What do you eat on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day?

[OrangeCactus]

We are having Christmas at home this year, just me, DP and dd. It's going to be really relaxed and I can't wait!

We need to sit down and decide what we are going to eat on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning and exactly what we are having on our Christmas dinner (only got as far as roast beef so far).

We usually go to parents for Christmas so don't have to really think about it.

So what do you usually eat? Any special drinks that you have?

In need of some inspiration!

How does everyone manage to have time to watch movies on Christmas Eve? I'm always wrapping presents (including on behalf of my dad who seems to be constitutionally incapable of wrapping his own... which I have usually bought for him )

Christmas Eve we eat salmon- usually buy a whole salmon and do in the oven. We have it with fennel and orange salad, roasted peppers, and new potatoes. Not sure where all this came from but it's our tradition as led by DM.

Christmas Day we have panettone for breakfast. Light lunch of smoked salmon and soda bread with the all essential dill mustard (my absolute favourite Christmas related food).

Christmas dinner is turkey, roast potatoes, sprouts, mashed celeriac and swede, and home made stuffing and cranberry sauce. Dessert is shop bought Christmas pudding with lots of brandy cream.

Writing all this down, I can now see that my favourite items are sauces and condiments

We host Xmas eve normally for between 6-16 people. Try and mix it up but love tapas and Moro inspired dishes, but have also done fancy fish dishes in the past. Basically something delicious and foody that is not likely to come up at Christmas otherwise. Christmas day is usually hosted by my mums generation and quite trad although delicious, Turkey or a goose and all the trimmings. Xmas pudding etc.

Christmas Eve is often (not always) kedgeree - sometimes I use smoked salmon instead of smoked cod or haddock, probably followed by hot mince pies and squirty cream or brandy cream.

Christmas Day breakfast is smoked salmon and scrambled eggs with soda bread, chives and capers.

Christmas lunch will be turkey (I prefer goose, but can't justify the expense this year), ham, sprouts, parsnips, stuffing, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes and honey-glazed carrots, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, and gravy. There will be ice cream for afters (we can never manage more than that!).

Later in the day there will be a cheeseboard, charcuterie selection, biscuits and pickles, mince pies, apples, grapes, pears and satsumas to graze on. Plus the amazing De Klok Advocaat - more like a very boozy custard - to have with the mince pies.

Boxing Day begins with a Bloody Mary, lunch is always cold turkey and ham, mashed potatoes, pickled walnuts (these are essential ) and salad, followed by cheese and biscuits or a slice of Christmas cake.

Cava or Prosecco on Christmas Eve, champagne/Buck's Fizz/orange juice with breakfast, sherry or dry martinis before dinner, a massive red (Bressia Profundo, if anyone's interested) or a Piersporter with the turkey etc., dessert wine if anyone fancies it, and vintage port with the cheeses etc. The Bloody Mary Boxing Day breakfast is often followed by various vodka cocktails, and I'm planning on serving a dry rosé with lunch.

After all this, we will sleep :)

Not sure about CE- I'd like a takeaway but DH has vetoed an Indian or Chinese as that fills him up the next day. I don't want to cook, but would like it to be a little indulgent so we need to think about it.

CD breakfast- pancakes and various sauces
Lunch- lamb, dauphinois, all the trimmings.
Evening- cheese, biscuits, charcuterie. (Sp).

I'm doing it all on Christmas Day 😬.

Marking place!

We're a little inconventional in that I cancelled the traditional Christmas Day roast when we started having a family 14 years ago, and I was stuck in the kitchen all day missing being with the kids (dh is woefully un-domesticated, although I do keep trying!)
So, Christmas Eve is a veggie roast meal, which dh can successfully do all the clearing up from.
All Christmas day food will be prepared and served by dh, whilst I have my annual day off! We enjoy a glass or two of Bucks Fuzz/J2O for the kids and chocolates whilst opening presents. Breki will be scrambled eggs, mushrooms and smoked salmon late morning. Veggie pizza, garlic dough balls and salad for lunch mid afternoon, with Christmas pud and custard. Teatime we'll have cheese and biscuits, olives, dips, lots of yummy picky bits that just need a lid removing, with vegan chocolate brownies or similar that I've made in advance.
Whenever my mum spends Christmas with us, she moans that it doesn't feel like Christmas, but it works for us, and makes for a nice, relaxed day. I did try a more traditional day a few years ago, but mum just got in the way and offered lots of criticism, and I struggled to fit everything we needed into the tiny oven we had at the time. Timing a meal like a Christmas roast provides me with lots of stress and having to follow a list that I've written in advanced. Not my forte!
Boxing day will be spent visiting somewhere interesting/a brisk walk, followed by a takeaway curry on the way home, so it'll actually be two days in a row off for me. 😆
Lots of interesting ideas on here that I might adopt for future years though!

Christmas eve is a buffet at the in-laws.

Christmas day brekkie is chocolate and whatever we find in stockings. Then turkey with all the trimmings for dinner. Tea time is over my mum's where we have turkey/pork rolls and trifle or profiteroles.

Christmas Eve depends on who is here

Christmas day mince pies whilst opening presents,then smoked salmon with scrambled eggs and bucks fizz

Lunch/dinner chilli and garlic prawns, meat this year capon, often duck or turkey all the trimmings, Christmas pud and brandy butter.

Usually that's it

Christmas Eve will eat party leftovers from night before. Village Pub 5-8pm
Christmas Day morning toasted panettone and butter, proper strong coffee, freshly squeezed OJ
Midday smoked salmon nibbles, mini sausages for D.C., get the Prosecco and wine open
3ish Turkey etc. Christmas pudding for adults, chocolate dessert for DC
Evening/late: cold turkey, cranberry compote, salad, cheese, sausage rolls, mince pies, Christmas cake

I would never get a takeaway on Christmas Eve, we decided to have a Chinese one memorable year , my exdp had the most dreadful food poisoning from it, it was the first time it had happened and we never went there again, but It left me with a fear of take away and I have never risked having one at important times since.

That's sounds terrible pp. The takeaway we go to is family run, we know the family and it's a restaurant and they give us a free calendar every year; it's quite the tradition for us. They also have 5 star hygiene rating; I wouldn't risk an unknown one however! We also only eat a light chow mein so we're not too full up for Christmas Day! Don't think I'd risk a curry or anything rich! I love Christmas Eve as it's a rest for me as I have to do all the cooking on Xmas day!

I love this thread. As much as I can get my hands on basically. Treats wise, I've rediscovered York fruits - those fruit jelly things.

Also twiglets, pretzels, after eights...

IOwn - love a fruity jelly! I’ve bought some for the DCs stockings and am jealous.

I bought nuts - cracking and salted mix, plus a tub of twiglets and cheddars and had squirrelled them away and forgotten about them!

So to this thread for the reminder. I’m in London today and might swing by Borough Market and get some amazing Turkish Delight from the fab stall there. The DC adore it.

DS has requested spag bol with dough balls for Christmas eve.

On Christmas day we will have a roast dinner with chicken and beef.

DD has requested curry for Boxing day.

First time we've been home alone as a family of 4, so very excited.

Roast Pork, salad, I bake cupcakes and fruitcakes and then sister comes over and share her prepared food goodies with us. We usually have it dinner time with everyone around it's just memorable each year.

Christmas Eve is normally a sort of Smorgasbord type meal. Cured meats (salamis, parma ham, braseola etc), and some pate, smoked salmon, prawns, cherry tomatoes, cheese, olives, carrot sticks, hummus, flatbreads. All laid out in the middle for people to pick at what they would like. And things that we will happily eat over the next couple of days if there are leftovers.

Christmas breakfast is usually some pastries that we bake on the morning (Jus rol croissants or similar), freshly squeezed orange juice, coffee and sometimes bacon butties.

Christmas dinner (evening) will include turkey and possibly spiced beef or ham. Roast potatoes, roasted root veg (carrots, parsnips, pumpkin, onion), boiled baby peas, proper gravy, stuffing. I might do another kind of potatoes if I am feeling adventurous (hasselback or mash most likely).
We'll probably have some cheese after main course.
Followed by pudding with cream, and maybe some fresh fruit salad.

Some years we have a starter (smoked salmon or prawns in marie rose sauce or pate usually), others we don't, it's too early to say this year yet.

I got some nice white Austrian wine for the turkey, and I have some dessert wine for the pudding (it's the only time of year I get that). I also like a drop of amaretto at Christmas-time, and sloe gin if I've been able to gather the berries. But they tend to be on other evenings when we don't have so much wine with dinner.

Christmas Eve - prob salmon, new potatoes and salad
Christmas Day brekkie - croissants, proper coffee, fresh juices
CD 12ish. 6 people - canapés, crisps, olives, cheese straws, blinis with pretend caviar and smoked salmon Champagne for adults, Schloer or similar for DCs
CD 3ish - roast turkey and all the trimmings, white wine, red wine, juice for DC, water for all. Pavlova and Xmas pud.
CD later - DH’s yummy Xmas cake, chocs.
Boxing Day- 15 people. Gammon, lots of salad, cold turkey, cheeses, condiments. Champagne, wine, fizzy non alcoholic drinks. Later on lots of tea and cake and a big walk.
Can. Not. Wait!!

I normally work Christmas Eve unless it happens to fall on a weekend, so generally a posh ready meal.

Last year I did a load of beige freezer food (popcorn chicken, mozzarella sticks, onion rings etc).

This year I’m going to have a load of cheese and crackers.

Christmas Day breakfast is bacon butty on homemade bread roll

For Christmas dinner I do roast chicken (it’s just me) with all the trimmings. Followed by Christmas pudding.

Glumglowworm You said it's just you. Do you mean just you cooking? Not just you for dinner?

We have some traditions now which we love. If my parents are with us they join in too, otherwise it is the three of us.

Christmas Eve we have lunch in a very nice restaurant in town with processo / wine

Christmas Eve night I cook the glazed ham in the oven and once it is ready we eat hot ham sandwiches on very fresh white bread with real butter, gherkins, mustard / relish. Mince pies with baileys cream for after. Wine / beer / prosecco / baileys to drink

Christmas morning we have a hot breakfast - some years it's the full works, other years we've had pancakes and crispy bacon with maple syrup. This year I a thinking of eggs benedict. Fresh orange juice, proper coffee, bucks fizz to drink. We have this at about 10.30 / 11am

Tea / coffee/ wine etc with nibbles and cake in the afternoon

We eat a proper sit down 3 course dinner at about 7pm which goes on till about 9.30pm.

We have a starter - smoked salmon or prawns etc
Turkey and ham, roast potatoes, bread and sage stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, marrowfat peas, roast carrots and parsnips, red cabbage and gravy

Wine to drink

Dessert will be something chocolatey and sherry trifle

Boxing day breakfast is ALWAYS a turkey, stuffing and cranberry sandwich on white bread with real butter and lots of salt brought to me in bed by dh with fresh proper coffee and a small selection of xmas biscuits from the tin - this is tradition now and I think I like it more than the actual dinner!!

We eat cold meat, salads and baked potatoes that day

we always have yule log, after eights, baileys, crisps, nuts, olives, cheeses, crackers, grapes, tins of roses, other chocolates, wine, bubbles, baileys, beer, satsumas, relish, chutneys etc available

No set routine for Christmas Eve. Thinking about the last few years we have had:

• some of the Christmas ham with a big tray of roasted root veg
• Indian takeaway (DHs favourite)

-fish & chips from the chip shop

• pizzas
• a buffet of picky bits (kids favourite)
• lemon sole with new potatoes & greens (my favourite)

Christmas Day we have a fairly standard menu:

• breakfast of croissants, tea and coffee, champagne and chocolate
• used to have smoked salmon or prawns fir starter, but stopped doing that a few years ago as nobody was hungry enough
• roast turkey and trimmings for lunch. Xmas pud for grown ups, ice cream with sauce & sprinkles for D.C. about 2 hours after lunch
• cheese & crackers with red wine or port when the D.C. have gone to bed

Oh and we go large on the trimmings as we are greedy and also like plentiful leftovers.

Roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, chestnut stuffing, sage & onion stuffing balls, American cornbread stuffing, roast parsnips, roast carrots, braised red cabbage, Yorkshire puddings, pigs in blankets, cauliflower/Brussels sprouts/peas/green beans

Christmas Eve we go aee Santa on the local light railway then lunch is soup and crusty bread when we get back then a little buffet style tea for the 4 of us with the usual sausage rolls, pizza, chicken skewers, breadsticks and dips etc etc and this year I've got some profiteroles for dessert.

Christmas Day breakfast I've got some croissants and bucks fizz.
Lunch is about 2pm and very traditional- prawn cocktail then turkey, sage and onion stuffing, pork stuffing balls, pigs in blankets, roasted carrots and parsnips in an apricot glaze, goose fat roasties, peas, sprouts with chestnuts and turkey gravy. Oh and this year for the first time homemade Yorkshire puds as it's DD's (4) favourite food in the world!
Christmas pudding and Bailey's cream for dessert.
Drinks are wine or Bailey's usually.

Christmas Day Night me and DH don't have anything as still stuffed but kids will have a light tea- don't know what yet!

At my mum's we always have a buffet on Christmas eve, she bakes a ham and we have salad, bread, coleslaw, olives, cheese, potatoes, several quiches, pickles. A bought desert afterwards.
Christmas day we have fruit salad and pastries for breakfast. Christmas dinner at 1pm. Turkey sandwiches at 7ish! Mum always makes extra pigs in blankets so we can have them cold with the Christmas Sandwich.