Ideal menu on Christmas Day

[wasthataburp]

Hit me with your perfect menu for Xmas day please ... in detail!

I am an early planner haha

For Christmas lunch?
Something v light to start - prawns or similar. Or a couple of canapes with drinks.
Turkey with everything - stuffing, sprouts w chestnuts, bread sauce, gravy, roasties, red cabbage, pigs in blankets, broccoli, carrots or parsnips.
Christmas pudding
Cheese and port

Or a lighter dessert in lieu of pudding and then pudding later in the evening.

@Palavah

For Christmas lunch? Something v light to start - prawns or similar. Or a couple of canapes with drinks. Turkey with everything - stuffing, sprouts w chestnuts, bread sauce, gravy, roasties, red cabbage, pigs in blankets, broccoli, carrots or parsnips. Christmas pudding Cheese and port

Or a lighter dessert in lieu of pudding and then pudding later in the evening.

For the whole day!

A rough idea of what we may have.

Breakfast: I'm making a hash brown and sausage casserole and a frech toast bread and butter pudding.

Lunch: We have christmas lunch at around 3 pm which is Turkey, pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puds, dauphinoise potatoes, roasties, brocoli, carrots, mushy peas, stuffing, sprouts, braised red cabbage, cauliflower cheese.

Dinner: Never any plans for dinner as we all get hungry at different times so its a case of a cheese board, turkey or ham sandwiches and chocolates

We have croissants and chocolates for breakfast.

Lunch is usually baked camembert for a starter. Main course is beef with a roasted veg and mozzarella strudel (and sometimes a chicken for my super picky dbro) along with roast potatoes, roast carrots, roast parsnips with maple syrup and mustard glaze, red cabbage and apple, yorkshire puds and pigs in blankets. Profiteroles and cream for pudding when anyone can fit them in.

In the evening there are leftovers, plus cheese and crackers and another baked camembert for me and dp after the dc are in bed.

Breakfast - Christmas Fruit Salad
L - mushroom wellington, roast potatoes, potato croquettes, roast carrots, leeks in white sauce, sprouts. Chocolate orange trifle.
Dinner - Cheese Board

We do:
Breakfast: bagels with smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers etc and Buck’s Fizz
Lunch: turkey (collected ready cooked from 5 star hotel in nearby city-never cooking a turkey again!) roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, sprouts, carrots etc
Dessert: whatever anyone fancies, pudding, cake, mince pies etc

Tea: whatever anyone fancies and can be bothered to get, usually cheese.

Can I choose to just not be full or drunk at any point? If so:

B: cinammon rolls, fresh berries, coffee and Buck’s Fizz
S: Bombay mix and gin and tonic
L: all the roasted veggies (potatoes, carrots, sprouts, parsnips), vegan devils on horseback, and a really really good mushroom wellington, followed by a vegan cheese board (oxymoron I know but there are some good ones out there!), Pinot noir
D: leftovers in toasted sandwiches with sloe gin
S: old fashioneds and fire roasted chestnuts with salt

Ooooh some good ideas here!

If I am going to be honest my perfect xmas day food would be a BBQ buffet - burgers (veggie ones for me), sausages, chicken, bbq-ed veggies like peppers and courgettes, salad, mini party foods like pizzas and spring rolls, dips, bowls of crisps etc.
But that'll never happen....

Following as I'm doing Xmas dinner for the first time ever this year! Never even cooked a roast before 🙈🙈

We go out for a curry. Best thing ever.

Breakfast: toasted panettone with Buck's Fizz or orange juice and everyone's hot drink of choice.

Lunch: Veg sticks. Pate and crackers. Maybe some hot sausage rolls.

Dinner: turkey crown, glazed gammon, roast potatoes, roasted carrots and parsnips, sprouts and bacon, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce.
Christmas pudding and cream for those who like it and something chocolatey or ice cream for the rest.

Crisps, chocolates and wine in front of the tv if anyone is still nibbly.

@ifiwasascent have a go at a roast a couple of times before Christmas to get the feel for timings of roast potatoes etc. A turkey crown is easier than a whole bird in my opinion.

When we're away, it varies depending on where we are (have had donuts for breakfast and Chinese for lunch, fruit for breakfast and a 5 course dinner (with duck as the main), sausage sandwich for breakfast and cold cuts for tea).

At home:
Breakfast - poached egg on English muffin or just thick white bread, toasted, with real butter and jam. Tea & OJ.

Lunch - garlic mushrooms or pate on toast (if we have a starter)
Main - roast turkey (cooked by DH the JO way - butter under the skin, propped up on veg), sausage meat stuffing, roast potatoes, sweet potato mash, pigs in blankets, carrots (roasted for DH, boiled for me), sweetcorn, parsnip, green beans, gravy, cranberry sauce.
Dessert - trifle / cheesecake
Usually have this with wine or Buck's Fizz.

Tea - if we want any, it's usually a picky plate - cheese, crackers, pate, grapes, pickles onions, pork pie, chutney. Followed up with chocolate or cheesecake if we fancy it.
If we're home this also includes homemade cocktails / whiskey / rum.

Luckily for me DH does all the cooking! I make the trifle, pour drinks and lay the table

Some nice toast, pastries from the freezer that get baked in the oven, chocolate, fruit, mince pies.

Lunch - nibbles like olives and cheese straws and more fruit and mince pies until main course is ready.
Turkey, pigs in blankets, chipolatas, meat stuffing, chestnut stuffing, sage&onion stuffing. Roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, peas, red cabbage. Gravy. Red wine, apple juice.

After a walk, Christmas pud, Yule log, more mince pies.

Supper - cheese and biscuits, olives, celery and csrrot sticks, grapes, maybe pate.

Boxing Day to NYE - leftovers.

At home:
Breakfast:
Jus rol or M&S pastries baked in the oven
Freshly squeezed orange juice
Large plunger pot of coffee
Some years, we also add sausage or rasher sandwiches on naice bread - depending on how early we are up and about. With proper grainy mustard on sausages, or good tomato relish or mayonnaise on rashers.

We sometimes also have mixed fruit already chopped (night before) in the fridge to enjoy.

There are tiny canapes on offer in 1 house we need to visit - smoked salmon pate, cocktail sausages, chicken liver pate. This is usually middle of the day.

When we get home, we have a packet (or 2 if starving) of some nice M&S party food as a snack/starter, around 4.30pm, when the turkey is almost finished cooking, the potatoes have gone in, fire is lit and we can relax with a drink and open presents.

We might also put out some crisps to nibble.

Dinner is early evening.
Roast turkey and stuffing, proper gravy, (we might have a couple of pre-cooked slices of spiced beef or of proper ham to add - or we might just have turkey)
roast potatoes, (sometimes some mash as well),
roasted root veg (mixed carrots, parsnips, butternut squash, onion, garlic),
sometimes another veg as well (e.g. boiled petits pois, fried mushrooms with garlic and thyme, stir fried mixed veg, sweetcorn) - but generally only 1 of those.

Sometimes we have cheese then, or a while later (with a glass of port on Christmas day) - we have started the Christmas cheeses on 24th, and just slowly work through them over the period. Or we might skip it if feeling very full.

Pudding is later in the evening - sometimes proper plum pudding, or sticky toffee pudding and vanilla ice cream. Sometimes we are too full and don't bother.

If we are away, we rent a cottage between DPs and DMIL (they're only 15 miles apart), so:
Breakfast - similar to at home but less relaxed and more rushed.

Lunch - turkey dinner #1 - vol au vent starter, soup, full turkey & ham and all the trimmings, trifle or jelly/icecream.

Late afternoon - crisps to keep the hunger at bay opening presents

Late evening - turkey dinner #2 - smoked salmon starter, full turkey & ham and all the trimmings, cheeseboard, plum pudding or jelly/icecream or mixed berries.

There's a reason we don't go home every year.....

Breakfast - I would prefer something likes eggs Benedict or stack of pancakes and fruit but as the morning is a haze of present opening etc we settle for oven baked crossiants/pastries and Christmas shaped crumpets.

Lunch is starter - last year I did mini ones so prawn cocktail in large shot glasses, mini filo crackers filled with Brie and cranberry and doughball baubles with garlic butter.

Main (about an hour later) is toast turkey, ham joint, pigs in blankets (nut roast but might try a veggie Wellington this year and aubergine and halloumi in blankets for veggie DD)
Roast potatoes, honey roast parsnips, roast carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower cheese, cabbage (for DH who hates Brussels) and mashed swede.
Cranberry sauce, bread sauce and gravy.

Pudding is Xmas pud, trifle and something like a chocolate cheesecake.

Tea is cheese and crackers with pickles and chutney, mince pies and chocolates.

Our standard is:

Breakfast/brunch (around 10am) - salmon, cream cheese, and avocado bagels, or bacon sandwiches, or croissants and jam; lots of tea and coffee; bucks fizz

Lunch (around 2pm) - no starter, but a main consisting of: turkey crown, stuffing, mushroom wellington or nut roast for vegetarians, pigs-in-blankets, Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, honey roasted carrots and parsnips, sprouts with chestnuts, red cabbage, gravy, bread sauce, cranberry sauce.

Dessert - Christmas pudding, ice cream, chocolate log

Tea (4.30/5pm, after a walk) - a cup of tea with mince pies and Christmas cookies

Supper (about 8pm) - cheese and crackers, maybe a baked camembert with crusty bread, sausage rolls

Crisps, nuts, Bombay mix, chocolates, and biscuits are available throughout the day to graze on, and alcohol flows freely

We usually start the day trying not to eat the chocolate from the stockings! Then...

Breakfast- pain au chocolat from the freezer with juice

Then trying to stop kids eat all the chocolate from their stockings/presents

Lunch - my DH loves prawn cocktail so we have our 'starter' at lunch time!

Then more chocolate

At some point - roast turkey with bread sauce, cranberry sauce, roasted potatoes, parsnips, carrots, steamed potatoes, carrots, peas, sprouts, and braised cabbage

Later on - Christmas pudding

In between time all the chocolate, crisps, nuts, dates, etc that we have been 'saving for Christmas!'

Their is usually something sparkly, a nice bottle of red and maybe a liqueur or two!

Oh I forgot in the morning we usually have visitors so there is coffee or mulled wine with biscuits, lebkuchen stars and mince pies!

My ideal (I could never manage this much food in one day but it’s my dream menu )

Breakfast - sausage and smoked bacon sandwiches or eggs benedict or homemade sausage McMuffins

Lunch:
Starter: Camembert and french bread
Main: Lamb, roast potatoes, stuffing, pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings, Brussels sprouts oven cooked with honey and pancetta, carrots and roast parsnips, leeks in cheese sauce and broccoli.

Dinner: mini sausage rolls, pork pies, cheese board, salami, Parma ham, chicken satays, leftovers in sandwiches.

Breakfast is bacon rolls, coffee and Buck’s Fizz
Pre lunch nibbles like prawns, sausage rolls, tiny fish cakes
Lunch at 3pm is rib of beef, roast veg, Brussels with chestnuts, Yorkshire puds, bread sauce, horseradish sauce. We do not have pudding
Late evening is cheese and biscuits. Port, damson gin
Chocolate throughout the day!!!

I've gone vegan so will be cooking two different menues for Christmas!

For me:

Breakfast -
Vegan cheese, cranberry and mayo toastie fried in Flora and an oat milk praline or toffeenut latte

Dinner-
Roast potatoes in rapeseed oil
Vegan cauliflower cheese
Roast parsnips
Cabbage
Sprouts
Paxo stuffing
Homemade vegan turkey and stuffing style roast
Carrot and swede mash
Mash potatoes
Vegan Yorkshire pudding
Bread sauce
Miso gravy

Pudding: vegan salted caramel cheese cake

For family:
Breakfast -
Hot sweet pastry and fruit selection OR brioche French toast, bacon and strawberries with maple syrup. Haven't decided yet.

Dinner -
Roast Turkey
Roast potatoes
Yorkshire puddings
Pork stuffing
Pigs in blankets
Cauliflower cheese
Cabbage
Roasted chantenay carrots
Brussel sprouts and bacon
Gravy
Bread sauce

Pudding -
Homemade chocolate yule log and chestnut cream
Christmas pudding

In the evening we have a sharing board - cheeses, crackers, cold cuts, olives and tapenade, crisps, chocolates etc.

Can't wait

Smoked salmon, wilted spinach and cream cheese on thick cut toasted sour dough for breakfast. Roast bird (I like goose or a three bird roast) or veg option, roasted potatoes, roasted parsnips, carrots, sweet potatoes and beetroot mixed, Brussels, mashed swede, peas (hate them but only green stuff dd eats), cranberry orange relish, sausagemeat and sage stuffing, lots of gravy.
Christmas pudding

Frozen canapés, cheeses, olives etc with fresh baked rolls (the kind you buy part cooked with seeds on)
Cake- lots!!!

Champagne with every meal in a perfect world but will compromise with decent red wine.

Ps thinking of fleeing the country though as don't want to deal with it, first year post divorce

Breakfast: smoked salmon and scrambled egg on toast, good black coffee.

Lunch (around 3 pm):

Lobster cocktail.

Roast goose, red wine and date sauce/gravy (it's a Gordon Ramsey recipe), roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, sprouts. Potato, apple and sage stuffing. Cranberry sauce.

Lemon meringue roulade, vanilla ice cream.

Later: cheeseboard (Stilton, Camembert, Stinking Bishop, Cheddar), black and red grapes.