fancy one.

I just had thoughts of the Vicar of Dibley stuffing the sprouts into her mouth at Christmas.

I wonder if you've seen that Flamingnora.

Nah, I don't like horror films.

I will be having an Indian banquet with parents. No cooking, no mess, vast amounts of curry and alcohol. Perfect

Dont know but my mum suggested a turkey crown instead of a turkey and I was horrified!

I lurve sprouts.

louisiana if you can't drink buck's fizz in the quantities you'd like, just have one or two but with Cointreau in....

It's a fancier roast though isn't it? Personally I do a nice roast but I like all the extra bits on Christmas Day. My biggest concern is staying at my sisters who isn't a big drinker. I am used to lashing into the snowballs/mulled wine & champagne before breakfast a little earlier than usual.