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?

Nope. My partner does most of the cooking, I'm terrible with multi-pot dinners as I forget stuff. I like baking but would happily live on toast and roasted veg if I were on my own.

I can cook it fine! It's just 4 hours late, at different temperatures and I'm pissed by the time it's served.

No one else wants to cook it though, so my family join me in drinking and watching things gently char...

My mums Christmas dinner cooking has gotten worse and worse over the years. I decided to take over the reins a few years back when she served up a full set of (cooked from) frozen vegetables (inc the roast potatoes!). Blasphemy in my opinion.
In her fairness she did say she’d been doing it for the last 40 years and was quite bored of cooking it!
I’m now the head chef at Christmas and the standard is much higher Mum’s happy too!

Both my and DP a capable of cooking Christmas dinner. I always do it however as his faffing drives me mad! It’s like a military operation. Where as I just shove it all in and can still get on, interact with people and Enjoy the day while cooking.

Anyone who thinks Xmas dinner is just another roast....you have shit Xmas dinners.

at all the "it's just a roast" responses (and those who predicted them)

@GoJoe2020

Anyone who thinks Xmas dinner is just another roast....you have shit Xmas dinners.

Or we are just better at roasts.

I've never cooked Christmas dinner, or a roast. I recon I could do it if I had to though.

@GoJoe2020

Anyone who thinks Xmas dinner is just another roast....you have shit Xmas dinners.

Agreed!

Or we are just better at roasts

You missed the point. In more than one context. Unsurprising

@GoJoe2020

Anyone who thinks Xmas dinner is just another roast....you have shit Xmas dinners.

Or perhaps really spectacular Sunday lunches!

DH does most of the cooking and does a great Christmas dinner for approx 12 of us, he loves it.

So do I, I supervise with wine

I can but it took several years of cooking Sunday roasts on a monthly basis to get to the stage where I would be confident doing it.

I can see why someone who doesn't cook roasts regularly would struggle.

There's so much pressure on every aspect of the dish to be special - you can't just chuck some carrots in, there's all sorts of faff with cumin and honey and this that and the other. It's all become very overcomplicated (well, if you let it...) and you're potentially cooking for more people than you usually would with the attendant issues of space, timings being different as oven is full, not having quite the right size baking trays, serving bowls etc...

Maybe our Christmas dinner is wrong but I find it to require not that much cooking. Or maybe we have too much ready made stuff instead of starting everything from scratch.

@Herja

I can cook it fine! It's just 4 hours late, at different temperatures and I'm pissed by the time it's served.

No one else wants to cook it though, so my family join me in drinking and watching things gently char...

That actually sounds like a fun Xmas

The wonderful thing about roasts and therefore xmas dinners is that you can do so much in advance. Prepare all the veg, make cauli cheese, red cabbage, pigs in blankets, bread sauce, stuffing, gravy in advance, let the meat rest while you blast the roasties, it can sit wrapped in foil for ages and ages.

I make fabulous roast dinners also!

I probably could if I had to, but I’ve never needed to because DH always does it. I do the day-to-day cooking (which tends to be vegetarian) and he does special occasions and big slabs of meat.

@GoJoe2020

Or we are just better at roasts

You missed the point. In more than one context. Unsurprising

No, I really didn't.

My DH is a much better cook than me. But Christmas dinner (which I’ve cooked alone quite a few times) is all about the timing. I set timers for everything and it always tastes good.

@GoJoe2020

Anyone who thinks Xmas dinner is just another roast....you have shit Xmas dinners.

You're right xmas dinners are shit if it's a roast dinner, but then I don't like roast dinners.

I COULD do it. But I don't really enjoy cooking (I just enjoy the eating part!), whereas DH does, so he does 90% of the cooking in our house.
I do all the diy lol

I’ve never tried. I’ve cooked a standard roast once and it was a bit shit so I leave it to DH generally.

I love doing it. It is basically just a big twiddly roast except with huge kudos at the end.

I suppose technically i could make one, I know how to but i hate cooking. DP is a brilliant cook and always makes the sunday dinners and Christmas Dinner. I peel the veg, make the gravy and clean up so its a fair trade.

I do the Christmas dinner mainly because it means I can hide from the ILs in the kitchen