to think starters with Christmas dinner are superfluous?

[thatsgotit]

Just what the thread title says, really. How does anyone manage to do full justice to a turkey dinner if they've had their appetite blunted by a starter beforehand? (I do realise not everyone has turkey or even a roast, obviously, but I'm mainly talking here about those who do.)

This might be partly a generational thing, but personally I'd much rather leave myself more room to enjoy the main (and some Christmas pudding afterwards, which again I realise not everyone has) and it wouldn't even occur to me to plan a starter for Christmas Day. It just feels entirely superfluous. Surely I'm not the only one?

I am a starter person more so than a pudding but if it’s just me I’d have the starter for breakfast ( salmon and prawns please )

if we have a crowd we do starters to get everyone settled at the table because they will all get in and then b whoever is most restricted in movement will need the loo…then someone else need their medication …. So starters get all that out of the way

YABU. Where did the idea come from that a roast had to be 'huge'?

I don't get any enjoyment out of eating 'a big plate of food' or eating little or nothing for hours in anticipation of a big meal and I quite like a prawn cocktail as a starter so I'm happy to have it and then a small roast dinner. The whole 3/4 courses is spread over several hours anyway so kind of just serves as a late lunch and an early dinner rolled into one.

Means I get to try a bit of everything and I won't have to cook later because I can always go for another helping of roast or whatever.

A roast doesn't have to be huge at all. But if that's the part of the meal someone's really interested in, surely it makes sense for it to be the main focus, and for there to be plenty to go round?

TBH I tend to eat smaller plates of food in general than some people, and I don't pile my plate till it's overflowing or anything. But it's nice to be able to have as much as I feel like having, and for others to be able to do the same. Admittedly it'd be more complicated if DH and I had 'fewer large courses' people and 'more small courses' people under the same roof, but happily we're all of the same mind where that's concerned.

I don’t care what you’re having and I’d rather watch paint drying than play Uno.

Cool story.

I love hearing what others have for meals and really enjoy playing card games or board games with my dc. You enjoy watching your paint dry instead. Variety is the spice of life and makes it so much more interesting.
Merry Christmas 🤶

I do blinis and pigs in blankets etc as nibbles for when family arrive. Dinner about 1.5 hours after.

No starters for us either, we’ll just focus on the main event, thankfully we don’t have anyone coming who will insist things are done a certain way - so we ring the changes every year.

As far as I'm concerned the correct amount of food is the amount he person wants, and the correct foods and drinks to consume are - surprise, surprise! - the ones the person wants.

If you think everyone should just have the meal they want, why did you start an entire thread to tell other people that their starters are ‘superfluous’, questioning how they can manage to eat it all and arguing that the roast is the most exciting part of the meal just because you happen to like it best?

If you profess to be baffled by other people’s dinners and ask them about how they manage to eat it all, don’t get huffy and passive-aggressive when people answer your questions!

Good heavens, why are some people taking this thread so seriously?

My tone towards the pp I was addressing in that particular post was adopted because imo assuming they're not ChatGPT they were being very patronising and talking like they thought they had to tell everyone the 'correct' way to do Christmas dinner like we're all oiks who need teaching. Feel free to read my response as pass-ag if that's the read you choose to place on it, but that was the reason.

And my opening post was worded entirely around what I feel and around wondering how people manage to fit in a starter and a traditional Christmas dinner because I wouldn't manage to. That's an invitation to discuss different perspectives, which as far as I'm aware is how discussion forums work. It isn't 'I can't/won't, so you shouldn't either' which is how you appear to be taking it. My entire opening post was worded in terms of my personal preferences, why I have them, and curiosity around other people's traditions, and at no point was I telling other people what to think. If people answer in an arsey way, though, well, then I think it's the prerogative of others to adopt a corresponding tone if they choose to.

@thatsgotit how dare you start a harmless thread about Christmas dinner starters 😂

+1.

Peoples food choices are their food choices and are not unreasonable.

One person may prefer a single plate piled high with food.

Another smaller separate dishes.

The format can be different for several reasons, ease of serving/preparation, incompatibility of flavours between dishes, sense of occasion etc.

Trying to argue any of these choices are unreasonable is just another example of the 🚔Christmas Dinner Police 🚔in action.

I know, right... 😂

And it's not policing to suggest that it's not OK to post threads expressing opinions and asking people what they like about how they do things? Erm, okay then. 🤔

Our starter is home (get us!) smoked salmon. It is delicious and as worthy a place in the menu as the turkey. It just wont go with the turkey. So we will be having it as a starter.

The turkey will also be a thing of joy, brined beforehand, free range, roasted quickly. Beautifully flavoured with herbs, lemon and garlic and importantly, moist.

Christmas is a time of traditions but these traditions are particular to your family and friends. The only time these are wrong is if people arent enjoying them.

You just made me hungry 😄

We have canapes and champagne in the run up to dinner, while everyone is arriving, chatting, settling in (and i'm finishing off dinner). It makes it all feel more festive and special and they are always some of my favourite things - and fairly light. A sit down starter wouldn't work for me personally. We also always have a break to open presents before pudding as we are too full at that point.

Everyone's different. I wouldn't make it to lunch without breakfast and neither would a few other members of my family. I might not actually keel over, but I certainly wouldn't be good company. I'm not a huge eater, but I do need to eat fairly regularly.

Tapas is my favourite type of food!

On the condition that it is proper tapas, all from the same part of the world, not a complete hodge podge of things.

Bucks Fizz with breakfast. Coffee mid morning. A glass of whisky whilst turkey is cooking. A small glass of sherry before serving the main meal. Champagne with main meal. Brandy set alight over Christmas pudding. Brandy and coffee to follow.
Somehow, it's surprisingly easy to whip up starters, main course with tons of trimmings in our house.
Snooze in front of the log fire, bracing walk just before it gets dark. Cheese and nibbles produced in the evening together with a cup of tea and a variety of alcohol, possibly homemade cocktails, snowballs, Manhattan, Singapore slings.
Happy Christmas.