Christmas food craziness

[ChasedByBees]

I'm reading lots of threads on here about pre orders and deliveries and various panics.

Is anyone else like me? We go shopping on Christmas Eve and part of the fun is what food can you get at discount prices. We don't really care what we get but something resembling Christmas dinner is preferable. We've never had to resort to sausage and chips yet and most years have the full works.

It's just turkey (or other meat or veg substitute), crackers, booze and veg. (OK, and pigs in blankets and stuffing and cranberry and bread sauce but all easy to get).

AIBU to think people could chill out a bit more about dinner?

My mum used to make a huge deal of Christmas. I keep saying that she was a wonderful person and she truly was, but Christmas day and the run up to it was hell on earth with her planning and roping in of people to do pointless tasks like spending hours with her in an overheated shop choosing the perfect xmas card.

If you wanted to go out on xmas eve or in the morning like a normal person she'd demand to know what time you were going to be there for her meal, but never tell you exactly what time it was - anytime between 1pm and 4pm was reasonable in her book so you couldn't plan. Whatever time you got there - I once got there at 9am - she'd be fuming at your lateness even though she hadn't specified a time and food was far from ready. God forbid you'd had a drink or might want one.

She made such a fucking palaver you'd be an eggshells - should you help? 'No, I'm fine! FINE!' Then stage whispers about 'People. Not Helping And Expecting Me To Be A Slave.' Then you'd try to help and she'd barge you out of the way. Then she'd serve everything up and not sit down with us like she was a servant from Downton Abbey.

That really sounds like I hated my mum and I truly didn't. When my dad died and she relinquished hold over Christmas day she became the most wonderful, thoughtful, funny guest.

She used to ruin the day but probably went to her grave thinking she made the most magical Christmases ever. I dread people who have lists for Christmas. It's just a big Sunday lunch.

I'm actually pleased that I don't celebrate Christmas.

'Tis madness.

Sainsbury's closes in 65 minutes.

I don't think that having lists has to mean a ruined Christmas, limited. I know I would be far more stressed (and tetchy and unreasonable) if I didn't have my lists.

I don't make people come and help me choose the perfect Christmas card nor do I refuse help and the Mutter - clearly I have been doing it wrong all these years. Don't worry - I will add these things to next year's list!

I don't get all the food angst. We have had very little time to organise Christmas this year due to a bereavement and having to arrange a funeral which was 2 days ago. But we have goose, ham, all the usual veg, cheese, bread, alcohol etc all of which have been obtained by us without any stress (other than feeling very emotional as shop staff say "have a good Christmas" - which it won't be really!). I have not queued or had to fight over a trolley. I think I must live in an area where the supply outstrips demand unlike all the threads I have read on Mumsnet which tell tales of pre-booked supermarket deliveries having substitutes and people queueing for pre-ordered goods and jostling over staff in supermarkets as they try to replenish the shelves.

Done! I got some great bargains and totally set up for dinner tomorrow!

I don't understand why some people make it such a trial.

Eat what you want to cook, it's only one meal, on one day.

Fair play to the bargain hunters, that sounds ace.

DH likes the traditional turkey thing, so we had a Cook delivery a couple of days ago and we'll just plonk it in the oven at the time suggested on the accompanying card. Massively uninspired, but tasty and easy.

I'm not sure I'd consider ordering / getting food earlier than Christmas Eve angst or stress. Sure if everyone didn't order and went today for bargins it'd be bedlam and there'd be no bargins!!

Anyone making a palavah out of the meal (such as my mum!) will almost certainly make a palava out of a lot of things.

I went to Morrisons at 2pm for some cat food. It was pretty quiet and I picked up a nice reduced chicken meal with pigs in blankets and reduced pannacotta for tonight. That's me sorted.

Doing an online order as usual wasn't exactly hard and certainly preferable to battling through crowds on Christmas Eve.

I wish I had the nerve to hold out to the last minute to get Christmas dinner stuff in.

Thank god for M&S preordered food. Queued nicely this morning for it all while scoffing chocolate biscuits.

My rant wasn't aimed at you SGDT. My mum was truly the best person in the world ever and I miss her every day. She was a fucking nightmare over Christmas though. I have to say that if she was still alive my house wouldn't be looking the tip it is 12 hours to go before guests arrive.

Merry Christmas.

Pete - people were surprisingly nice to each other and festive. I was in Waitrose mind you.

Merry Christmas to you too, limited, and sorry about your mum.

As long as I get sprouts and pigs in blankets I'm happy!

Went to Tesco earlier today and didn't have to que - you could have knocked me over with a feathe! I was dreading it! Hehe

You know what? If you just get things last minute and you like it - great, works for you. If you like an ordinary roast, awesome, you'll enjoy your Christmas. If you like to make a big deal of it get lots of food in that's special, make lists and be organised, wonderful - that's your perfect Christmas. Some folks are foodies - Christmas is heaven!! ;-)

The thing is we all differ but honestly do we really need the disingenuous 'I don't get it's' and implied criticism for those who do it differently? This happens quite a lot on MN.

We're all sorted (in whatever way we like to do it) and I hope everyone has the lovely day THEY want. Merry Christmas everyone, it's great we are all different.

I think it actually depends on where you are in the country how practical that is, in my london suburb, it works well, "town" centre supermarkets are empty and have lots of reduced stuff.

On the outskirts of a rural large village, the supermarket is averagely busy, but there's very little reduced - over-priced turkeys were 1/3rd off bringing it to reasonable levels nothing more. Still nothing missing though.

In a mid-sized town, the supermarket is absolutely rammed, crowds, no discounts and you certainly can't be picky about what you're going to have.

But I do still agree you certainly wouldn't starve and would get a decent meal.

YANBU OP!! I don't really get it either. I don't actually like any Christmas food! Don't like turkey, mince pies, Christmas cake or pud, bread sauce etc etc. If you take those away it really is just a roast!! We are having beef tomorrow. There are only six of us though, I can understand why you'd be needing lists if you were catering for 20-odd.

I tend to buy bits and pieces before Christmas and stick them in the freezer, really cannot be arsed with all the queuing to get on and off the car park at the local supermarket, never mind at the tills. There are only 5 of us so don't over buy, just a few treats, shops are only closed for a couple of days, mind you when in the queue at my local shop (forgot the milk!), a woman told me she was behind someone who spent over £700 just on food in the bigger supermarket in town wtf?

I went last night. It was lovely. I think it was so nice and stress free because there wasn't any kids running around tescos. I went to lidls earlier in the week for the main bulk of it and it was manic.

It was so nice in tesco I'm always going to late shop now.