Boxing day food suggestions please, am struggling to think!

[LydiaWickham]

We're going to MIL's for Christmas day, so i'm not going to have left overs. On Boxing day, my parents, DB and his DP will be joining us. Thanks to nursery's routine, DS really doesn't do eating after 12 - 12:30, but I know my brother won't want to eat that early, was thinking buffet, putting it all out at 12 and they can eat when they fancy, but struggling to think what to get.

What would you serve? All ideas welcome!

oh, forgot to say, will be staying at PILs on Christmas evening so not getting back to ours until about an hour before my family arrive, so not a lot of prep time.

mmmmm

ham....................salads.......................dips........cheeses.

How about a really nice ham joint? And maybe some smoked salmon? That's what we always have on Boxing Day - we do the buffet style thing too due to various napping / eating schedules!

Starter: soup & crusty rolls or smoked salmon and salad
Always a good idea to fill guests up on bread
Dinner: baked potatoes , slices of ham ( cooked Xmas eve maybe) chicken drumsticks, sausage rolls, more salad
Pudding: sherry trifle, Yule log, mince pies , cheese & biscuits
Just put it all on the table
Eat at 5pm if you're travelling in the morning?

I'd be getting loads of different appetizer type things that you just stick in the oven - sausage rolls, spring rolls, samosas, mini quiches, etc. And I'd have a trifle all made ready to the putting the cream on top stage. Some bread, nice cheese, dips, etc.

Or do some sort of posh stew - that's what we do for Christmas Eve. Works quite well for people eating at different times. Go retro and do a beef bourguignon.

ooh, thank you for ideas! We're getting home on boxing day morning, but around 10am at the earliest, expect overexcited Grandparents and hungover brother and partner around 11am ish, and our family always do 'big meals' at lunch rather than dinner (because that would be too easy).

I should have known 'nice ham' would be on the suggestion list...

Like the idea of soup.

Keep them coming, stop DH just hitting iceland for lots of prawn rings...

You get home at 10am and they come at 11am?!?
You are a saint woman!
Get them to bring a dish each
There will be no time to bake potatoes

no, no baked potatoes time. Still, might get some new potatoes and do mini baked spuds with some creme fresh...

Feeling a lot calmer about this, now, time to logon and change that ocado order that currently is just lots of champers...

im joining in on this thread - ive 16 for Boxing Day..and 4 are veggies,and 1kosher body which makes it really tricky for me

Im in despair too and also 5 teenagers in that bundle too

Wrap ready rolled puff round cocktail sausages, Stilton & cranberry and shop bought sweet mince for a festive selection of nibbles.

I do deboned leg of lamb which doesn't take as long to cook, roasted mini potatoes drizzled with olive oil, with parsnips carrots & red onion, rice baked in oven which gives it a nicer flavour. I buy butchers sausages & put them in too! I often make a pasta dish that can be baked in oven also depends on my mood. I prepare everything Christmas Eve so all I have to do is put it in the oven. Easy Peasy.

aftereights, where do you store all this, i am imagining some sort of walk in industrial fridge!!

16 for boxing day?

I have 3(!) fridges & I have about 30 on boxing day!

I would serve an upmarket game pie with boiled new potatoes tossed in sour cream and fresh chives with designer salad leaves, cherry tomatoes on the vine, and cucumber and dill salad.

For pudding I would do exotic fruit salad with shortbread biscuits and cream.

Ps Try Abel and Cole for posh pies.

Why thank you, game pie does sound suitably Christmassy.

Think my mum is now planning on bringing cakes (she definately said pural!) so I'm going to risk not doing pudding.

currently the list is:
Game pie
nice ham
Smoked salmon with lemon wedges
mini baked potatoes with creme fresh and chives (or might do soured cream instead)
cocktail sausages
mini pork pies (DH is insistant it's not Christmas without pork pies and cocktail sausages )
big bag of 'posh' salad leaves dumped in posh bowl
cherry tomatoes
crusty bread rolls
chicken drumsticks
dips with carrot and pepper sticks
selection of cheese and biscuits
figs
grapes
possibly some soup (thinking butternut squash because I do a mean butternut squash soup, but not very seasonal...)

olives, nuts and crisps in bowls for when they arrive, along with lots of lebkuchen and obviously a bowl of quality street (which arrives on the coffee table on 23rd and just keeps getting topped up until I'm crying because I can't get in the lovely dress I want to wear on New Year's Eve...)

and whatever cakes my mum is bringing for pudding.

Sound ok for 6 adults and a toddler? That should be possible to sort out in 1 hour (it's basically 'empty fridge onto dining table' for the majority of it).

What about a large potato bake?

Lydia......Sounds lush!

and plenty of wine I am hoping.

nikon - I'll have spent the day before at the ILs, I'll be spending the day with my parents, my brother and his partner getting DS increasingly excited. Of course there'll be lots of wine!

YIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !

It was not on the list and it scared me...