what do you eat on christmas day?

[CherryMonstersUnderTheBed]

i do a full roast each year but vary the meat. last year it was goose, the year before turkey and lamb. am now on the lookout for inspiration for this year. i think the meat will be duck and possibly beef, but need ideas what else to do, sauces etc please. x

Goose beef and ham

My sil did suckling pig once

Turkey with all the trimmings

and as many chocolates as i can eat in between turkey without being sick

We have our big Christmas meal on Christmas Eve so we don't have to worry about it on the big day and can just play with the kids and their new toys!

... so we usually just have gammon and baked potatoes on Christmas day

i always make sure that the meat is cooked on christmas eve, the pigs in blankets are assembled and put in the fridge ready for cooking the next day. spuds and veg are peeled and chopped and kept in a pan of water overnight. i make stuffing, and usually do mashed sweet potato, broccoli, carrots and roast parsnips. but is there anything else i could do? will be quite a grown up one this year as the dd's (5 and 4) will be at their dads, there will be me, db and dsis, 2 ds's aged 11 and 9 and my friend with her 3 year old son. none of us are fussy eaters, but dont eat sprouts!

Turkey or goose depends what FiL decides - always lovely as I don't have to cook that day .

Knew a famiily once who always had beans on toast until the kids got older.

On the sprouts front...

My DH slices the sprouts and sautees them with diced bacon, then stirs in double cream - it's delicious!

And pretty much everyone who he's ever cooked it for now does their sprouts the same way at Christmas.

It was always turkey growing up and I still don't consider Christmas dinner to be Christmas dinner without it. And you MUST have bread sauce - my absolute favourite! My dad makes an extra half pint if I'm there for Christmas

Always chicken. Roasties, yorkshire puds, pigs in blankets, peas, sprouts for DH, carrots in honey/maple syrup, parsnips. May do jerusalem artichokes this year.

partial- still not convinced i'm afraid, plus, db doesnt eat cream.

cat- i do have turkey on christmas day. just not every christmas day, usually every 3rd or 4th one.

Same as Saltire but I start with chocolate for breakfast! For the big meal, Turkey with all the trimmings but swap the sprouts (work of the devil no matter if bacon, cream, water chestnuts added they're still bleugh) for extra roasties in goose fat and no xmas pudding (further devil's work) just more dark chocolate please...

There is just DH and I, and we always have
roast chicken and gravy
sausages and bacon
homemade chestnut stuffing
fried apple slices
roast potatoes
mange tout
carrot and parsnip puree

homemade mince pie and homemade vanilla icecream

I guess you will need some sort of fruity sauce with the duck, but I think a beef joint needs really good gravy with it, and mustard for those who like it.

Delia has a really simple and quick Morello cherry sauce for duck,

175g morello cherry jam
150ml red wine

Combine jam and wine in a pan, and simmer without a lid for 10 mins. Enough for 4 servings. can be made in advance and re-heated when required. She says to choose a jam with a high fruit content, I think she means the Bonne Maman jam.

Anything that doesn't involve turkey, sprauts, Xmas pudding and Quality Street.

This year we will be in England at FIL's. As he is a lazy old person we will be eating at the local pub despite me offering to cook.
In the past we've always gone to a hotel for a buffet lunch. so, essentially we've had everything [greedygirl]

It varies lots here as we chose to spend Christmas day just the three of us. Dh and Dd take it in turns to chose the Christmas meal. Last year DH chose Chateaubriand. This year DD has already chosen duck. I don;t eat meat so mine varies between different fish and veggie options, not sure what yet. Trimmings depend on what I cook meat wise. Whatever we decide it is no nonsense trimmings that involve little prep and no faffing in the kitchen. i want to spend Christmas Day in the living room with DH and DD having fun, not cooking.

Guinea fowl this year as we will be at my parents.

Last year we had Beef Wellington and the year before that Venison and Duck.

We never have turkey :)

Breakfast have dippy eggs
Then break open the chocolates
Snacks from midday - canape stuff and some smoked salmon
Prosecco - vast quantities
About 4- Turkey, roast potatoes and parsnips, sprouts w pancetta and chestnuts, carrots, bread and cranberry sauce. I make Sarah Raven's cran sauce at beg of Dec - it is divine but not for the DC.....waaaay too alcoholic
Homemade Xmas Pud with custard ice cream or cream
Lots of red wine
Open pressies
More chocolates
About 8- Ham, coleslaw, homemade pickles, pickled onions, cheeses, good bread, crackers
Christmas Cake and mince pies
Then explode

Goose for the last 4 years and again this year, I think.
Turkey before that.
Mum always used to cook herself a pork roast as well cos she really didn't like turkey that much.

If you're after something a bit different, you could do individual birds, like poussin or partridge? Or perhaps a couple of pheasants (love pheasant).

Venison is very nice too... and duck, but a bit on the small side. Mind you, goose can be a bit smaller than you anticipate too - I can see why people stick with turkey!

Christmas Day is no big deal where I came from. But on Christmas Eve most people would have fish or something with poppy seeds. (Absolutely no meat, as it is baby Jesus's birthday they say.) My family traditionally has pasta with poppy seeds.

Mom started to have a turkey as well to make my English DH feel at home.

When we celebrate Christmas in advance without parents, we normally have goose, too.

thumbwitch- the goose we had last year was smaller than i expected. my sister paid about £40 for it, and it was just enough for 3 adults and 4 kids. i know ducks can be small, bt i am going to order 2- £9 each from sainsburys.

Cheerymonster are the £9 ducks at sainsburys on offer, or is it a permanent deal?

We have lamb, am not very fond of turkey and normally can't afford lamb so it's a treat for us.

Always have smoked salmon for breakfast, and some croissants and jam, lots of sweets and snacky stuff during the day, roast for dinner and buffet spread at some point in the evening.

If the children are here we have roast turkey adn all the trimmings.

If they are at their dad's we have sausage and mash with lots of Champagne.

We save the turkey for when the children come back and have Christmas day then.

Works for us and we love it.

Feels naughty to be having sausage and mash on Christmas Day but we love it.

Turkey, gammon, bacon-wrapped chipolatas, sausagemeat stuffing, apricot and sage stuffing, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, cheesy leeks, carrots, broccoli, sweetcorn, gravy, bread sauce.

Every year! I add brussel sprouts if parents or PIL are visiting.

I love cooking Christmas dinner. Love it!

gingercat- its on the christmas meat ordering bit, so i presume its a seasonal deal but ones that gonna last a while.

will be having nice gravy, and horseradish to go with the beef, and girlywhirly's cherry sauce sounds nice for the duck.