To ask if there are other WOMEN who can't produce a Xmas dinner

[JudyShakes]

Every year on MN there are threads started by women saying that are fed up of doing Christmas dinner, or they don't feel well enough this year etc. And posters will pipe up "get DH/DP to do it!"

DH does the Christmas and most other cooking here. Am I the only FEMALE who would really struggle to produce a Xmas meal that was special enough to deserve the name?

Do you know what, when I was growing up, my dad was ridiculously particular about Christmas Dinner and it was beautiful every single year, everything was just perfect about it. I was brought up with Dad's dinners every year, Mum said she couldn't do it, and I spent all of my Christmases watching my dad cook, thinking how stressed he seemed all day (and in the days running up to the day!) and how I would never, ever be able to do that.

But now, I realise that it is only like any other roast dinner, just with specific bits (turkey, stuffing, pigs in blankets, specific veg) and the title of 'Christmas Dinner'. It's all about the timing, and I am no less able to produce a Christmas Dinner than my dad is.

I would never cook one for him though, as I know it would be judged.

However, this year it will almost certainly just be me and DP, and I know we will eat like kings!

i dont cook so its mash peas and a pre rolled joint thing-just not bothered by it all

I’ve never cooked Christmas dinners. We usually go to my parents for Christmas and my H and my Brother cook and my Dad washes up. If we are on our own this year H will do all the cooking.

I really hate cooking and my DP LOVES it, so he will be taking charge on Xmas day :P I wash up when he cooks though, so that it's fair.

I couldn't do it. My partner always cooks everything!

All it is is a roast dinner! Quite capable of doing it, but will be a joint effort between me and my dad this year as my mum recently passed away. That's going to be the only thing that's going to be difficult, not having her there to give instructions! I plan to get slightly drunk so it will be fine! I hope.

I couldn’t do Christmas dinner. Can’t do a roast either so that’s no help. I have tried to cook multiple recipes from books and have failed dismally. I have given myself food poisoning on more than one occasion. I can do some Gousto meals though so it’d be that for dinner. DH does all the cooking for everyone’s sake (and enjoys it too - he’s not in servitude)!

I’m pretty gobsmacked by the sheer amount of food people seem to have. Mashed potatoes? Yorkshire pudding with turkey? Why?

Apart from the manic ten minutes spent dishing up, it’s one of the easiest meals to make. The hardest part is restraining yourself so you’re not so off your face you can’t get it together for the final spate of frenzy.

I love cooking but I've never cooked a roast. I only like the roasts my DM cooks and I've never had much interest in cooking one myself. I also hate sprouts, turkey, Christmas cake and Christmas pudding so no way in hell would I give them room on my table.

I have always said when I cook Christmas Dinner it will be something I want to eat, not a roast.

All it is is a roast dinner!

Cancel the cheque!

Do people not RTFT.

Or even the OP. I don't care if you can "produce" a Christmas dinner and I'm not looking for tips as I have no intention of doing it. Just wondering if anyone else couldn't "produce" a Christmas dinner.

And I'm vegetarian so I'll never do a fucking roast either on a Sunday or Christmas Day

I can do it, its delicious but I totally disagree its a glorified roast. If I'm cooking a roast I don't also do 2 types of stuffing, 4 veg, pigs in blankets, etc, All of a day when I've drank champagne for breakfast and half a bottle of wine before I start.

Ok to answer the question, My friend cannot cook Christmas Dinner. And I mean cannot.

I can't! DH is the main cook in our house and does a lovely roast, although to be honest we cheat a bit to save faff on the day (thank you M & S)

@JudyShakes

Every year on MN there are threads started by women saying that are fed up of doing Christmas dinner, or they don't feel well enough this year etc. And posters will pipe up "get DH/DP to do it!"

DH does the Christmas and most other cooking here. Am I the only FEMALE who would really struggle to produce a Xmas meal that was special enough to deserve the name?

Nope!

I'm capable of cooking a Christmas dinner,and even I was about 20 I spent Christmas with my boyfriend's family and ended up cooking it because his sister didn't know how. It's not that she couldn't cook, she made great curries and taught me how to make a non lumpy white sauce. However now DH does the mains whilst I do starters, gravy and pudding.

@paddlingwhenIshouldbeworking

I can do it, its delicious but I totally disagree its a glorified roast. If I'm cooking a roast I don't also do 2 types of stuffing, 4 veg, pigs in blankets, etc, All of a day when I've drank champagne for breakfast and half a bottle of wine before I start.

I do 4 types of veg at least with a roast, homemade stuffing and gravy. Christmas dinner in our house is very similar - none of us like pigs in blankets (I don't want sausage when I can have delicious roast pork or beef) one type of stuffing is enough for us! It dep[ends what your "normal" for a roast is!

I could but I don’t like cooking. I spent 14 years doing it when married to DH. Every sodding day, for every sodding meal.

DP loves cooking so he does Xmas dinner. This year ds is with his dad on Xmas day so we’re getting a curry!

A "real" Christmas one? Yes. Mostly because I have no interest in cooking or eating all that stuff and I don't even like most of it.

A dinner that me and DD eat at Christmas? Yes. OH does his own. Well he used to do it for all of us, but DD decided my roast potatoes are better and she wouldn't eat OH's so I got stuck with that.

I have concluded that the inevitable stress of Christmas dinner is created by adverts, supermarkets and TV chefs...

It's a Sunday dinner for goodness sake!!!

We do it quite happily 51 weeks of the year but can we the consumers be trusted to manage by ourselves on one day of the year...apparently not so, here goes..

1. Turkey... It's a big fecking chicken that's all, 20 minutes per lb plus 20 minutes at 180 degrees - jobs a good un! Get yourselves a meat thermometer £3 off the Internet poke it in the offending bird if it says 75 degrees or over its cooked!

1. Stuffing - regardless of what Jamie Oliver says you do NOT need 2lbs of shoulder of pork, onions, bread crumbs,pine nuts and a shit load of fresh herbs to make stuffing....( no fecking wonder he's bankrupt if thats what he spends to make stuffing!

What you need is Paxo and a kettle!! If you wanna liven it up squeeze 3 sausages out of their skins and mix that in with your Paxo before cooking.

1. Gravy - Jamie Oliver is copping for this one as well....

Bisto Jamie.... All you need is Bisto!
I ( nor any other woman I know) has got time on Christmas Eve to piss about roasting chicken wings and vegetables, adding stock and flour, cooking it for another half hour, mashing it all up with a potato masher and then straining the whole sorry mess to make gravy

1. Vegetables...

Never mind faffing round shredding sprouts and frying them with bacon and chestnuts to make them more palatable... If you don't like them don't buy and cook the fecking things!! If your family only eats frozen peas then that's good enough!

1. Roast potatoes

Yes, I par boil mine then roast them in goose fat but Aunt Bessie also does the same
.

1. Trimmings /Christmas pudding and the like

Aldi or Lidl!

(oh and while we're on the subject of pudding- if birds custard is what your family likes on the wretched thing then that's fine - you do not need brandy butter /rum sauce etc or anything else that costs a fecking fortune and takes 2 hours to make!)

1. Family

. Children

Feed the little blighters first separately, if they only want turkey with tomato sauce - fine leave em to it, it doesn't matter. Once they are fed bugger them off to play with their Christmas presents so that YOU can enjoy your dinner in Peace!

Adults

Anyone that can manage to get their sorry arse to your dinner table is also capable of helping to serve up/ sort the kids out/ clear the table /wash up /dry up etc.

And Finally.....

NO ONE....

And

I mean no one... APART FROM THE COOK IS ALLOWED TO GET PISSED AND FALL ASLEEP BEFORE THE WASHING UP IS DONE!!!

I guess it depends on whether you have tastebuds or not.

I'm not an amazing cook but I can generally produce something better in the house than I can get eating out.

On Christmas day I want to eat something nice and where a bit of care and attention is involved. That said, I'm not making my own stuffing but I buy in a nice one, I'll make home made mash and roast potatoes as they are nicer than frozen and we like a nice range of fresh veg. Gravy is easy to make and far nicer than bisto, though I'm happy to use bisto for a non christmas meal.

I suppose with adult DC our focus is very much about the food now.

When they were little, they weren't really interested so they got whatever their favourite was even if it was a ready meal. DH and I would usually have duck or a steak as a turkey is too big.

It's not worth stressing about and ruining your day over though and people focus on different things. It's usually just the 4 of us but I think if i was catering for a larger group, the focus would be on entertainment and being together rather than the food, as long as it was edible and there was enough to go round then I wouldn't care if there were organic chipolatas rolled in dry cure bacon.

I haven't done one for years and only properly did it once, it was still below par/ not m&s standard. 2 people at home does not warrant a full Christmas dinner, maybe a Sunday dinner though.

It's our 1st Christmas at home and my Husband is doing the Christmas meal.

I could probably do it, I just don't have the inclination to. But I'm very much looking forward to it.

I’m perfectly capable of doing a roast...its not rocket science but some meals are left to dh and roast dinner at Christmas or not is one of them

My dad cooked roasts as well

Seems too much like hard work to me

And I'm vegetarian so I'll never do a fucking roast either on a Sunday or Christmas Day

Pescatarian but otherwise the same 😀

I just eat the veg