To not let my sister bring her own meat on Christmas day!

[FelizNavidadAmiga]

First off, we are a strictly vegan household for moral reasons. I invited my sister for Christmas lunch as she is recently divorced and has nowhere else to go. I usually put on a magnificent spread with roast vegetables, tagine, stuffed peppers, vine leaves, falafel, home made hummus etc. My sister has just sent me a message saying she's going to bring her own chicken to cook. AIBU to say no way! I don't want chicken cooking in my nice clean vegan oven! Plus the smell makes me feel ill 🤢 I don't want to upset her as she's very sensitive at the moment but surely she can do without chicken for 1 day.

Sounds blooming delicious. I think she should pass on the chicken. However, it might be more of an emotional thing - Christmas is a funny time for people and food isn't 'just' food. If she's had a rough divorce and is feeling shitty about Christmas I would probably gently suggest doing without, but wouldn't fall out over it- could she bring her pre cooked portion in a tupperware if its that much of a big deal to her?

Is she bringing the rest of her Christmas Dinner or just the chicken?

No offence but your menu doesn't sound Christmassy at all! Sounds yummy for an evening Xmas day meal though, I have no problem with vegan food but would want my proper Xmas dinner!

Do your family eat the standard roast potatoes, veg, stuffing etc?

and I think that for the majority of regular meat-eaters, that meat is the main part and the rest are just accompaniments.

Maybe meat eaters should broaden their minds then. And I say that as someone carnivorous enough to be capable of plucking and gutting game birds and capable of cooking a full vegetarian or vegan meal.

That is as ridiculous as telling a vegan that they should broaden theirs!

No it isn't. Don't you understand the reasons people choose to be vegan?

It's very narrow- minded to think a meal isn't a meal without meat or that vegetables are just a support act for meat. How limiting.

Again: there is increasing evidence to suggest the ability to follow a meat-free diet is genetic.

It's blindingly obvious that some people can enjoy vegan find and it just doesn't agree with others. A single high-fiber meal can give some people funny tummy.
Then if you combine veganism with any other restriction like nut allergy or gluten allergy, it makes things truly complicated.
It makes people with low-spice tolerance, who can't do anything about it, really restricted.
Basically, it makes their eating miserable.

But most importantly, the actual need for meat seems to be based on genetic metabolic characteristics of the individual. They don't just prefer meat, they need it. An inconvenient truth for vegans who not content with enjoying the diet of their choice, enjoy their claim to moral superiority even more.

She can bring a packed lunch and eat it in the car

if a full British Christmas dinner is what the sister wants she can go somewhere serving it.

o/p’s family are eating Middle Eastern style according to their heritage.

i rarely do a “proper” British Christmas dinner. It’s not compulsory and it’s not everyone’s tradition.

Oh yes it is ... (seasonal response there!)

Er - we’ve been talking about morals since the beginning of the thread - it’s literally in the first line of the OP.

Ha ha. My MIL did this once without telling me. I’d slaved over dinner and she turned up with chilli for her and SIL 🙈😂. Dh is vegetarian so they were maybe worried they’d get served a meatless meal.

You make a great point..the meat and dairy industries are GREAT for the planet!

It is very unlikely though that someone who meets this supposed genetic inability to follow a meat free diet will come to harm if they have one meal without.

they can have a bacon sandwich for breakfast, and a steak for supper if they wish. But eating one meat free dish is not an impossibility.

even if it was, they are still entitled to refuse the invitation. If they still want to socialise, go round after dinner.

Don’t be facetious. I was just expressing that I am suspicious of whether all of the posters who earnestly assert that they only ever eat local produce are actually being completely truthful.

I'm not being any more facetious than you are.

This thread is one of the rudest and most hostile I’ve seen on MN for a while. Only seven pages left - I’ll be so sorry when it’s over, it’s been fun !!

Could she bring sliced cooked turkey? Not cook it at your house.

It depends whether you'd expect her to cater for you if you went to her house!

Given that most vegan food (i.e. the crap made to look and/or taste like meat/fish), is made by processes that fuck the planet, unless you do not eat such crap, a vegan stance is disingenuous.

@CyranoDeBergerQuack Most vegan food is not fake meat. Most vegan dishes are made with vegetables, tofu, nuts, grains, pulses, pasta etc.

Wow! Are you kidding me? I would LOVE to come to OP for lunch!

We had this issue.

We don't eat meat( for over 20 years for various reasons) but we do eat everything else, dairy, fish, seafood etc... so they don't starve.

One guest wanted to bring a "slow cooked meat tray" to Xmas lunch at 1.00 pm... when I asked how slow cooked they said five hours! So they wanted to turn up at 8.00 am!!
Also, I was cooking for nearly 20 people so there was no damn room in the oven whatsoever for anyone's extra crud.

DH agreed readily and without thinking through the logistics... So I had to be the bad guy and say no. They sulked all day. That was the last time I did Xmas lunch for 20.

Your feast sounds lovely OP. None of us like the trad stuff anyway. Christmas Pudding is YUK.

It's being a tit of a host to insist a guest eats food they don't want to, or stays at home fgs!!! Especially as it's Christmas Day when people like to eat nice food in good company!

Just another example of your rudeness.

No skin off mine either actually.

Not providing food that your guest will enjoy is even more fucking rude.

I think your meal sounds nice, and as a vegetarian I wouldn't want people cooking meat using my oven trays or utensils.

That said I wouldn't have a problem with someone bringing meat they'd cooked at home and eating it, if they didn't like what I had planned.