Ideal menu on Christmas Day

[wasthataburp]

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

I am an early planner haha

What’s hard sauce?!

Forgotten how much I love buttery carrot & swede mash! But mushy peas with Christmas dinner??!!

Isn't Hard Sauce like a white cauce with alcohol ? So butter, flour, milk, sugar , maybe vanilla and as much alcohol as you can shoehorn in

If I try to make Yorkshire Puddings for a special meal they will sit judgily and pancake-like .

Make a huge batch a couple of days before , they rise and practically climb out of the tins .
We eat the rough looking ones then open freeze and bag up the nice ones
I'm told the National Grid cannot cope , oven temps are lower on Christmas Day?

What does everyone else do on Christmas Eve? I was keen to go out, get all gussied up, but eldest daughter has turned into a cross between the grinch and a very snarky hermit, so it's more trouble than it's worth.

We are always in on Christmas Eve, preparing veg for the big day. We sometimes have fish for tea or a takeaway but I don’t like anything too heavy because of the meal the next day. I think this could be the year that DD stops believing so we probably won’t be scattering reindeer dust or leaving snacks out for Santa 😢

If I'm not working on Christmas Eve, we make sausage rolls in the morning and then go for a walk to find the spirit of Christmas with sausage rolls to keep our hands warm/eat. Last year we made christingles for the local church service in the morning, and went to the service in thr afternoon. Then we go home to find that the elf has gone and left the Christmas eve bag of goodies. We peel veg, have lentil soup to eat, and then do letters to Father Christmas etc.

We prep on Christmas Eve and boil a big gammon with mustard, brown sugar and cloves, and have slices of that for supper with freshly baked bread. We eat the ginger bread house on Christmas Eve.

Breakfast is French toast made with doorsteps of brioche, with nutmeg, cinnamon, mixed spice and vanilla. Lots of crispy bacon and maple syrup.

For lunch I don’t bother with a starter anymore but just go straight to the main event.
We have turkey and stuffing.
Maple and brown sugar baked gammon studded with cloves.
Roast potatoes, and gratin dauphinois. Baked asparagus wrapped in Parma ham. Carrot and swede mash.
Brussels sprouts.
Other veg by request
Gravy

Dessert will depend on who we’re hosting but will be a choice of trifle, chocolate biscuit pudding, cake, pavlova, or Christmas pudding, with some combination of ice cream, cream or custard.

Once the dishwasher is on, I’m off duty (and probably reclining at a 45 degree angle across an armchair) so any further meals that day are left overs and sandwiches and quality street.

Boxing Day breakfast is left over selection boxes, quality street and stray chocolate coins. Toasted stuffing sandwiches and reheated left overs for lunch and dinner. Cheese board for snacks. A helping of any of the desserts is also considered a reasonable meal. As long as mum doesn’t have to make it or think about it!

By the 27th I’ve recovered from the exertions of Christmas and can manage bubble and squeak or to blitz some veg into soup and warm up bread rolls. By now the stuffing has run out and we’re reduced to plain turkey sandwiches.

Usually by the 29th, or the 30th at the latest, the dc are in armed revolt and normal mealtimes with varied menus resume.

Christmas Eve -don;t have breakfast as lunch is early

I do fishfingers for DS (he;s the only non-vegetarian) , DD,DH and I have Vegetable Grills
Huge amount of Triple Cooked Chips

Some salad, dips

If anyone wants , there's ice-cream, apple pie

We have a late buffet on Christmas Eve Night - French bread, salad ( like a fresh salsa) cheeses , crisps, mince pies , chocolate crispie cakes .
Watch some TV

Christmas Eve - just as normal
Christmas if having family: traditional meal
if going to family: whatever they do
if just me and OH: cooked breakfast followed by a take away in front of telly later on

For the whole day?

We always had porridge for breakfast Christmas morning growing up. DH always had smoked salmon and scrambled eggs- so he has that now and I still like porridge!

Then after church it’s nibbles (olives, silverskin onions, crisps in little bowls) and sherry, then:

Prawn cocktail with lettuce, smoked salmon and brown bread and butter - white wine
Turkey, ham, stuffing, gravy, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, carrot and swede, sprouts, cauliflower cheese, red cabbage, chipolatas wrapped in bacon, roast potatoes - red or white wine
Christmas pudding and cream

At some point we have a glass of champagne or two.

In the evening: turkey, stuffing, ham and cranberry sandwiches, Christmas cake, cheeses and whatever you like to drink: mulled wine, more fizz, Baileys or sherry in this house.

The chocolates get passed around continuously from after lunch.

Tea and coffee with breakfast then after lunch and maybe in the evening too.

I think that’s it!

Christmas Eve is always fish pie here.

I forgot parsnips!

Breakfast:
Panetonne with unsalted French butter, coffee, fruit.

Lunch:
Champagne
Smoked salmon, thin brown bread,
Chablis or Pouilly Fume
Raspberries
Gorgeous cheese, quality cheese biscuits

Dinner:
Turkey with mash, roasties, chipolatas, bacon rolls, stuffing, sausage meat, red cabbage, peas, sprouts, carrots, cranberry sauce. Gravy.
Excellent red wine.
Christmas pudding , brandy sauce, pudding wine.
Cheese, port.

I don't like Turkey or much of the traditional fare so I would opt for gravadlax starter, nice cut of beef with a red wine reduction sauce. Side of sauteed potatoes, sprouts with pancetta, roasted veg. Selection of cheese afterwards and dessert would be some sort of fancy ready made chocolatey creation.

@HalloumiFries your ILs haven’t heard of fish for breakfast? They haven’t heard of kippers???

I'm hosting the 4 days this year so xmas day will be very very low maintenance (I'll host and cook the other days)

Breakfast is fruit platters, fresh pastries, chia puddings and Buck's Fizz

Out for dinner

Tea of roast ham, huge cheese board, crisps and dips and chocolates

espresso martinis and champagne cocktails

I'm getting a great plan together for Xmas off the back of this thread. I always feel like there's too much good food to fit in on Xmas day and I've realised I need to start the feasting on Xmas Eve instead! (My slightly puritan mother will be horrified.)

So, my normal fancy breakfasts will move to Christmas Eve (smoked salmon and eggs for me, sausage and bacon butty for DH, pain au chocolate for the kids) while Xmas day breakfast is going to be Krispy Kreme doughnuts .

Christmas Eve lunch I think can be cola ham, warm crusty bread, and a baked camembert.

Christmas Eve dinner... Unsure.

Christmas day breakfast - donuts.

Meaning we won't be too full up from breakfast so can do Xmas lunch at about 1, full turkey and sides effort.

Christmas day dinner / supper - turkey and ham sandwiches, cheeseboard, cake.

I am so excited!

On Christmas Eve we usually get a Chinese meal from M & S , I like getting the veg prepped , though I think there may only be the 2 of us on Christmas Day ( which will be a bit strange )

B jus rol type croissants
L starter usually pate & toast ,for me DH likes prawn cocktail
D roast turkey , roast potatoes , Brussels sprouts , carrots , red cabbage , pigs in blankets , cranberry sauce gravy
Dessert is usually melting middle choc pud ( I make them )

If we have to go and see the inlaws on Boxing Day , I'm planning on cooking the big roast on Christmas Eve for dinner , so we can have all the lovely cold stuff we'd normally have on Boxing Day ( which is my favourite day ) on Christmas Day
DH not too happy about that , but I'm the one that cooks , so it's down to me to make the final decision

I'm thinking we might do a rack of Venison for Christmas Eve. And I might do seafood cocktail for starters. And a trio of desserts for, well, dessert! Maybe chocolate mousse, rose and pistachio ice-cream, and a mini pavlova. . .

I've found a stash of last year's Christmas magazines, so I'll go through those for inspiration - especially BBC Good Food!

@PattyPan , they've lived quite sheltered lives. FiL loves to tell the story of when they went to some 5-star hotel resort and there were all these weird and wonderful things - including fish - at the breakfast buffet. Clearly to cater for the Japanese tourists.

It's been nearly 24 years and I couldn't begin to guess how many times I've heard that story. He sounds more incredulous every time.

That reminds me - it's not a Christmas tradition, but in New Year's Eve we have kedgeree for supper with enough for breakfast the next day because it feels wholesome enough for new year's resolutions while also being soothing comfort food for the hung-over and sleep deprived.

I am loving reading everyone's posts! I can't wait for the M&S Christmas food to be online! Any other places got their Christmas food on yet?

Oooooooh good thread!

Chocolate
Smoked streaky bacon sandwich with gallons of nice coffee
Chocolate
Beef wellington with mashed potato, honey roast carrots and parsnips, sprouts with chestnuts and a lot of really good rich red wine gravy
Chocolate
Trifle
Chocolate

I cook Xmas dinner on Xmas eve. Usually roast chicken and lamb and all the trimmings. It gives me plenty of prep time, and the children like eating by candle light.

Xmas day: husband prepares breakfast. Fizz, orange juice, croissants, bacon, sausages, eggs, toast.

I do a buffet meal mid-afternoon that then lasts all day. Bread, cheese, salads, quiche, smoked salmon, salami, crisps. Then some cold puds - cheesecake and fruit salad.

Breakfast: gingerbread man-shaped pancakes, thick Spanish hot chocolate, fresh OJ

Lunch: homemade soup and nice bread

Dinner (around 7-8): saltimbocca, mince pies for dessert with homemade brandy butter*

• We call it Vodka Margarine as homage to Bottom and Rik Mayall

We're two adults and a 9yo on Christmas day, we don't cook a huge roast lunch. We also have a dog, so it's: up, stockings, walk dog, breakfast, presents, light lunch, walk dog/play with outdoor presents (scooter, remote control car, drone etc), chill, late dinner, final dog wee trip, film + Bailey's, collapse in bed!

And there's grazing on Christmas present chocolates and sweets all day, too!