Christmas Dinner ideas- help!

[Astressie]

Got a bit of a block about Christmas Dinner this year. Any easy ideas for interesting and preferably prep ahead Christmas vegetable dishes e.g. sprouts, parsnips, Christmas dessert ideas. We have scallops for a starter but still haven't decided how to cook them.

Sprouts are yummy fried with red onion and bacon?

Red cabbage cooked in mulled wine is lovely. Better cooked ahead and reheated.

Mmmm sprouts with bacon are yum. Also with chorizo - or you could keep the chorizo for the scallops. (Or scallops + black pudding or haggis).
Not sure how sacrosanct your toasties are but they're interesting with a spicy rub or with rosemary.

We will be doing sticky toffee pudding for desert this year

bit late to still be planning... but hope this helps...

Scallops are always nice seared in a hot pan with a little butter. De-glaze the pan with white wine - makes a nice "dressing"

Sprouts - steam in a bag in the microwave with copious amounts of butter/salt/pepper.

Parsnips - scrub or peel - chop in quarters lengthways, remove any woody core, put in a tray with roast spuds 30 min before they are done.

You can prep any veg the day before and put in the fridge (prepped sprouts, butter/salt/pepper - bag, fridge - will keep 2 or 3 days)

For desert we have an "Eton mess" type thing - meringue/fruit/cream - light and tasty followed by a large box of After Eights.

Parsnips are nice with butter and a little wholegrain mustard, but to be honest there's so much to eat that preparing everything in a 'special' way is overkill.

I like my sprouts unadulterated. I cut them in half and put a slit in the stalk end, they cook much more evenly that way. If you really want to tart them up a bit, then a pinch of dried dill in the water as they are cooking gives them a lift.

We have pancetta and chestnut sprouts www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/74608/buttered-sprouts-with-chestnuts-and-bacon

Delia’s Parmesan parsnips are good to prep ahead www.deliaonline.com/recipes/collections/root-vegetables/parmesan-baked-parsnips

Maple and walnut carrots www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/m/maple-roast-parsnipsandcarrots.html

All great ideas thank you. Trying to find a recipe for the scallops with pomegranate molasses- think it will go well. I think i'm doing the parsnips with maple syrup- but had it a few years in a row. Also sprouts with pancetta. Think I added marsala wine and parsley last year - but can't remember how well it worked? Currently hanging snowflakes down the chimney breast killing my arms and keep falling down - arghhhh!
Do sprouts taste better with a cross cut into them- always do it but takes hours??
How do you decorate your Christmas table ? Where do you put the crackers and serviettes?

I like sprouts lightly steamed then tossed in bacon lardons, crisped up with some garlic and sesame oil.
Parsnips are lovely roasted with some (not many) cumin or caraway seeds.
Carrots are lovely roasted then drizzled with melted butter and honey infused with thyme.

If you are not going for trad Christmas pudding then the best desserts imo are Mary Berry's chocolate log or sticky toffee ginger steamed pud or trad sherry trifle or tiramisu. (Like trifle but more grown up.)

Just saw an insta post which looked lush -
Maple Roasted Carrots with Tahini Yogurt and Pistachio Dukkah

We never have a starter. It just makes the meal overly complicated!

This year, we're having pepper-crusted fillet of beef with roasted balsamic onions and thyme . Along with that I'll serve roasted parsnips and potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, sprouts with chestnuts and lardons and carrots. I'll probably make some extra gravy as well.

No need to bother cutting a cross into the sprouts! (I've also bought ready-prepared ones too, so no faffing around trimming leaves off)

and we're having individual sticky toffee puddings for dessert

These are already made and in the freezer.

Serviettes go on the side plates, on the left, and I put the crackers on people's table mats, as we pull them before we start eating.

We have no room on the table for side plates, so napkin goes on the tablemat, cracker on top of napkin. We also pull ours before the meal begins. Gets the kids interested in going to the table - one or 2 on clear up the mess duty whilst dinner is served.