Christmas dinners - anyone not having turkey???

[texasrose]

I'm interested because I think we've (finally, after much hooing and hahing) decided to have a roast duck instead (with a nice zesty fruity stuffing like cranberry or suchlike).

We have roast chickens every couple of weeks so a turkey just doesn't seem special enough.

We were going to roast a goose until we found out how much they are (£60 - £70 on Ocado -eeek!)

So is anyone else doing anything different? My bro is vegan so my parents are all having a vegan Christmas dinner. I'm sure it will be delish as he's a great cook.

Spiced red cabbage is wonderful with roast beef.

We usually have a honey baked ham. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

We're having goose. I have never worn an alice-band in my life and we fry pretension in lard and eat it for breakfast in this house. I just like goose. Pah! It will be delish (ordered from local farm shop) and the fat is great for the roast spuds too. Mmmmmmmm [hungry emoticon]

Well I've decided to (sharp intake of breath) cheat!!!! and order one of the pre-stuffed ducks from M&S. It comes in a foil tray even so virtually no skills are required (except for the turning on of the oven). Have I gone from pretentious to chavvy in one fell swoop????!!!!! IMO Christmas is about enjoying time with loved ones not getting all stressed out in the kitchen.

I've also picked up a great tip from Good Housekeeping mag which is to parboil the spuds in advance, freeze them, then roast them from frozen for an hour. It is supposed to work v. well and produce gorgeous roast potatoes. I'm going to trial this before Christmas Day and see if it works!

lol ellbell at frying pretension in lard!

we arent having xmas dinner at all we are going out xmas eve and having nibbles on xmas day

heresy!!!!

thanks texasrose and TOP TIP about the spuds.
Even though I will not be cooking them, lol
I will be able now to amaze people with my domestigodessery

Im with Texasrose, we have been ordering from m&s for a couple of years,this year we are having a lamb from there and two desserts (that have been ordered) and hopefully one of their "the snowman" trifles they had last year (goes down v.well with lo's!! and leaves more profiteroles for ME moohahahaha ) Will also prob get small turkey crown from morrisons in case anyone wants it!

THat sounds yummy Noogles!

I love the idea of being a domestic goddess and I do really enjoy cooking but Christmas is supposed to be a holiday, no?

I am doing my culinary wizardess (???) thing by making a really nice egg-free, wheat-free, nut-free christmas pud with a fabulous homemade toffee sauce for my very allergic dd. I'm very proud of this feat and keep mentioning in on every thread I'm on! (Oh by the way have I told you about this amazing pud I'm making, smug smug smug....!!!!)