To ask about your alternative Christmas dinners

[FourteenSixteenTwentyTwo]

Every year I do the turkey roast, make too much food, spend most of the day in and out of the kitchen (drinking far too much champagne to keep up the enthusiasm), only to be left with a kitchen full of washing up and more leftovers than will fit in the fridge.

So not this year. I want to do something different. I'm somewhere between picky food and just ordering a curry. What do you do that's different?

@Stroan

Last year we had our traditional turkey roast on Christmas Eve, albeit a fully prepped version from Tesco. I don't eat turkey and the 2 DC aren't too interested either. Then, we had an Indian takeaway on Christmas day.

It's always just the 4 of us and even pre-prepped food involves one adult being in the kitchen away from the fun, and for a meal that only one of us really loves! Last year was wonderful in comparison and I never want to go back to the big meal on Christmas Day.

Can I ask what you all ate if you don't eat turkey and the DC don't like it?

[quote FirstCoffee]@HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule could I have the recipe if you find it? Very interested in trying it![/quote]
Of course! Predictably I can’t seem to find the specific one I’ve used a couple of times which we really liked. From memory it included cooked beetroot cut into wedges, possibly red onion too but I’m not sure now...plus olive oil/butter, balsamic vinegar, crushed garlic cloves, brown sugar sprinkled over, and possibly thyme as well. I’ll keep looking but if I can’t find it there are plenty of variations on the theme. 😋

The Christmas I was expecting number 2 any day and it was just me DH and a toddler I bought the M&S Christmas dinner in a box very easy and no waste. Last year it was 4 of us so I bought a couple of pheasant and pot roasted them.

In a normal year I'd do a whole salmon on Christmas Eve, a rolled stuffed turkey breast and a gammon for Christmas Day so that I can feed the 5000 who descend on Boxing Day with the left overs.

Raclette. Cannot recommend enough. Fun, social, minimal prep required , caters to all levels of pickiness and absolutely delicious.

If I could I’d have a pre prepared homemade steak and ale pie with veg and chunky chips and lashings of gravy. Gravy on chips is normally a no no but it reminds me of fun times years ago having a good lunch at a local pub.

My parents would have a fit if I served that. So unfortunately it’s the whole works of turkey, huge, roast everything, pigs in blankets etc etc etc, followed by a full table at teatime that no one eats.

@Mincingfuckdragon

This year it's just the 4 of us so we're doing chilled cooked prawns, sushi and champagne. It's hot here though. Washing up limited to 4 plates, 2 platters and 6 glasses. Perfect

This sounds great, might pinch this idea

Buy in! Lidl last year had fresh sides in from around the 15th December and frozen before, we had a 3 bird roast (frozen) and I bought potatoes etc of course. Was only for 3 so worked great ;this year I think I have 12!

I do like the idea of takeaway this year, I’m not feeling festive or Christmassy in the slightest, never once considered that takeaways would be open and delivering… something to ponder!

Roast goose and all the trimmings here, but never on Christmas Day - that's for spending time with family.
Favourites for 25th are steak and chips or a massive buffet where everyone chooses their top three items! It's sometimes a bit random (especially when the kids were small), but always makes for a fun and interesting meal

In this house we do smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast - and then later on ( if only the 3 /4 of us - we do duck. Much easier to cook and tastes better , ) But then I will get pre sliced ham & beef from the deli for Boxing day leftovers ( which is my favourite meal at Christmas ) That and a bit of bubble and squeak just lovely & films , DS has got into cooking and does a ham - that is nice & saves money at the deli counter.

Oh and we don't do starters - enough to eat on the day. - & we have stopped doing Christmas pudding - no - one eats it so a bit of cheese and crackers which will do for the next few days - Come one come all to Basilisk's dreadful Christmas - but it works for us

@BasiliskStare

Oh and we don't do starters - enough to eat on the day. - & we have stopped doing Christmas pudding - no - one eats it so a bit of cheese and crackers which will do for the next few days - Come one come all to Basilisk's dreadful Christmas - but it works for us

Your 'dreadful Christmas' sounds good to me! What's not to like: cheese and crackers (I hate Xms pud, and Xmas cake, and not keen on mince pies for that matter)? And who'd complain about smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, duck, ham & beef and bubble and squeak?!

We have either slowroasted duck or slowroasted goose. Do not like turkey flavour at all.

At the en of the day, it's your Christmas so even if you wanted to eat dry crackers, that's fine! 😁 Christmas are what you make of it and that includes food. Go wild and enjoy😁

@IntermittentParps Come over - you sound like our kind of person

We've had Chinese and Indian before, having steaks this year. We just always go for what we fancy rather than whats traditional

I host Christmas for 16 people every other year. I get all the main course ready but once it's all served up my job is done. My sisters bring a lot of nibbles and drinks and all the puddings. They help serving up and then share the washing up and clearing up. Once I've done the Turkey and veg and all the trimmings and I've sat down I'm on the booze and my work is done.

The benefit of doing it this way is that I get the Christmas roast and all the trimmings just the way I like them. In the alternate year when my DSis hosts I just turn up.

We go for a carvery the day before Christmas Eve, then have sausage mash and gravy on Christmas Day. It’s blooming lovely and we spend the day watching tv, eating rubbish and playing with the kids.

Christmas is the one time of year we just have whatever we want, which rarely is a roast, who says it has to be that anyway?

In the last few years we've had:
Indian Curry and all the trimmings (pakora, bhaji etc)
Pasta and all the trimmings (garlic bread, olives, salad etc)
Food platter with cured meats, cheese, pickles, chutneys and breads.

This year I fancy a big gourmet burger with all the trimmings (chips, onion rings, garlic mushrooms, salad, slaw)

I can't be fucked slaving over a turkey or any other big joint of meat, and there are so many other trimmings available to choose from I get bored at the sound of stuffing. I usually spend a lot less too as most of my shopping trolley is a fraction of others Xmas shop.

My best year was when it was just me... (relationship had broken up a month prior, didn't want to go to family and get the pity looks, so said I was working, I wasn't...)

had starters and pud, didn't want a heavy meal. Smoked salmon, melba toast, pate, olives, garlic mushrooms, shell on prawns with citrus dressing... followed by many little bits of Christmas pudding, pavlova and trifle.

All in my pj's mid afternoon watching a movie and drinking bucks fizz.

It was good...

I love Christmas Dinner but DH is fussy and DS not that interested either! DD is only 8mths so this year will be her first Christmas but she seems to eat anything at the moment.

A couple of years ago I'd had enough of all the effort and said they could choose anything they wanted so DS (just turned 2 at the time) had turkey dinosaurs and smiley faces and me and DH had bacon and black pudding stotties with Bucks Fizz.

@IntermittentParps

DH's traditional childhood Christmas meal was turkey and ham, so I have ham and the trimmings like pigs in blankets and stuffing (which are the best bits anyway!). DC were 4 and 1 last year so they ate veg, potatoes and a little meat.

I would never bother with a traditional Turkey dinner but DH loves it! The compromise is doing it on Christmas Eve so that Christmas Day doesn't become all about a meal that three-quarters of us don't really care about.

This thread has inspired me to get out my ' Good food Vegetarian Christmas " book

Christmas dinner and other meals are planned.
Squash and cranberry roast for Christmas day

Harissa cauliflower pilaf for boxing day!
I've made a list of cocktails for me and Dh and I'm going to make my own truffles this year( DH will no doubt buy enough toberone to eat every day until May!)

Just the two of us here, so Christmas lunch is luxury buffet/tapas stuff eaten as a picnic (usually in the car so as not to freeze) in our favourite place. We go and stock up at the deli a couple of days before.

Last year we did Christmas Day completely differently, and we had M&S triple cooked fat chips, chateaubriand from the local butcher, wilted spinach, slow roasted tomatoes and M&S peppercorn sauce.

It was absolutely amazing. So tasty, no prep whatsoever and a tiny amount of washing up. It made such a difference compared to other Christmases with loads of time spent prepping, doing a fresh veg supermarket trip a few days before Christmas, time spent washing up etc afterwards.

We did have Christmas pudding, but I make that I November or early December so that’s easy.

We will do it again.

I've just ordered a rib of beef and a duck - will decided closer to them time which to use and will freeze the other, probably for Easter!