To consider not cooking the full works for Christmas Day?

[SouthernNorthernGirl]

I love a Christmas dinner, I'm just not sure I want to do it this year.
I'm thinking about putting out delicious food, buffet style. Pigs in blanket, Yorkshire pudding with smoked mackerel pate, cheese board, nuts, twiglet's, matchmakers etc etc, and being done with it.
DH is horrified at this
AIBU?

[Clutterbugsmum]

Get everyone to help, on Christmas Eve.

Christmas day dinner is just a roast no need to stress over it.

[Huldra]

Sometimes a buffet can be as much work as a roast. Also you could end with more mess out for more time and find it harder to get people to do their share. At least with a sit down dinner everyone can get involved with setting out the table, peeling veg, then clearing up when it's finished. The event is more contained.

When we haven't had guests we have got a turkey wellington from M&S, it's worth looking at those pre-prepared dishes or joints. Christmas dinner is just a roast but what makes it different is all the special sides and sauces. Your husband can be in charge of organizing them, pre-made or bought.

I don't know what we're doing this year as it will be just us, 2 adults and 2 teens. I'm researching local restaurants in walking distance, if we stay home it will be something fairly lazy. My husband and one teen always wants a big chunk of meat so we may look at supermarket re-prepared joints again.

[tibbawyrots]

We had egg and chips one year. 'Teas lush. We did feel that we had missed out a bit later though.

[madein1995]

I agree that its a glorified roast with a few extras - turkey not that different to chicken really, veg and pots are easy to do, frozen yorkshires, pigs in blankets in oven, homemade gravy, job done. More time consuming than doing other meals eg bolognese, but not really ttime consuming. If its only a few of you then its not so much to cook, and you could do a turkey crown. I know some do 3 different meats and 600 veg but no need really - 1 meat, then carrots, sprouts, parsnips, etc. Only real differemce to our xmas lunch from a sunday dinner is a few more veg, different meat, addition of pigs in blankets, and both mashed and roast potatoes.

Agree on helpers though. Dh could wash and peel veg and pots the nigjt before. Set a timer to get up early for tge turkey and then back to bed.

[Bluebolt]

We have desert in the evening usually doctor who, not after Christmas dinner so no evening cooking.

[Graphista]

It's just me and daughter (currently wondering if my first post was invisible)

I'm veggie daughter isn't.

Daughter usually has a gammon steak, I have quorn fillets, ready prepped fresh carrots and parsnips which I drizzle honey over to roast, frozen roast pots n yorkies, ready made pigs in blankets for daughter (the rest get eaten Boxing Day), quorn chipolatas for me, paxo made up as stuffing balls (daughters job), jar cranberry sauce, gravy from granules, job done! Tastes fine, easy to do. Fruit for starter, Christmas pud for me (wee micro job) daughter prefers ice cream so as a treat she gets whatever posh one on offer she fancies.

Boxing Day, fry up for brekkie (daughter likes doing this as she can then get away with giving herself stupid amounts of bacon!), homemade soup for lunch with nice bread, snacking through the day (chips n dip, pretzels, olives, pigs for dd, leftover stuffing balls, pickles, cranberry sauce, sausage rolls, deli slices etc)

[BertrandRussell]

That Jamie recipe with Yorkshire puddings, smoked trout and horseradish is one of my absolute favourite things. I want it now!

But you couldn't do it for a buffet- the puddings need to be straight out of the oven and too hot to touch...........

[gotthemoononastick]

Do not even think of it OP.I did a cold, trendy 70's buffet only once a hundred years ago in a boiling hot country.

My family and DH especially still bleats about the '" cold not proper Christmas dinner when there were no roast potatoes"'!

[Frouby]

I do a cheats Christmas dinner on Christmas day. Turkey crown, all the trimmings but bought in. Usually from marks and Spencer. Everything including the gravy. It's just a case of working the timings out then!

We usually have prawn cocktail starter because dp loves it, main dinner and then some fancy pants cheesecake or something for pudding.

Then NYD I do a full dinner and we have guests. Christmas day is just us. Even if we had guests I would still do the same though.

[YelloDraw]

YUM! Yorkshire pud and smoked mackeral pate sounds delish.

[BertrandRussell]

Jamie smoked trout and Yorkshire puddings

[YouMakeMyDreams]

We don't have a traditional sit down Christmas dinner either. We do have one during our time off usually we have visitors at some point and I cook it then. We do a buffet in the afternoon of lots of our favourite things. Dc love it dh and I can do it together and I get a lot done the day before.
None of us are that bothered about the big sit down meal thing and quite like our relaxed day and I'm the only one that can cook a big meal like that so it always fell to me.
We don't feel cheated and we always have lots of lovely things we wouldn't have just every day. it's our Christmas and we are happy making good our own traditions.

[BabyGanoush]

Let DH cook, or at eats help.

I'm doing a Christmas dinner because I think it's easy. I am not going overboard on "all the trimmings" though.

starter: smoked salmon on shop bough blinis, dollop of sour cream

Butcher's boned, stuffed, rolled Turkey. put in oven for 3 hours.
Roast potatoes from frozen (goosefatty ones)
boiled veg like sprouts/carrots/broccoli,
gravy bought ready made
pigs in blankets bought ready made, just heat up

Lots of fizz

This always works fine, people like a big plate of food, and nobody apart from MIL cares that the roasties are from a bag and there are no chestnuts or parsnips. If I give her enough fizz and Baileys she forgives me anyway

[AutumnMadness]

I really don't get all this angst about the Christmas dinner. Sorry, everyone, but traditional British Christmas dinner is a bit of a sorry affair. It's exactly the same as all other British traditional dinners - overcooked meat, overboiled veg and triple-carbing on three different kinds of potatoes - just a bit bigger. Really, what is there to do? The most time consuming thing is to peel veg. Peel them the day before while watching telly and then bung them in boiling water in pots. Bung the turkey in the oven. According to tradition, you do not need to actually do anything with it but perhaps stuff it with shop-bought stuffing. Boil the potatoes and then put them in fryer/oven. Job done. Buy gravy, cranberry sauce and Christmas pudding in the supermarket. All in all, this will take two hours max. It will be more time-consuming to set the table.

[DudeWheresMyVulva]

I am really looking forward to Christmas dinner this year. The past few years we have had extended family stay, and there was a certain amount of rigidity on timings and activities etc. (3 courses served at 1 pm on the dot. No leftovers acceptable on Boxing day. Not to much noise from Dcs as afternoon naps for the older generation in the sitting room are required).

We are having goose. And loads of fizz starting early. And tons of movies, and walks.

[amusedbush]

We have had Christmas Day just the two of us for the past four years. I always run myself ragged cooking the works for us but DH has blessedly asked for a buffet style meal. So long as there's baked camembert and crusty bread I'm happy

We'll get the full dinner with the bonus of my dad's trifle when we go to my parents' house a couple of days later anyway so we won't miss out.

[anonymousbird]

I've cooked 15 "full works" Christmas dinners in a row. No one has ever invited me to their house for Christmas dinner and I just want a break this year!

That said I do like being in my own home on Christmas Day so this year I am getting it all prepped from Waitrose Entertaining and I can't flipping wait.

[mummytime]

Last year I survey the family and we came up with a menu of what people really wanted to eat. None of us really like a turkey dinner and the only one to complain was my fussy DD who really doesn't look me roasts. I wouldn't say it was easier but everyone got something they like.
I'll probably do the same this year.

[nurseinwonderland]

YANBU
We had steak last year. Had lots of lego to build so it was perfect. Had a full roast on boxing day.
Only thing I missed was the smell of the turkey cooking Christmas morning

[babayjane67]

I always cook the full Christmas lunch.Turkey& all the trimmings.I have said about eating out before for a change but dp is never keen always says it's never gonna be as good as yrs love.plus I know it is extortionate!! Last yr for first time I did all the veg bout a wk before then put it stright in freezer.also made the sausagemeat stuffing balls that dp loves Christmas eve&kept them in fridge.I will do that again this yr.I do hm roast spuds but do frozen roast parsnips& pigs which we do bout 3 pks of as again dp loves em!we all do to be fair! I cook it all& he washes wipes it all up!!
Will be just the 3 of us & my mum prob this yr.

[GeekyWombat]

We had roast pork last year, just the same as a standard Sunday roast (albeit with paxo balls and crackers on the table). I don't know if it's just because otherwise we only cook turkey once a year, or if it was the size of the joint or what but it was much less faff, really tasty and seemed less stressful all round. Plus, crackling!

[IAmAmy]

If the husband is horrified why doesn't he cook it? Why should the responsibility for cooking ever be the woman's? When I'm an adult Christmas will be for drinking mulled wine from morning, if any future husband of mine wants a Christmas dinner he can cook it.

[HamsterTastic]

Of course you aren't unreasonable to not want to work on Christmas Day

Dh is welcome to make xmas dinner surely?

[tearsofrobertsmith]

Put out a buffet once instead of a Christmas dinner, was rubbish!!!!!!!! Was honestly more work than you think. Compared to digging out serving plates, slicing stuff, heating up some stuff, putting other stuff in bowls, taking lids off stuff, putting it all through on the table which left no room for anyone to sit down so we were all over couches with plates perched on knees, then putting it all away, spending ages wrapping the leftovers and finding space in the fridge- Christmas dinner is a breeze!
At the time I was annoyed, I was pregnant and this was meant to be labour saving, nobody enjoyed it in the same way as a traditional dinner which DH and I prep and cook together. So much easier to cook the meat two days before if you can, make the gravy, slice and store the meat in fridge in said gravy, day before, prep any fresh veg and heat it all through with a combo of frozen other bit and pieces on the big day. I couldn't stop imagining Christmas dinner for weeks after, really missed it!! It's honestly easier just to make it normally than faff about with buffets!

[gotthemoononastick]

Everything tearsofrobertsmith said!Also lovely leftovers for days!