To ask if anyone else has NEVER cooked Christmas dinner

[OrtolanLBunting]

Or lunch depending on when you have the main meal.

I'm well into middle age but have never done it. Am happy to peel veg, set the table, clear away and wash up every single thing.

But cook it - never! wouldn't know where to start. And don't go saying it's just a Sunday roast cos I've never done one of those either.

Anyone else?

Word for word as above

Me, aged 37 🙋‍♀️

I went straight from my mother's Christmas Dinner (aged 0-18) to DH's Christmas Dinner (every year aged 19+).

I am an OK cook. I can do a basic roast dinner, I can make lots of everyday grub, casseroles and whatnot. I don't particularly enjoy cooking.

Dh by comparison is a fantastic cook that makes everything from scratch and does all the fancy stuff really really well. He's much more competent in the kitchen than me and doesn't blink at whipping up a 3 course meal for 14 on Xmas day - whereas I still don't always manage to get pasta cooked at the same time as a Bolognese is ready 😂 He also enjoys cooking, something lacking in me.

I'm not lazy in regards to Christmas Dinner, I'm basically DH's kitchen wench and am happy to peel, chop, fetch and carry in line with his requests and keep the dishwasher going as needed. It works well.

Go on a cookery course and do your bit. Nobody knows how to cook until they try. But the rest of us are prepared to try. If we all had your attitude we’d all starve. There are members of my family who never do it. We all know it and resent them for it

Honestly it’s a bit like having a baby but “never doing any nights because you take the bins out and go out to work”, otherwise known as being a lazy sod.

Not necessarily. Dh genuinely loves doing it. And he loves pottering around in the kitchen with music on and a glass of wine and leaving me to entertain the guests. I'll make the Christmas pudding and mince pies and probably do the mammoth supermarket shop.

I will make a meal on Christmas Day but I have never cooked a roast in my life and have no plans to ever do so for Christmas tbh.

I have anxiety. Very much doubt I will every produce a Xmas dinner

And I'd be prepared to try if I needed to. But I don't need to. Why would I take it away from DH when he enjoys it just so I did it? Then he'd have to do the cleaning up and other cleaning to keep the chores balanced and he would rather cook.

Go on a cookery course and do your bit. Nobody knows how to cook until they try. But the rest of us are prepared to try

And bless you for it.

No need to even do that, there'll be Delia, Nigella, Jamie etc on TV in the next couple of weeks to guide you through it all!

I've only done it twice...we've gone to my parents or ILs all the other years.

We have the smallest place so it's tricky to host, I am looking forward to moving and then will happily host and cook for everyone.

Dh and I are the only ones with children, and we hosted for 5 of his adult family members last year. We then washed up and done all cleaning. Absolutely never again.

Think I spent somewhere in the region of £300…. Various canapés to start, choice of starter, choice of dessert. His aunt and uncle came and kept their alcohol in their car…. Going outside when they needed another bottle of something. Didn’t even bring a bottle of cheap supermarket plonk for the table.

Never, ever, ever again.

Never have. Really hoping to just be in my house this year, doing it my way

So do i

The problem is that they have the big houses and younger generations can't host everyone

Time to start something new. Not sll adult siblings need to be together

Definitely not going to starve, I am perfectly capable of cooking and baking. I just don't do Christmas dinner for various practical reasons, including reducing the amount of disruption to the oldest and youngest of the family.

Me.
I went straight from my mom's dinners to my mil's. When we were living overseas DH was the Xmas cook.

I have but not loads of times.

When I’ve done it was either together with exh, or once I did an easy ish version just for me and the kids.

me!
we’re always back at our parents’ house even now at the age of 35 so never had to 😅

I'm perfectly capable of cooking, I just don't want to cook a flipping roast dinner, why is that so hard for you to cope with? Not cooking a Christmas dinner = starving to death 😂😂😂

@GrandyL what a smug, stupid post. Otherwise we would starve...what a load of bollocks.

"There are members of my family who never do it. We all know it and resent them for it"

Why would you resent them?? Sounds like you don't like doing it either!

@GrandyL that's the thing - there is a difference between some who really doesn't know how to cook a traditional roast dinner and those who simply don't WANT to.
If your family members were "allowed" to cook an alternative Christmas dinner maybe they might do it.

My mum usually does it - but, she is a cookery teacher of thirty years with very precise ideas about how a traditional roast dinner should be cooked. I'd happily cook if I was hosting, but I'd also be absolutely terrified.

Nope. Never have.

I’m 52 and have never cooked a roast dinner never mind Christmas dinner. My DH is exceptional at it so I help by drinking champagne and offering moral support.

Me or my partner don’t ever cook a roast dinner, it’s cheaper and easier to go to a carvery if we want one