...to ask what your usual meal plan/content is on Christmas Day?

[StillSquirrelling]

Following on from the very divisive thread from earlier, asking whether one has a starter before Christmas dinner or not, I am now feeling a bit nosy curious as to what people actually eat on the big day. Here's what ours usually looks like:

Pre-breakfast: Kids usually have some chocolate from their stockings that we politely decline in sharing

Breakfast: Oven goes on for the turkey and we warm croissants and pain au chocolat in it whilst we are waiting for it to get to temperature. These are served with lashings of tea, freshly squeezed breakfast juice (orange and grapefruit) and butter/jam

Mid morning: Probably some more chocolate or some Twiglets savoury nibbles if we fancy some

At some point in the morning we will take all the Christmas dinner peelings to give to our sheep, along with a Christmas swede for each of them!

2pm (ish): Main event - no starter - which comprises turkey, roast spuds, sometimes new potatoes too, roast parsnips , sprouts, mashed carrot and swede, broccoli, peas, pigs in blankets, our special stuffing (cooked in its own dish not in the turkey - pack of stuffing with extra fried onions and a pack of sausage meat, all mixed together and baked) and possibly some Yorkshire puddings if we are feeling particularly hungry. All served with fizz of some sort (Shloer for the kids) and lashings of gravy etc

Pudding may or may not be served after dinner (DH is the only one who likes xmas pud)

Some point in the early evening: a buffet style supper of cold turkey and possibly a baked ham, pickles, cheese and biscuits, fruit and possibly more chocolate.

[CarryOn90]

Pretty much exactly the same as you OP

Except we have a prawn cocktail starter and usually a chocolate log pudding

[ratherbeinnorfolk]

Nothing special for breakfast followed by walk on the beach, whatever the weather.

Lunch is roast partridge (only takes 30 minutes - brilliant and allows time for walk on the beach). One partridge each, served with Madeira sauce (suffer from gravy phobia). Roast potatoes, veg. has to include red cabbage, leeks in white sauce, and crushed celeriac and carrot gratin. Pudding is sticky toffee, the only dessert all 6 people like!

Supper is smoked trout, green salad with slices of orange in it, and sometimes jelly to follow. I crave cold food by the evening.

[Fannyupcrutch]

I adore all things Christmas and love cooking so have always pushed the boat out. I even used to throw a xmas eve party for my kids and all their friends as my organising/present buying/wrapping is done by mid November. But I have been recently diagnosed with 2 auto immune diseases and have to take it easy now :( So now our Christmas will be a little lazier.

Christmas eve - Christmas eve noon is the official start of festivities. Table is laid with party snacks and I roast a joint of pork off for hot sarnies with sage and onion stuffing. Kids get to open the umpteen bottles of pop/crisps/cakes etc and we pick at food before going out for a xmas eve meal at wherever we have chosen and booked.

Christmas morning is a breakfast of waffles and maple syrup and /or whatever cereals they have chosen. Bucks fizz for me and then I will put the meat on and go for a nap.

We sit down whenever I say so but normally its between 3-5 ish and this year it will be something like this

Pork, roast beef, turkey with proper roasties, mash, carrot and turnip, broccoli, sprouts, green beans, parsnips, chestnut stuffing loaf wrapped in bacon, pigs in blankets, yorkshires, proper gravy and champagne. we go through lots of trimmings! Afters is whatever gateaux the kids have opted for from marks and sparks.

Then I reset the buffet table and rotate it through til the day after boxing day. Boxing day is my special baked gammon and its delish, my family and friends go crazy for it and there is often people clustered around just cutting slices off and eating it with fingers.

This year is the first xmas my sister has been local to me in ages so that will be brill. They moved last week so very god chance they will be coming to mine this year. Us six, my sisters 3, mum and step dad, other sister and my dad makes.....13. I just adore big family get togethers. Could do with a bigger oven though!

[StillSquirrelling]

Don'tBeBlue - Thanks - you're right. I am very classy and sophisticated

I don't do my sprouts a la barigoule but what I usually do is shred/de-bone (whatever the technical term is for taking all the leaves off!) them, stem them until they are al dente and then toss them in hot melted butter and crispy smoked lardons. Delicious!!

[ratherbeinnorfolk]

I forgot to mention the industrial quantities of sausages in bacon ... glad to find we're not the only family where they are the most important part of the menu!

[Sickoffrozen]

There certainly seems to be some eating done on Xmas day by reading some of these.

I am not a fan to be honest as we always end up running around everywhere and have little time to just enjoy the day!

Breakie- Toast

Lunch - Turkey with Xmas pud or Cheesecaske

Rest of day - Turkey sandwiches and nibbles etc

Sherry, bit of sparkly and lots of wine!

[Quenna]

Family of 5, 3 DC incl. two teens.

Wake up, tea, open stockings, eat chocs from stockings probably.

Breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, croissants, coffee, posh juice.

Then church, on return, champagne (or more likely Lidl fizzy wine) or whatever posh drinks DCs want eg shloer or something, whilst we open presents.

Lunch at about 2.30pm: starter of salmon mousse, salad, toast with more fizz. Quick break to watch the Queen. Then main course of Turkey, at least two kinds of stuffing, pigs in blankets (loads), bread sauce, cranberry sauce, roast potatoes and parsnips, carrot, kale or broccoli, gravy, yorkshires cos the Dc love them. Red wine and white wine. Pudding: Xmas pud with brandy cream and brandy butter, kids have viennetta (which we have trained them to think of as a top luxury!). Coffee and chocolates. Port for those who want it.

Watch tv, play games, read new books with mince pies and tea later on.

Boxing Day: cold buffet of leftovers plus bubble and squeak (also big favourite), big ham, Christmas cake gets ceremonially cut, nice cheeses, dates etc. Picnic on this as and when, with visitors, a walk, TV etc. nice lazy day.

Everyone back to work, normal routine on the 27th.

Carry on eating left overs with nice mashed potatoes for many meals yet to come. Which luckily we all love.

[StillSquirrelling]

But I have been recently diagnosed with 2 auto immune diseases and have to take it easy now sorry to hear that Fanny. I hope your treatment is helping you

I have three of them and am currently being investigated for a possible 4th (all are in the spondyloarthropy group). Life is rather exhausting at the moment!

Christmas Eve is also the start of our festivities. On Christmas Eve morning I give the kids a box that contains new xmas PJs, a Christmas DVD (Polar Express this year), a Christmas themed book and some treats to eat whilst watching the film together. We go to the crib service at church in the early evening and then we spend the rest of the evening with our next-door neighbours usually (with a takeaway or one of us cooks a meal).

[Quenna]

Oh god, forget the sprouts. We do loads cos they are nice in bubble. Tossed with bacon bits.

[Vitalstatistix]

this year, on Christmas day we will all be eating chocolates, nuts and leftovers, washed down with obscene amounts of alcohol. (not the kids, of course )

We're hosting family on christmas eve and since I always seem to cook for about 30 more people than I've invited and everyone is going to be going home with quite a lot of stuff, nobody attending is planning to cook on christmas day and they probably won't need to on boxing day either.

I have this problem. When I'm planning and cooking it never seems like a lot, and I get really anxious at the thought I might have guests leave still feeling hungry so I keep adding more and more and then it gets on the table and the legs start to buckle and it's only then that I can see the huge amount it really is. I know it, but I still do it because I still can't believe it. iyswim.

xmas eve will be
MEATS
beef (peppercorn sauce)
lamb (shrewsburry sauce)
duck (plum sauce)
honey and marmalade gammon

VEGGIE OPTION BY REQUEST
cheese pie

WITH MEATS
roast potatoes
pig in blankets
sprouts, chestnut and bacon
honeyed carrots & parsnips
yorkshire puds
stuffing
gravy

PUDDINGS & SNACKS
cherrychoc cheesecake
mashmallow squares
coconut slices
sausage rolls
cookies
lemon and lime cake
mince pies w brandy butter

I am cooking and baking for a solid week on the run up to christmas. Everyone thinks I'm nuts but I love it. And they never turn down an invite.

This'll be the first year I make butter, so I'm not quite sure how that's going to go!

[HamishBamish]

We usually decamp to our PIL's for Christmas Eve/Day/Boxing day. My MIL is an amazing cook and we usually have.

Breakfast- croissants, bucks fizz etc

Lunch- smoked salmon etc with fizz in the sitting room
The main event in the dining room. Not always turkey, sometimes beef or duck. All the trimmings. Whichever wine goes.
Pudding- usually 2 types. Christmas pudding with cream/brandy butter and another lighter pudding.
Cheese with port

Later we would have coffee with Christmas cake. Maybe a sandwich in the evening or a few bits and pieces of leftovers

They really do put on a lovely spread and it's great to see the children enjoy the great atmosphere they create. They have a lovely open fire which we don't have at home and live out in the countryside which is great for long walks. The only thing they don't have is a dog, which is the one thing I miss from my childhood Christmas'.

[DancingLola]

Breakfast tends to be Eggs Benedict for me & DH, DS1(6) will have a bagel with cream cheese & smoked salmon, not sure what DS2 (1.5) will have, maybe pancakes.

Lunch is buffet style so can just be picked at - bread, crackers, cheese, ham, chorizo, olives & various snacks.

Xmas dinner is served around 3:30-4pm once my parents have arrived: starter of some sort (last year was asparagus wrapped in parma ham with a poached egg), turkey, gammon, stuffing, roast potatoes & parsnips, carrots, sprouts, broccoli, braised red cabbage, yorkshire puddings (DS1's request), pigs in blankets (essential!), gravy & cranberry sauce. Wine or bellini's to go with dinner.

Pudding usually ends up being eaten a couple of hours later - DH & my parents will have xmas pudding & cream, I will have something chocolatey with cream & both DS's may try a bit of mine.

Boxing day is either visiting family, or people coming to ours & all food is served buffet style and includes left over turkey/gammon. Nothing seems to go to waste!

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

Usually just us, at home (though open to alternatives) ...

Breakfast mainly as usual but might have croissants and naice orange juice or other juices

Lunch - veggie so nut loaf, lots of roasted pots, veggie sausages, cauli cheese, carrots, sprouts, bread sauce, stuffing, gravy

Mid afternoon - eventually have room for raspberry trifle (a new family tradition) and/or christmas pudding with brandy butter

Evening - second helping of lunch (courtesy of microwave) - usually enjoy this even more than lunch on the sofa with Christmas night telly and some port Possibly some stilton, dates etc to go with - these things all very traditional for me at Christmas

[RedButtonhole]

Whatever ungodly hour DS wakes at on Christmas morning we (just two of us in the house) will gave pain chocolat or a croissant to tide us over for present opening.

Once it's daylight and we're dressed we go to my mum's and will have bacon rolls sort of mid morning, followed by more present opening.

Few drinks at pub and probably some chocolate at some point. Then back to mum's for main event so

Starter- choice of smoked salmon, prawn cocktail, pate and toast, melon, fruit juice.

Main- Turkey and usually ham, stuffing, pigs in blankets, neeps and tatties ( swede and potatoes mashed) sprouts, peas, carrots, roast tatties and potato croquettes. Gravy and cranberry sauce.

Pudding (my department)- Home made trifle, lemon meringue pie and some sort of chocolate thing I haven't decided on yet. Bought Christmas pud because few of us actually like it.

Later- more chocolate, oatcakes and cheese, nuts, turkey sandwiches, extra pudding etc.

I love christmas dinner

Starter-

[abbaroony]

We alternate between staying at home just the 4 of us one year, and then having a big family Christmas with about 20 of us the next year. The big family Christmas is normally a bit of a free-for-all, and organised by the family hosting, but our smaller Christmases normally go along these lines:

8am get up and have stocking presents upstairs, with someone being nominated to do a tea run! Then head downstairs for a 'posh' full English, this consists of the usual, but with really good quality sausages and bacon, black pudding, mushrooms etc which we wouldn't normally have. Breakfast is always accompanied by bucks fizz!

10am get showers and get dressed before the epic present opening session begins, youngest member of the family acts as 'elf' and hands out all the presents. Bucks fizz and tea served as required throughout!

4pm Christmas dinner is served, we always have a starter, usually smoked salmon. Then the main which is normally either duck or goose with all the usual accompaniments (as well as pancakes, cucumber, spring onions and hoisin sauce if we have duck for my mad Dad!). There's a choice of puddings, including Christmas pudding and something for people who don't like it, a favorite is bread and butter pudding made with panetone. All washed down with wine chosen to match each course by my Dad - he loves doing this!

We then collapse onto the sofas and watch TV whilst eating ridiculous amounts of chocolate considering the meal we've just had!

[cheesecakemom]

Whatever we decide we want to eat. But regulars are goose and trifle.

We always have lots of different things on the table - could be fish, pie etc - all made from scratch. So Christmas morning is busy! I come from a small-ish family but we always had lots of people over for Christmas and lots of food and wine!

[weeblueberry]

Chocolates til dinner. Eat dinner. More chocolates.

It's how it's always been.

[Buttercupsanddaisys]

Christmas Day morning I have an alfresco pee. It's traditional

Early morning(ish) DS and I have tea and coffee, then off to the golf club. He plays 9 holes and I, well, don't. The course is open but the 'facilities' aren't, hence my annual dive into the bushes. Then stagger home for mince pies, more coffee, then off to the pub. This is a League of Gentlemen-type Local Pub for Local People. Lots of real ale and the Landlord keeps circulating trays of freebie tots of whisky.Then stagger Home and we start preparing our meal. This year we've decided on a shellfish platter, sirloin steaks and spinach aglio, olio,peperoncino with loads of lemon.We'll have opened a bottle of cava by this time then moved on to red with the meat. Cheeses, nuts, and a zzzz for us both before we settle down to graze in front of the tele or film in the evening. Usually son's friends call round. They're mostly all home for the hols.

Boxing Day we have a leg of Welsh lamb, onion sauce, roasties, sprouts, etc.

Works for us :)

[Buttercupsanddaisys]

Ps I'm not a horse (mare?) and don't have the staggers..only stagger once and that's back home from the pub. Don't preview messages either

[Carpaccio]

It depends on where we are - if we're visiting my parents (in Denmark) then we'll have the Christmas meal on Christmas Eve and then a massive Christmas lunch on Christmas Day.
If at home, then we have Danish Christmas food on the 24th and British Christmas food on the 25th.

24th:

Breakfast: If with my parents, probably freshly baked bread and cake from the local baker. If at home, homemade bread or cereal, depending on mood.

Lunch: The usual, so bread with cheese, salami or ham, along with some salad or veg. Fruit.

Dinner:
Starter: This changes every so often - I like making blinis with smoked mackerel, beetroot and a mustard sour cream, my parents usually serve gravlax on white bread. Sometimes we just have snacks like crisps and nuts with a drink. It depends on the timing of guests and the food.
Main: Roast duck stuffed with apples and prunes. Pickled red cabbage (it's quite sweet, not vinegary) and caramelised potatoes. Sauce, Waldorf salad, cooked apples with redcurrant jelly. Apple compote (not sweetened) with horseradish. Sometimes we also have roast pork.
Dessert: Risalamande - it's basically a simple rice pudding (milk and pudding rice), cooked with vanilla, then chilled and chopped blanched almonds and whipped cream are folded in. Served with a cherry sauce.

When getting presents and having coffee, there'll be loads of fruit and chocolate, marzipan (not the same as in the UK) and nougat (praline). My mum usually makes a marzipan log with nougat in the middle and covers it in chocolate. You can actually buy something similar in Lidl at the moment - and they are pretty good.

25th

Same breakfast as the 24th.

Lunch: If with my parents: Starting with a warm fish dish - last year was scrambled eggs and smoked trout. Then pickled herring on bread - usually we have 3 kinds. I think there's usually ham or roast beef to have on bread - or whatever my dad has been in the mood for when doing the shopping.
Then we have black pudding with syrup and/or cinnamon sugar - it's not the same as in the UK.
Dessert will usually be the leftovers from the 24th, so the risalamande with cherry sauce.

Dinner is usually just leftovers from lunch and from the Christmas Eve dinner.

It's not uncommon to have the same lunch on the 26th, 27th and even 28th when visiting the in-laws, grandparents and so on.


If we're at home, I'll usually make a UK meal as my partner is British.
Breakfast and lunch are fairly simple - just like on the 24th or when with my parents.
Dinner: Roast goose, Brussel sprouts, stuffing, pigs in blankets, gravy and bread sauce, different veg, roast potatoes.
Dessert: Christmas pudding or Christmas cake or even mince pies - depending on mood and what we've made. I'm not a fan, so I just have leftover dessert from the day before.

I think that's about it.

[hellyhants]

Breakfast: what we have normally (porridge in my case) or sometimes I don't bother at all, depends if I am doing Christmas day parkrun or not as I need something to eat if I am running

Bucks Fizz while opening presents

Traditional turkey dinner and Xmas pud (with wine and dessert wine)

If we've any room left, turkey sandwiches and Xmas cake

We really like turkey leftovers in our house (I know a lot of people don't) so we have turkey and chips, turkey sandwiches, turkey curry etc until it sadly runs out. I might have to buy a bigger turkey this year.

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

Ooh, you'll all love "Polar Express" Squirrelling - one of our Christmas favourites Nice thread BTW

[KnittedJimmyChoos]

breakfast diff each year.

starter smoked salmon, bread and asparagus.

main: any meat but turkey usual accompianments.

pudding - small token xmas pud as well to light for DC's.

later on cheese and biscuits and choclate.

[KnittedJimmyChoos]

My mum usually makes a marzipan log with nougat in the middle and covers it in chocolate. You can actually buy something similar in Lidl at the moment - and they are pretty good.

whats it called! sounds divine the whole menu does

[Lovecat]

Breakfast is Pain au Chocolat, salmon & cream cheese bagels and pink Laurent Perrier champagne for the adults - my Christmas present to myself (OJ for DD).

Lunch is at 2pm and doesn't have a starter, unless you count the adults having a cocktail (frozen raspberry dropped into a sugar-rimmed champagne glass with a measure of cointreau, topped up with prosecco). Turkey, sugar-glazed Gammon, pigs in blankets, stuffing, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, yorkshire pudding, buttered carrots, peas, sprouts (stir-fried with bacon), honey roast parsnips, broccoli, cauli cheese, mountains of beef dripping roasties. We have 3 hulking teenage eating machines nephews coming this year so I need to make lots of food! Lots of wine, juice and water laid on.

Pudding usually comes an hour afterwards and is a choice of huge fuck-off sherry trifle with bananas and raspberries and jelly diamonds, homemade squidgy chocolate log or a shop pud, depending on what looks good (pavlova, profiteroles, bombe type thing). DH tends to have all 3...

And by the time Dr Who rolls around the teenagers are starving again so we have round 2, with leftovers-sandwiches, sausage rolls, Nigella's honey-soy sausages, a selection of nibbles from messrs Aldi/Iceland/M&S, mince pies, Christmas cake, cheese board, crisps etc. A board game or hand of cards will ensue after Dr Who whereupon the liqueurs and After Eights will be broken out.