Does anyone else not feel obliged to cook a traditional dinner?

[Magenta46]

For the past few years I have not cooke what you would consider a tradition Christmas meal. I cannot abide the lingering smell or the fact that we have to eat leftovers for the next week or so.
About 5 years ago I decided to make a celebratory meal that everyone would actually enjoy.
So far we have had Jamaican, Thai, Indian and Tex Mex cuisine. Always well received and a lot less hassle and more affordable.
Not sure it should be posted in AIBU, but just wondering why so many of us stick to tradition ?

I was strong-armed into cooking a massive Christmas dinner with a load of associated fuckwittery.

I'd be happy with a Dominos. Next year I'm having Dominos, I'm promising myself.

Today we had a massive cheeseboard for lunch. It's just me, DH and the DC so we figured we'd do whatever we like. We did have a big roast yesterday with DH's family here but we wanted to relax on Xmas day as normally it's pretty stressful.

For me, it’s one day a year. I really can’t see why people can’t be bothered to cook it! And Christmas dinner is a part of British Xmas Traditions. I’m sure you follow many traditions in your life

We had sausage mash and Yorkshire pudding for dinner today! Kids choice and we spent the day with them instead of cooking!

It was brill

Wouldn't be traditional if people didn't stick to it, so it's a bit of a tautology asking why... Nothing at all wrong with going in a different direction of course! We do Jamaican, Thai, Indian, Tex/Mex (etc) pretty regularly and rarely do a roast so we do like Christmas as an excuse to.

A classic Christmas dinner doesn't need to be overblown though. We got enough meat for one meal (goose crown and stuffing, thank you Aldi) and end to end it was 2 hours of which maybe 45 minutes actual kitchen work. Split between two.

We did intentionally overdo our potatoes and brassicas so we can make bubble and squeak tomorrow, but that's the extent of the leftovers.

If you’re happy with something different then what’s the problem?

We don’t feel obliged but we like it so we do :)

We've had turkey twice in the last ten years. Godawful dry crap. We were going to have pasta today but DH forgot so it's a little more traditional than normal.

And we wear pyjamas if we like.

I did chilli with cheesey nachos. It was great

I had pizza
Last year I had sausage, mash and veg
Year before was McDonald's

It's up to you what you want to do for Christmas dinner. Traditional not traditional big small whatever I don't get why people stress over it so much

I think it's worth the work but everyone should do what they want themselves

A cheeseboard sounds fabulous. My family enjoys good food and lots of variety. I find that Christmas dinners have so many jarring flavors and I for one think cranberries should only exist in soft drinks, I don't eat meat ,but does anyone really like turkey?

Buffet here. All day, help yourself.

Anyone can visit any time during the day, no deadlines or clock watching. No washing up or anyone tied to the kitchen.

We go out for a carvery all through the year if we fancy a roast dinner.

I cook a traditional Christmas dinner but it’s not an obligation. I would really miss it if we didn’t have it. I don’t find it stressful to cook though. I’m wouldn’t bother if I did it’s just a meal at the end of the day. If you don’t enjoy it don’t do it.

Just me and DH at home today, and while I love a Christmas dinner, I didn't want all the faff and am a reluctant cook. I did it as an 'all in one' on a tray in the oven - parsnips, carrots, sprouts, roast potatoes (defrosted from frozen), green beans, stuffing, and chicken breasts. Cooked in 45 mins, served with jazzed up instant chicken gravy, and it was lovely! One oven tray to wash up, and even some left over for tomorrow.

If you enjoy doing it, then power to your elbow.

For me, having seen how stressed so many people in my life get with cooking the whole meal (the turkey itself seems to take forever and be a source of huge angst), I refuse to do so. Previous meals when hosting have included: roasted chicken thighs with roasted veg (all in trays in the oven at the same time); beef wellington; chorizo and potato stew etc. Copious canapés (Waitrose/M&S etc. ready made) beforehand and tarte tatin or shop-bought Christmas pudding for those who want it and we're done.

We went out for an Indian on Christmas day one year it was fabulous. Today we did the traditional (well, to a point, we don't eat meat) Christmas dinner, took a maximum of 1.5hours to prep and cook, didn't do anything especially fancy or faffy but it was lovely. Next year I think we might go out again.

Do whatever you like! Do something different every time or stick to tradition, as long as you enjoy it.

I love cooking. I am a huge foodie, but not a snob. I spend a lot of time and effort putting some " lurve" into a good meal. I'm far from lazy. I want my guests to actually enjoy what they are eating. A good roast is sublime, but Christmas dinner offers no surprises.

It traditional to have a tree and decorate with baubles that you have to dig out of the attic it would be far easier to not have a tree at all or just buy a potted plant and bing a bit of tinsel on it! But we do these things because of - nostalgia, the pleasure we get from it and to keep the traditions going

I don’t get the uproar about cooking a roast. I bunged the turkey in this morning, peeled and chopped the veg and then when I took the meat out (and wrapped in foil and a towel) I binged the potatoes, veg, pigs and stuffing in. Took it all out and served.

I was going to ask this. I’m looking for alternatives for next year, it’s not so much a faff but I hate the cooking smell hanging about, there’s so much turkey leftover and I only ever get a small crown and the kids don’t eat most of the dinner. I’ve actually just found a note I’d written last year saying not to bother again. I don’t want to go too far off piste but a nice festive pie of some sort with mash or roasties would do me.

We had Indian food.

No way am I doing a big roast dinner. Christmas is my day off! I do 100% of the cooking so I choose to take the day off. Anyone else is welcome to offer to make turkey and all the trimmings. They never do, funnily enough, so curry it was! Bloody good it was too. Plus minimal washing up!

I certainly don’t feel obliged to cook a turkey, and never do. I can think of much nicer things to eat.

If anyone else really wants roast turkey, they are more than welcome to buy one and cook it themselves. Good luck. What, no volunteers??

We had a veggie lunch and it was amazing. It’s so liberating not to worry about meat being over or undercooked and all the greasy trays. Obviously there were loads of roast potatoes though !

We're vegetarians and neither of my kids like roast dinners, so we don't do it. I did a pasta dish with loads of veg and it was not bad.