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?

DH & I prepare the veg on Christmas Eve then we cook Christmas dinner together. I would love a double oven! Definitely need to buy an extra shelf. That’s what I find most stressful - trying to find space for everything & timings. We have cut down the amount of veg for that reason. My Mum used to do about 9 different sorts.

I could do something reasonably acceptable, but ONLY if I had loads of time to prepare much of it in advance. Certain elements would be eliminated from my plan if they cannot be made ahead of time or have to made at the same time as something else. I am a terrible multitasker and hate being under pressure.

So yes, I could do it if I had to, but DH does it much better and without getting stressed.

Just don’t worry. Far too much stress goes into providing this meal which is thought should be perfect. Get the turkey out of the way. Either cook early or day before. Then stick the roast potatoes in with accompaniments. I cook the stuffing separately with sausages and bacon on top. Gives it a nice juicy flavour. Veg on the hob when you are ready. The only time in sixty years I dropped the turkey was when I was completely sober. That was a valuable lesson.

I can do it, but by the end I’m a hot sweaty mess!

Less is more as far as Xmas dinner is concerned, ie, not hundreds of side dishes!

I've done one Xmas dinner. My butcher talked me through how to cook the turkey and told me my bird was ready to go so I bunged it in the oven.
Couldn't work out what the steaming, plastic coated alien was that I removed from inside when I was making the gravy.
Butcher never mentioned the giblets.

DH does most of the cooking in our house but I actually really enjoy doing the Christmas dinner, he looks after the starter though and the kids (older teen/adult) do the dessert

I don't do roast dinners. Don't like them, don't eat meat, have no interest in working out how to produce one.

DH loves a Christmas dinner, so that's his job.

I can, but I won't.
Christmas dinner consists of a goose going in the oven, followed by frozen roasties and steam pack veg going in the microwave. Gravy is bistro granules and boiling water.
We don't have starters, sides or dessert.

Yep!
I can’t do a Sunday roast either, so that’s out the question.
I also hate turkey. It’s vile. So stuff that, I’m not cooking something that tastes like the inside of a sofa.
My husband cooks if he wants Christmas dinner otherwise it’s sausage, bacon, eggs - that I can do!

I do rarely any cooking as I don’t enjoy it, DH does the majority. I will sometimes bake cakes as I enjoy doing that.

We have had dinner for ten before on Christmas Day and he is happy to do it, must be mad 😂

I could make an xmas dinner/sunday dinner but that's basically the only thing I can cook, dp does all the other cooking hes a great cook, loves it and I'm rubbish and hate it.

Never done it. DH cooks Christmas dinner and any roast dinners through the year. My excuse is that I don't eat meat.

DH does the cooking here. He says if he wants something edible it's easier to do it himself. He enjoys cooking but to me it's something you do because you have to.

I always do it. I also make a roast every week and we love it.

DH cooked Christmas meal once when i was so illi was in bed for a week. It was ok but its my domain. I drink wine and cook to Christmas music

Me. But tbh I do none of the cooking in the house. My dh if he’s not on lates cooks every meal. He likes the Dc to eat home cooked food. If it was down to me it would be nuggets in the oven every night.. (and is when he’s on lates ;) )

I don’t find it difficult in the slightest. Firstly I have more than one oven which makes a difference and secondly it really is just a roast. Also being Jewish, big meals and entertaining are our thing. It’s totally normal for me to have 16/20 people for a Friday night and up to 30 for new year or Passover which are far more good complicated than Xmas. It’s really not hard

I can make a roast dinner/Sunday lunch, but I'm a second generation vegetarian so even if forced at gunpoint to try to prepare a turkey I would probably struggle to get it edible throughout.

I probably could but DH wouldn't be happy! He has already started planning what he's going to cook, menu written!

@HappydaysArehere
Valuable lesson indeed.
I have never yet been in charge of the xmas dinner, but we always drink/cook together as the adults’ main activity on xmas day.

I never understood why people try to cook the entire dinner on Xmas Day. Baffles me.

We do the turkey on Christmas Eve so it's cooked and carved by midnight at the latest. Firstly, it frees up Christmas Day, but secondly, it means you can have some turkey early! We sometimes cook and carve the ham early, too. Just depends. And we stuff the turkey so that element is sorted, too.

It means all we need to do on Christmas Day is any veg, roast potatoes, pigs in blankets and the gravy. Which is simple. For dessert, I've bought a M&S yule log so no faff there, either.

I won't compromise on the dinner being nice but I also refuse to spend hours in the kitchen on Christmas Day. It's for spending with my partner and young kids, not slaving over a stove.

I refuse to cook things we don't like or won't enjoy for the sake of it, too. So, no brussels here. We also cook quite a big turkey so we can get at least 4 days out of it. Means dinners and lunches after Christmas are really easy and as it's once a year, the novelty doesn't wear off. Especially as I doubt any of us will be going to any Christmas Dinner work do's this year.

If I had to I would and although I love the meal the IL's do (full turkey etc.) when we are there with them where we live now it is too hot so we have seafood, cold meats and salads etc.

I love turkey sandwiches Christmas night as I am the only one who likes the dark meat, I personally can't taste turkey so I would do chicken, lamb, beef or pork if I was actually bothered to make a hot meal for Christmas.

With DH around he does 99% of the cooking anyway so he would do that if could be bothered

I’m a WoMAN, FEMALE, vegetarian and me and my female vagina cannot and will not produce generic food on December 25th. Maybe women only magically acquire this skill after they have shit forth a kid. The male in my house is capable of providing sustenance, thankfully.

Can you read?
No? Ok, can you follow instructions on a video?
Hey presto, you can cook. It’s not a big deal.

Why are people laboriously detailing how to cook Xmas dinner? I've not eaten turkey for 30 years so will never cook a turkey!

And there are dozens of threads on here for those who love chatting about their prowess in the kitchen - this isn't one of them. No offence but you're boring me