Does anyone else cheat at the Christmas meal? And I mean really cheat?

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I keep hearing and reading about everyone making their own Christmas cake, cranberry sauce, cooking roasties in goose fat, making a trifle, delicious home made stuffing, ordering the turkey from a local farm shop... The list goes on.

Fact is, I cheat at almost everything, and without M&S I would be up the creek without a paddle. I buy one of their ready stuffed turkeys, I buy their sauces, their trimmings, their mince pies. Everyone basically. Oh, I make my own roasties, but the fuss and the mess I create.... You would think I was doing something truly special and inventive, as opposed to peeling potatoes and then bunging them in the oven.

I have to go very quiet when discussions turn to recipes, as I have nothing to contribute, other than the latest new trimmings at marks. I love reading the Sunday supplements about how to cook the tastiest this and that, but I never actually deliver the goods.

My family are all very sweet about about it, and make a big deal about what a lovely meal I have served, when in reality my job has been to manage all the different oven timings for my various dishes.

Does anyone else cheat? Or is it just me, as it sure as hell feels like that!!!!!

Er, yeah, is mine the only household that doesn't bother with Sunday roasts? If we want one, we go out for a pub lunch. We have normal dinners on a Sunday. So having to do a roast dinner at all is a hassle we normally avoid.

Definitely not the only only one, hence us buying Christmas lunch in as far as possible. I like cooking from scratch sometimes (DH does a lot of the cooking in our house) but I just CBA with the faff of roasts and trimmings, when I cook it's very much risottos, pasta dishes, casseroles etc. i.e. 'one pot' stuff with no complicated timings.

I am 27 and have never cooked a roast dinner. I'm a good cook, but roasts are faff and hassle. Easier to make a curry or a casserole from scratch, imo.

This year I'm going to my mother's for Christmas. My job is to make the stuffing!

We rarely have Sunday roasts either, but when I do cook one, it's not the big deal that some people like to make it, whether it's Sunday, a weekday or even Xmas Day!

I go to my Mums every year (I'm the biggest cheater!) and even she cheats

Here is cheating:

Someone I used to know (NOT me ) buys a couple of cartons of gravy from the chip shop a few days in advance.

Now do you feel better?

I cheat by telling my husband what a wonderful cook he is and that wouldn't it be great to have XYZ (a dish he cooks) for Xmas lunch. it works every time.

We don't have roasts but usually have something special and time consuming.

I do the cleaning though.

Another oen here who goes elsewhere.
My mum has it sorted though. She buys all the food, and we all go to hers. Then she sits down with a glass of champagne and my dad and BIL do all of the cooking. My sister and I then do all the cleaning.

Works for us!

We cheated last year for the first time just to try it out. Got everything in from m&s, I was happy at just how easy it all was BUT it tasted like shit. It was the worst Christmas meal we've ever had. Never again. So back to cooking it all from scratch this year. Only things we cheat on are the stuffing (because I really don't see much difference) and the bread for the starter.

OK cheating at christmas is my favorite thing. I only shop at Waitrose once a year and buy ready made:

• meat stuffing
• sausages wrapped in bacon
• cranberry jelly
• gravy
• bread sauce
• york pud
• christmas pudding
• christmas cake or buche

It cuts out a lot of the work. I make pretty good roast potatoes, and with all the veg/trimmings it's still a lot of work but a lot less stressful. I decorate the table really really well and make it really special. Th ekids have orange juice in wine glasses, they love it!

Where we live there are loads of big hotels and restaurants that do 'take-away' Christmas dinner' for the expat market. They deliver whole turkeys, and all the veg and trimmings, cooked and ready to eat. I have heard that it is usually very of a very good standard, but I would be extremely reluctant to try it myself. I never begrudge cooking at Christmas, but even if I fancied a break from it, I could not take the risk that my Christmas dinner would turn up looking like some sad, luke warm, little 'meals on wheels' offering. My DH would be devastated and I'd never hear the last of it.

We cheat - we dont have one LOL

We fill the fridge with lots of lovely stuff and graze throughout the day.

nice.

Your dinner sounds lovely OP. I usually do everything from scratch but this year i have thought fuck it! i've got a 12 week old and the dishwasher has broken. I simply don't have the time or energy for it all. i have ordered a ready stuffed duck for xmas and a venison roast with sauce for BD from m&s. i am tempted to get ready prepared starters, veg and a ready made dessert as well. The thing is i don't know what is good so don't know what to buy.

The only thing i've made is homemade mincemeat, but i may even buy ready rolled pastry for the mince pies :)

Although i love cooking i'm really enjoying the relief of not having to. I think it isn't cheating tho, you are providing a nice meal, who cares about the rest.

Oh I cheat - I buy ready prepped sprouts, veg, spuds - use stuffing mix and gravy granules

I cook chicken rather than a big turkey, I buy a Gammon easy bake thing

I use bread sauce from a packet and cranberry jelly from a jar

I do make my own cake though

"Cheating" would be serving up a christmas dinner flavoured pot noodle.

I don't get this competition between people over cooking stuff. Great some people are brilliant at preparing large family meals from scratch, i'm not. But can they fix a car? Paint? Sing? Write poetry?
You're not cheating, you're being a brilliant person by providing for your family on Christmas day.

I cheat even more than you do, we go to the PIL's for christmas day and boxing day. They are thrilled that they get to see the DC's open their presents every year and I love not having to cook. It's a win win situation.

I am really cheating this year and we are going out for Christmas Dinner. I do normally do everything but the cranberry sauce and stuffing from scratch though.

Hmm. I read this title with bleary eyes and thought it was going to be much more salacious - cheating (really cheating) at the work Christmas meal / party!!! Even Delia doesn't do that!

There is no cheating, only doing what works for you - unless there is lying involved. No, pretending you cooked the fancy veg and iced the cake when you didn't is NOT the same as telling the kids Santa's reindeer ate the carrots, it is NAUGHTY.

The sooner everyone gets away from the idea that it isn't real Christmas unless at least one woman has suffered, the better. Hmm, now that's a thought actually. Some kind of scriptural excuse like, Mary had to labour at Christmas to bring forth Jesus, so all women must labour at Christmas to bring forth, er, dinner. Does that work?

... How do you know Delia doesn't do that? She might be up to anything in her private life for all we know.

Delia is a good catholic (and friends with Sister Wendy, who is ace), so I choose to think she wouldn't do that (but who knows...), despite have written a book called 'How to Cheat'!

Hell yes!!! I even cheat to the extent I go out for christmas dinner BUT if I stayed in I would possibly go as far as ready cooked turkey slices, domestic goddess I aint!!!!

No one in our family will be doing any cooking (or washing up) over Christmas. On Christmas day we have party food / canapes with paper plates / napkins. On Boxing Day we all go out for a meal, so those who want the roast can have one.

This isn't 'cheating'; it's not a test. It just means that everyone can enjoy Christmas without the hard work or stress of all the food prep.

If you look at the vast amount of prepared stuff the shops are shifting, it is obvious that the majority of people "cheat" to some extent.

My principle is pretty much "if they haven't got it at Sainburys we ain't having it"

I cook what I enjoy cooking, and buy in what I know I'd find myself swearing over. On Christmas day, it's just me and DP so I'm not doing the traditional turkey-and-trimmings, I'll probably get some really good steak in and make side dishes to go with it.

I did cook 'Christmas dinner' for some friends who I won't see over Christmas earlier this week. I bought a ready to go in the oven chicken crown from M&S, but cooked all the veg and roasties myself. Was going to to my own pigs in blankets but ended up using ready made ones from Asda for reasons of time, and used ready made stuffing and gravy.

I then made profiteroles from scratch for dessert, as it's so easy and store bought ones just don't taste the same. But if I hadn't had the energy to make them I'd have had no shame about serving a nice bought cheesecake or something.