What alternatives have you had for your Christmas dinner?

[Geekmama]

This year i'm really considering having Mexican food on Christmas Day. So my question is...... Have you ever had an alternative Christmas dinner? did you feel like you had missed out? did it feel less Christmassy?

Bye the way I know I'm BU talking about Christmas in September Sorry. [santa]

I'm going to get as much prepared in advance as possible, my parents' cooker is hard to get to grips with.

I might just do a hot side of salmon with a buffet another year, I'm not wedded to a roast and trimmings.

The year I was pregnant I got an awful cold the week before Christmas and was still knackered and couldn't taste much come the 25th.

DH had it too.

Neither of us much fancied eating a roast, and definitely weren't up for cooking one!

So I did a huge slutty lasagne with loads of garlic bread.

Was great.

Then the following year (DDs first Christmas) we had caught her stomach bug. So neither DH or I ate much, just some plain crisps. But DD had her then-current favourite of fish and peas. 😂

Her favourite is a roast at the moment so I think we'll be traditional (ish) this year. Maybe not turkey as it's a bit crap. Really I just want all the trimmings.

We rotate between a Thai and Indian

Any time I’ve had an alternative Christmas dinner I’ve felt I’ve missed out. I love Christmas dinner and am very traditional about it - I do the same as my mother did.

We’re irish so it is turkey and ham and the turkey is stuffed both ends with two different homemade stuffings while the ham is baked and glazed with sugar, mustard and cloves. The gravy is made with the turkey juices and is infused with the flavours from the stuffings, stock used is made from the giblets. Full of flavour and not at all boring imo!

Having said that, each to their own. So long as nobody expects me to miss out on my lovely traditional dinner i don’t care what anyone else has!

I LOVE Christmas dinner and am greatly offended by anyone who doesn't have it!

Last Xmas we went to a local Indian restaurant. Loved it.

Xmas with Dad I've always had Indian food, this year, French x

My dad died a few days before Christmas one year so I didn't pick up the food I'd ordered because I had to sort everything out 100 miles away. On Christmas Eve DH and I went to Tesco 10 minutes before it shut and understandably there wasn't much, so we bought some old El Paso kits and had a Mexican feast for Christmas dinner. It was lush and I hadn't eaten in days so was very much needed, it was a crap time but we've always said we'll do a Mexican feast again one year!

We had salmon last year and were planning to have the same this year but having seen a PP having luxury fish pie I might make that. We'll have MIL with us and she can't cope with anything she has to bite into.

We had fish one year, which was a bit strange. It was lovely fish but the house just didn’t smell right for Christmas Day. Have had beef too and that was totally fine, but the fish we all agreed felt a bit wrong for the occasion.

We went to an Indian restaurant last Christmas -my step dad insisted! So I cooked Christmas dinner for everyone on Christmas eve instead.
It was actually lovely as the restaurant is just a short walk from my mum's house but I would rather stay home and have a traditional Christmas Roast

Growing up we rotated between everyone's favourite meal every year. I was never pandered to in my (very few) dislikes of food as a child, so having some choice on Christmas was really empowering, that was what made it special for me.

We were in South Africa one Christmas - can’t remember what we had but being in a hot country just didn’t seem right.
I’m not veggie but decided to have some of DM’s Brazil nut loaf with chestnut stuffing & red wine sauce. It was epic! Way better than turkey!

We had oven pizzas from Asda for our Christmas dinner last year. It was the best, most chilled out christmas we've ever had and will probably do the same this year.

Last year it was just the three of us, so I said to the DC 'Neither of you like roasts really, so let's have what you want instead.' We ended up with a table so groaningly full of cheese, bread, tapas, etc. that we ended up eating it on the living room floor. Classy, much?

Usual family Christmas dinner is usual vegetable sides with a veggie thingy known as Chove Quorn. Quorn pieces, cooked in curry powder, whisky, orange juice & cream. I am aware of how 70s dinner party this sounds, but it's just amazing. I can never get it quite right when I try to cook it, but my mum can make it in her sleep. I've never known anyone who doesn't love it.

We were in New York for Christmas last year and had Chinese food. Best Christmas I've ever had (pancakes for breakfast too)

Parents are Italian so we have lasagne (proper lasagne!)

Just have what you enjoy, you shouldn’t be restricted to a turkey roast. Slutty lasagne

I would say it’s entirely up to you what you eat on Christmas Day or in fact any day!
The best Christmas I ever had was me and DH (before dc) in bed, champagne, salmon sandwiches, caviar on blinis, pressies and watching carry on films.
Now we are are older and responsible (coff) adults I plump for the full turkey, sprouts “do you want stuffing Granma?” Gravy, crackers and silly hats.
It’s a time to be happy and celebrate in any way you choose

gunpowder that made me sigh and smile

I'm in Australian, so it's a Christmas lunch here, and it's in summer, so far too warm for a traditional roast.

We typically do a ham, seafood (it's a big thing in Australia to go to the fish markets very early on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to stock up on the freshest, best seafood), potato salad, pasta salad, other salad, fresh bread and butter, obviously pavlova for dessert, and there will always be a Christmas pudding because the oldies insist on it (and no one else eats it).

Sometimes we do a BBQ instead - very laid back. Sausages, steak, chicken kebabs etc. on the bbq, fruit salads, pasta salad, bread and butter, onions etc. The usual Australian bbq affair. Get the slip n' slide out in the backyard, don your thongs and sunscreen and relax.

I love a summer Christmas, honestly.

Whoever suggested afternoon tea up thread is a genius. Nice and light so more room for quality street and cheese later.

I think the afternoon tea is a genius idea - cold ham, cold chicken, pickles etc then scones, cakes, trifle.

What's the menu??

We usually do roast pork. We've also done Chinese food, BBQ and two years ago we did Asda oven roast dinners as no one could be arsed.

Our afternoon tea will feature lots of Brie and cranberry (little filo tarts, sandwiches) turkey and stuffing sandwiches, home made egg mayo sandwiches, maybe a quiche, then scones, chocolate roulade and some mince pies. All with crackers (of the pulling variety!) and martinis.

Later we'll have a cheese board with figs and honey, posh crackers, pate and fruit. All with champagne and espresso martinis.

The kids will have chips and gravy at cheeseboard o clock. Their request