To make lots of effort for Christmas dinner?

[TheTamerShrew]

I hosted and I made:
Roast potatoes
Honey glazed roast carrots
Roast sweet potatoes
Roast butternut squash with nut roast
Home made nut roast
Home made wellington
Steamed cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus and peas
Gravy

Store bought:
Quorn roast
Vegan sausage and cranberry crown
Seeded nut roast

Of course a cheese course, then Christmas pudding (home made)

It was a huge amount of food, loads for everyone and lots of leftovers.

Since visiting family, the effort was somewhat less.

What is the norm? (Yes veggie Christmas)

Also, I forgot to add, veggie pigs in blankets, and Brussel sprouts, stuffing.

Sounds normal amount for Christmas dinner. We do all this but we eat meat ! I bet it was lovely

That’s an enormous amount of effort- I bought most of mine and put in oven or microwave

That's a lot of nut roast.

There was a decent amount of nut roast (which was delicious) but also lots of other options: a lot of choice.

Veggie Christmas sounds perfect. Although I always regret buying veggie options and wish I'd stuck with everything else. I did creamed cheesy leeks for me this year and would have been happy with that rather than the bought veggie options. The meat eaters loved them.

Do you mean the fake meats? I am not so into them but others are so I get them to ensure everyone is happy. I much prefer home made options too.

I did:
16lb turkey
Large gammon
50 pigs in blankets
Loads of roast potatoes
Honey roasted carrots/parsnips
Sprouts
Gravy
Home made soup or prawns for starters
Various (shop bought) deserts and cream
Cheese available for later (no one had room!)

Yours sounds normal to me OP.

Oh I forgot! Stuffing and Yorkshire puds 🤣

I’ve reached semantic satiation with the words “nut roast” 🤣

Sounds like a slightly above average but still within normal amount of homemade bits.

Though what is a wellington if there is no beef in the centre? 🤭

Thank you for replying! I thought making lots of effort was the norm, but after visiting relatives and a much reduced spread (normal/less than normal Sunday roast), I was wondering.

We had a mushroom Wellington. I do like the ham qourn roast but can rarely find that one.

No definitely not, of course we are the normal ones 😁

Mushroom timbale (home made) with cranberry sauce, it was lush

I think it sounds like a lot of main options, where I’d normally only do one or two. But if you enjoyed doing it, and you’ve got great leftovers, good for you.

This sounds like a normal amount of food for us (though ours is meat not veg option)
Everyone is different though. Are you referring to family hosting the main meal in a different year to yourself? Or they were hosting an additional meal but not the main Christmas dinner?

Actually being hosted for the main Christmas dinner. I made this all on another day when I hosted.

How many people for?

That sounds like a lot of 'mains'.
We just have turkey.

It sounds like quite a lot of veg too.

However, there is no 'normal'.
People like different amounts of food and, importantly, people (who are hosting) have different skill levels and confidence with cooking, and definitely different levels of enjoyment of cooking.
Plus, different amounts of time available to them and different kitchens even - you need either tiered steamers or a hob with a large number of rings for multiple veg options, and enough ovens and air fryers to cope with the roasting.

Personally, if someone hosts me, I appreciate not having to cook, rather than complaining about what they serve me.

How many was it for? If 3 people then it seems like loads; if 12 then probably more normal?

Though my brain would have exploded at the timings/space of getting all that through the oven so it was ready all together and still hot!

It was for nearly 12, though lots were children.

I have only one oven and cooked the night before as well as it was tricky re timing.

All cooked in a very modest kitchen with one oven and a normal 4 ring hob, nothing fancy kitchen wise, but a lot of effort and planning.

Sorry if I'm missing something, but what is your question? What is the norm for what? If it is what is a normal amount for a veggie Christmas meal, then it might be better asked in the vegetarian meal thread.

If you just want to know what others had for Christmas, then here is my menu for just 3 of us. Yes it was alot of different things but only small amounts of each and we gave MIL extras to take home and will use the leftovers ourselves:

-Rib roast as not that keen on turkey
-Yorkshires
-Brussels with chestnuts and bacon
-Roast potatoes
-Roast parsnips
-Honey carrots
-Shredded green cabbage and onion
-Red cabbage with apple and spices (DH wanted 2 types of cabbage)
-Mashed swede
-Peas
-Pigs in blankets
-Gravy

Dessert options:
-Cheese platter with grapes and home made membrillo
-Home made truffles
-Chocolate tart and berries

I go all out at Christmas, I made... mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, new potatoes, julienne carrots, sprouts, white cabbage from our allotment, broccoli, cauliflower, swede, roast beef, duck, beautiful gravy, Yorkshire puddings, stuffing balls, pigs in blankets, honey roast parsnips. I also baked pies, quiche, various mince pies, millionaire shortbread, chocolate cupcakes, shortbread, gingerbread men and made chicken liver pate. I'll be baking a lot more for a little party at the weekend. I need a break to get over all the baking 😳

Oh and 6 Christmas cakes for presents as well as peppermint fondants in dark chocolate.

That’s what I was thinking - a lot of “mains” options. I generally prefer a couple of options and lots of sides, as otherwise the meal is more like lots of bits and pieces from a buffet and doesn’t necessarily go well together. All sounds v nice though.

But I base my expectations of others wholly on what they generally like to do - I love cooking and have lots of relatives similar, and they’ll always have a whole range of interesting lovely home made options, mixed in with easier stuff depending. But other relatives / friends aren’t as interested in cooking, but v happy to host, so they’ll usually buy a lot of stuff in, and we all enjoy getting together, the food is fine and enjoyable, a lot easier to prepare but frankly it’s always a lot of work hosting a bunch of people even if you buy everything ready made, and I’m always grateful for it! Maybe when I was younger and more idealistic I might be internally judging the shop bought platters - but frankly we all have different priorities and I just because I love cooking and frankly showing off a bit, doesn’t mean everyone else should be the same!