What's your Christmas day menu?

[PeppermintLatte]

those of you that are cooking lunch this year, and those that are eating out at a restuarant, what are you having? starter, main and dessert...

does anyone have any christmas eve food traditions or boxing day food traditions?

Oh and breakfast is sweet potato pancakes with cinnamon cream syrup.

Spreadsheets you say .... I could do with one of these in my life! How do you work it?

Usually we have:

Warm brioche or croissants, orange juice, lots of bubbly for breakfast

Starters - either old school prawn cocktail or smoked salmon and a creme fraiche/dill dressing on black bread

Main course: turkey, Nigellas ham, two types of stuffing (usually a pork based chestnut stuffing and then something else - spiced cranberry and orange or Nigellas gingerbread), roast potatoes & parsnips, rosemary maple carrots, braised red cabbage, lots of green veg, yorkies and gravy & cranberry sauce (starving now!)

Pudding: Christmas pud and double cream, ice cream with the works (wafers, sauce, sprinkles etc) for the kids. We do a sherry trifle on Boxing Day instead.

This year? We are going for a curry!

I'm not sure yet. But one thing i defiantly do know, NO TURKEY. Both OH and myself hate it. So probably a nice ham or joint of beef.

I developed my spreadsheet a few years back so I don't remember what I originally based it on but this is the same general idea!

I also forgot to mention appetisers are usually pâté (shop bought) and this incredibly yummy salmon/chive/horseradish/cream cheese thing.

Ooooh! How do you make sweet potato pancakes?

Sweet potato pancakes and cinnamon cream syrup.

I take no responsibility for the resulting heart attack

We have a takeaway curry on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day breakfast will be whatever the DC scrounge from their selection boxes. For lunch last year we had a "party lunch" of sarnies, posh crisps, mini pizzas, other canape type things, party rings, chocolate fingers etc. Then DH and I had a mini Christmas dinner (with Quorn roll, roasties, stuffing and sprouts) in the evening. The DC are 3 and 5yo and DS1 is allergic to everything and fussy, so doing it this way round was stress-free and the DC loved it.

For breakfast I'm going to do homemade english muffins with ham, poached egg and hollandaise.

Don't do a starter as we never seem to need it.

Thinking of going with rib of beef this year, pine nut and watercress stuffing, yorkshire puddings, brussels with masala and pancetta, carrot and swede mash, gravy.

Christmas pudding with cream.

Christmas Day breakfast is nothing grand, usually contents of selection box toast.

The main meal we usually aim for having around 1ish but invariably it's closer to 3! This always consists of a starter of smoked salmon and brown bread or for those who would prefer, pate and melba toast, followed by roast Turkey, 3 different types of stuffing (sage and onion, and 2 homemade ones, sausagemeat and mushroom and cheese and ham), chipolatas wrapped in bacon, roast potatoes and parsnips, swede, brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, peas, sprouts with pancetta, creamed spinach and finally some homemade bread sauce to go with it all. We always have a choice of pudding, either the traditional christmas pudding or trifle but this is never eaten immediately after the main course as we are invariably too stuffed to fit it in. After dinner we all roll into the sitting room where we open our presents together and supper/pudding may be had around 9ish.

Boxing day brunch is usually a fry up and dinner is cold meat and pickle, mashed potato and baked beans.

Christmas morning: Normal breakfast probably. Toast/cereal

Christmas lunch: BBQ, lots of pasta/salad/cold meat/bread etc
Desert: Cheesecake and/or ice cream

Evening: eating whatever is left from lunch.

I think we are having it at ds's and his gf'd of they move put. She is eager to host a family dinner. Not sure what the menu will be. We may offer to bring turkey.
I'll make a prime rib either C Eve or Boxing day, and a ham on one of those days.

*if they move out.

On Christmas Eve I'll cook a clove studded ham in ginger ale, to be served with mustard mash and cabbage. I'll do as big a ham as possible, so there will be lots to pick at later.

Christmas Day will be prawn cocktail or pâté with oatcakes to start. Turkey crown with all the trimmings. For dessert, Trifle or individual Christmas puddings for those that want them.

Boxing Day will be steak pie from the local butcher, there are usually enough potatoes and veg leftover to accompany it, ditto the dessert but I have a raspberry brûlée cheesecake in the freezer just in case.

oh this all sounds gorgeous.

i'm in two minds about eating out on christmas day, or hosting my first ever christmas dinner at home. it just seems so daunting! i get all flustered just doing a roast for the 3 of us, so can imagine it to be really hard work to do christmas dinner for about 6 people.

I'm thinking of a ham for xmas lunch this year... will just be me and dp... I might try that sausagemeat roll thing linked to earlier to go with it or is that overkill?

Not sure about starter but maybe prawn cocktail?

I'm looking for a dessert that will keep if we don't eat it that day - any ideas?

HoldMe - a bit late I know but I just noticed your post re cranberry sauce

I make a Sarah Raven cranberry and orange compote a few weeks before Christmas, it keeps in fridge and makes enough to give a jar or two away as a nice gift - and it is divine.

Its yum with the turkey but also vvv good with cold meats too. Its quite alcoholic! Can post recipe if you like.

Just bumping this as it is a useful thread!

As we've been invited out for Xmas eve and will be having full roast then, I think we will now be doing a simple buffet on Xmas day, but has to be gluten free. I'd like to try more homemade stuff because the past couple of years I've gone for ready made bung-in-the-oven type things and ended up feeling all greasy and yuk, as well as feeling guilty as DH (coeliac) can't eat all of it.

But I don't really want to spend all day cooking either.

Any ideas? :)

Last year, for Christmas Eve, we did a sort of smorgasbord of cooked and cured meats, cheese, tomatoes, olives, nice bread, dipping oils etc. I think we will be doing that again this year.

This year, we are debating attempting a goose for the first time ever instead of turkey. I will have to get spiced beef for DH though.

My parents' tradition for Boxing Day is ham and turkey sandwiches washed down with Guinness after a walk along the local beach.

Starter: Mini tarts of gruyere cheese, red onion and pancetta, on a bed of rocket and lambs lettuce.

Main: Turkey crown and a gammon joint with roast potatoes, honey glazed carrots, a braised cabbage with peas and bacon combo, broccoli as DD loves it, parsnips and cranberry sauce of course ;)

Dessert: Chocolate and Orange cake, and a trifle that hardly anyone will eat but we do it because it's tradition.

Christmas evening we always have a 'Christmas tea' consisting of cold leftover turkey and gammon, cocktail sausages in bacon, salad, potato salad, coleslaw, sausage rolls etc.

No starter here
Roast turkey and trimmings and I may make a sticky toffee pud or choc cake.

I think I'm at work:( on the big day into 3pm so dh will have it all cooked for me.

Sorry FP, I posted before I realised why this thread had been bumped. You could get lots of cold things, like Spanish tapas, Italian antipasti, etc, to lay out in a buffet. Cherry tomatoes stuffed with cream cheese, or little peppers the same, mushrooms with blue cheese and garlic, could all suit your DH, alongside maybe some vol au vent cases to put some reheated turkey bits and some sauce - all of these can be cooked and served hot. While your DH may not have things like breadsticks, crackers or french bread slices (even garlic bread), is there some gluten free bread you could put out alongside these?

Hummus, sour cream and chive dip, salsa (perhaps with carrot sticks as well as breadsticks and crisps for dipping?).

Slices of cooked and cured meats (we do things like parma ham, braeseola, regular ham, couple of types of salami etc), maybe smoked salmon or plain poached salmon, prawns in sweet chilli sauce.....

Nice cheeseboard with some nice chutney or quince alongside, grapes and apple pieces, and would your DH be able to eat oatcakes rather than crackers?

M&S do lots of lovely things to serve hot and cold. I often take ideas from what they do and then make them up myself to suit our needs/tastes.

My mum hosts but she and I do the meal between us. We normally also do a special meal on Christmas Eve but have decided not to this year so will probably get a Chinese.
Christmas day:
Breakfast - roll and bacon / croissants
Lunch: Lentil soup / Seafood platter / pate
Turkey crown / Ham
Stuffing
Roasties
Neeps
Chipolatas
Sprouts with pancetta and pinenuts
I'm going to attempt to make an Xmas pud and we'll do profiteroles for the people who don't like pud.

Hopefully we'll be able to do a lot in advance and it should be nice and relaxed...

Ooh thanks that all sounds delicious.

It's odd in our house because we rarely have the big roast on the 25th, as it is just the four of us - but I do want food to be a big part of the day IYSWIM! So it's great to read such lovely ideas.