Page 5 | To ask about weird Christmas dinners?

EightChalk · 2023-12-03T11:13:12+00:00

And weird Christmases in general! My in-laws are totally normal, welcoming, the house is warm, and the festive food is entirely as expected, with no weird rules around present-opening or enforced games (and of course I think my own family customs are normal!). Grateful as I am for this, I love reading the threads about weird rules you've encountered at other people's houses, and was hoping that there would also be some tales from bizarre Christmases past!

Believeinmarmite · 03/12/2023 20:28

We had to wait till after Christmas Dinner and the queen's speech to open all presents except the ones from father Christmas at my grandparents, it was hell at the time but some of my favourite Christmas's growing up.

My poor friends were only allowed to open one present every few hours and often still had presents at new year left to open!!

YeOldeGreyhound · 03/12/2023 20:30

I stay at my parent's over Christmas, and we don't have the turkey roast dinner.
We have steak and chips. A enormous ribeye steak, loads of mushrooms and onions, home cut/cooked skin on chips, fried eggs, and peppercorn sauce, It is bloody amazing, and my mum is not tied to the kitchen all day either.

Orange67 · 03/12/2023 20:31

MumofSpud · 03/12/2023 17:58

We weren't allowed to open up our presents until all of us (mum dad me and brother) had had breakfast / washed / dressed and gone for a 'number 2' - it never occurred to me to lie about having done the last one
Then we had to open each present one by one after having to guess what it was. It was excruciatingly slow!

Even now (am 51) I still feel weird when opening with my own DC opening presents in my pjs!!

I have to admit, this is probably the strangest thing I've ever heard in my life. Why?? Why did you need to have done a poo? I'm so confused 😭

Boredanddejected · 03/12/2023 20:44

Oh dear, I do almost all the weird Christmas dinner ones! Roast veg, including red pepper and red onion plus carrots, parsnips and whatever else is on special offer - turnip, beetroot, butternut squash drizzled with maple syrup. Sweetcorn - it’s the only vegetable dd2 will eat, NOT mushy peas though. Roasties, mash and croquettes. 4-5 types of stuffing. I also cook my turkey the day before and serve mine cold with gravy to heat it up cos I like it that way. Everyone else gets theirs warmed in gravy. I know we got over the top with the amount of food but we do eat it over a few days and I use up the excess veg in a huge cream of leftovers soup so none goes to waste. The year we had beetroot and the soup was pink was interesting but it tasted good.

Mumtobabyhavoc · 03/12/2023 20:46

YeOldeGreyhound · 03/12/2023 20:30

I stay at my parent's over Christmas, and we don't have the turkey roast dinner.
We have steak and chips. A enormous ribeye steak, loads of mushrooms and onions, home cut/cooked skin on chips, fried eggs, and peppercorn sauce, It is bloody amazing, and my mum is not tied to the kitchen all day either.

Sounds amazing!!! 😛🩷

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 03/12/2023 20:53

MagpiePi · 03/12/2023 16:21

I had a friend who’s family had a rule that if you got clothes for a present you had to wear them while you had Xmas dinner.

My sister has always done this, not for Christmas dinner, but she puts on her presents as she opens them, and just keeps adding. She's done it since a kid and is over 40 now.

Bloody hilarious when she's got pants on over her trousers, a woolly hat, gloves, two jumpers and mismatched earrings. It's like that episode of friends where Joey is wearing all the clothes 😂

It isn't a family rule and no one else does it.

pontipinemum · 03/12/2023 21:02

TheFeistyFeminist · 03/12/2023 16:40

I had never seen potatoes peeled and put in a bucket of water in the garage on Christmas Eve, until I had Christmas with my in laws.

Or the turkey cooked the day before and sliced to be heated in the microwave before serving on Christmas Day.

At least I get peas now, because I loathe sprouts, and yet would still like a green veg on my plate.

I peel the spuds, carrots, sprouts, and leave them all in pots in the utility room (we don't turn on that radiator) on Christmas eve. Means I don't have to do it Christmas day. I cook the ham Christmas eve but turkey or chicken is this year. I get as much prep done before Christmas day as possible

12345678sh · 03/12/2023 21:06

We have buffet food on xmas day.. and Christmas Dinner on boxing day. 4 young kids we spend the day playing with toys, board games and then eatting a massive buffet and lots of junk food.

sadeyedladyofthelowlandsea · 03/12/2023 21:56

I think we're relatively normal, although ExP & I argued every year over stockings. He insisted they had to be hung up in the living room & only opened once everyone was up. I fought (and won) to hang them at the end of the DCs beds so they could open their stockings without waking us up.

Christmas with his family was always excruciating though. Food was fine, no problems there. But his grandmother would insist on sitting in front of the fire in a wingbacked armchair so everyone else froze (no central heating). His mother would completely martyr herself by spending all day tending to about 30 dishes in the aga, and be all passive aggressive if you offered to help. ExP, his siblings, dad, and various relatives would then get ridiculously drunk at dinner and behave like children, usually ending in a food fight, or the tablecloth being set on fire. Then between the main course and dessert, each sibling would stand up & 'do a turn'. Watching his 30yo sister slur her way through Little Donkey was... memorable. I cringed so hard I think I actually developed a six pack.

EmiliaRuusuvuori · 03/12/2023 22:42

@CandyLeBonBon
Me too, I don't even bother with roast potatoes and pile on the mash.
I do still cook them for the rest of the family though as I'd never hear the end of it.

CandyLeBonBon · 03/12/2023 22:51

Food of the gods @EmiliaRuusuvuori

OutOfSyncWithReality · 03/12/2023 23:18

The (one and only) year I went to SIL. There were 6 adults plus their kids. SIL said she would buy the food and could I provide the drink. Sounded fair enough, thought I'd get a couple of bottles of wine for dinner and some juice/soft drinks for the kids. No. I got a list of what to buy. A bottle of vodka for BIL, port for FIL, gin for MIL. Champagne for pre-dinner. 3 bottles each of Chateauneuf de Pape and Chablis for the table. Dinner was a £15 Iceland meal-deal of frozen turkey, Aunt Bessies potatoes, stuffing balls and sprouts. Note that then-H didn't offer to chip in for the booze, he is now exH and she is now exSIL. Glad to see the back of the lot of them, the CFers.

WhatNoUsername · 03/12/2023 23:31

Eatbetterthisweek · 03/12/2023 16:19

Open presents whenever you want in my family I use to hate having to wait for even when I was a kid.

My only rule is no chocolate, sweets or alcohol until noon!

Why would you have that rule?!? Surely the joy of Christmas is starting the day with a Buck's Fizz and a chocolate orange!

My rule was anything goes choc/sweet wise Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. If anything's left after that it's limited and eaten over a period of days. Christmas is a day for unbridled hedonism. 😂

WhatNoUsername · 03/12/2023 23:35

stepintochristmas1 · 03/12/2023 16:42

Has anyone ever been at a house on Christmas day when the oven is in all morning and they still insist on having the heating on ? 🥵

Yes my house because the oven only warms part of the kitchen and I don't want people to be sat freezing in the front room!

WhatNoUsername · 03/12/2023 23:45

mnahmnah · 03/12/2023 19:28

Ex’s parents had no mash. NO MASH. Apparently roast potatoes cover all potato needs. Nope.

Mash is a very poor cousin to roast potatoes which are the gods of the roast dinner. Mash is definitely not needed! It's also very filling so would take up unnecessary stomach room.

Georgeandzippyzoo · 04/12/2023 00:13

redalex261 · 03/12/2023 19:02

We always had a Christmas day of excess, started with dad going downstairs ti “check if he’s been” (and put the gas fire on!) mum getting coffee for her and dad prior yo letting us into the living room together to view snd open presents. We were always at fever pitch by that point. Unbridled frenzy of unwrapping and paper mountain ensues. None of the presents had bows or ribbons, just bog standard 80’s wrapping paper, all the same. Always tangerine and Terrys choc orange in stocking. Pre breakfast chocolates allowed Christmas and easter only! Special folding Christmas day table produced from hut with assorted odd chairs to accommodate everyone for 3pm lunch. Queen on in the background and Christmas day top of the pops. Loads of tat, tinsel, crackers on table, everyone must wear the cracker hats, tell the jokes and have dressed up in something nice - new jumper or something. Special Christmas day white soup as part of four courses including a choice of desserts, luxury!! Not deemed a success until paralysed by overeating and half-cut. Few rounds of the new board game, them leftovers and comedy on telly. We always had big group and a couple of randoms who would have been alone otherwise. Sister and I do same between us now. First time I had Christmas day without my immediate family I was devastated at how crap it was. Tasteful restrained table, no crackers, nothing. All very sad. Much prefer my trashy traditions!

Pretty much how it was for both me and dh as kids, and it's the relaxed , enjoyable way we do it now. No pressure and no expectations. LOVE IT.

notanothernamechange12 · 04/12/2023 00:17

These present rules are madness. Kids have stockings and then once my husband and I have made a coffee we just let chaos commence. The feeling in the room at that time is so magical. Then the kids are happy just playing whilst we get on with cooking etc

starfishmummy · 04/12/2023 00:38

quicklybeendrivenmad · 03/12/2023 15:58

Having my In laws serve mushy peas on a Christmas dinner for me that goes with Pie or Fish

I was going to say my mil served mushy peas too! To be fair it was only a few times when a teen was visiting as they were the only veg they ate.

TheBeef · 04/12/2023 00:44

No rules about chocolate. DC can eat what they like on Christmas Day and Easter. They have never been ill yet. Selection boxes are opened for breakfast.

We prep everything the day before. It is cooked fresh. We always have dried mushy peas, mash and roasted veg. Also cauliflower cheese and Yorkshire Pudding for veggies.

ILs cook everything the day before. One of my siblings has an Aunt Bessie's Christmas meal. I quite like it tbf, even though it is not what we have.

Boxing Day buffet is much anticipated. We take turns to host. Very relaxed and fun. There are always, cheese and pineapple/pickled onions, sausage rolls, French Fancies and jam tarts. Other things change.

RestingCatsArseFace · 04/12/2023 01:32

EightChalk · 03/12/2023 16:28

Okay, now THIS one is bizarre! If I knew someone in this family I'd find it hard to resist giving them a top hat, boa, gold lamé suit, etc...

Show quote history

And 20 pairs of knickers...

Spencer0220 · 04/12/2023 01:59

FelicityFlops · 03/12/2023 17:48

20 years ago on Christmas Day I had a (home-made) curry.
My husband had just committed suicide, his funeral was on 19th December. My lovely father said I should come home for Christmas, but I was in my own home.
I spent the day unpacking boxes from the we moved the year before.
Curry is about my most favourite meal as it is so adaptable.
This year I have been invited to spend Christmas with my fabulous sister and her family, including her grandschildren. Can't wait and looking forward to doing lots of cooking - although not necessarily curries :-)

Huge hugs to you.

coxesorangepippin · 04/12/2023 02:34

Years ago went to ex's brother's house for Christmas.

He was totally pissed, drunk as a mop. Served soup made from a packet for starters. Roast dinner finally served, think it was around 9pm, I was starved. Ginormous portion of food. Then he started fiddling about making dessert!

When they were out of the room I moved the clock forward to 11.45pm. Told boyf it was nearly midnight and we had to leave.

What a night

Alohapotato · 04/12/2023 02:41

ilovedoctorwho · 03/12/2023 18:29

DHs side of the family is vegetarian (as a religious thing). The years they come and visit we all just have to have a vegetarian Christmas meal unfortunately. When it's just DH us. I do make a good vegetarian dish for DH and make a good roast for the rest of us

Why can't you do the same when his family visits?

flowerchild2000 · 04/12/2023 02:42

We always open one present or stocking on Christmas Eve. It started when I was a child, my family always visited my grandparents around Christmas and some years would leave for home on the night of the Eve, so the kids would each open one present from our grandparents so they could enjoy it. I kept it going for my own family even though we never travel for Christmas.

lovinglaughingliving · 04/12/2023 03:42

Stockings in the morning here and main presents after lunch,
Other wise it's all over for the kids and they don't actually play with anything and just go about manically ripping off paper!
We do try and take turns a bit and get the kids to appreciate what they have (and it allows me to write down who got what from who!) but sometimes, we fail!
Our sons birthday is on the 20th so it's a very exciting time in our household generally!