Christmas Eve food help

[HappySonHappyMum]

I am embarrassed to say I've never mad much of an effort on Christmas Eve. We've often ended up grazing on a buffet at someone else's house but this year it's going to be different as we'll definitely be at home. I usually focus on Christmas Day cooking but thought it would be really nice to have a Christmassy meal the night before as well as there'll only be four of us. What do you all usually do? All suggestions welcome!

If with my family, we go out for Thai food. If with DH’s, it’s cold prawns with shells on cooked on the bbq.

It’s our first Christmas just the two of us & we’ve ordered a sushi platter to collect.

@CoffeeChocolateWine

My family have had a tradition of a Swiss cheese fondue on Christmas Eve for about 35 years now. If I’m honest I prefer it to Christmas dinner. My DC haven’t quite got the taste for it yet though so we tend to do baked camembert for them but they dip all the same stuff in.

Ace idea

@AriettyHomily

Oh FFS. DUCK. DUCK. DUCK.

Pmsl 😂

I always cook our Xmas gammon on Christmas Eve morning, so we have gammon, egg and chips.

We have a seafood platter - smoked salmon, hot smoked salmon, king prawns, dressed crab, oysters, taramasalata etc with some nice breads & salad. Maybe some of the ham, cheese & chutneys we’ve got in for Christmas. Yum!

We don't have anything specific we eat every year and nothing specific planned for this year either. We have certainly in the past cooked a ham and eaten some of that so that we can have it cold the next day.

I always cook our orange glazed gammon on Chr. Eve - there are spices in the glaze and the smell is sublimely Christmassy! but although we’ve sometimes had it the same day, we don’t usually eat it until late on Chr. Day or Boxing Day.

@Arrietty My DH would call that dick surprise (big Monty Python fan)

We've previously attempted to establish a tradition of going out for lunch on Christmas Eve (then god knows what we did for tea...literally no idea), but I don't think it's going to stick. Last year I had a 9 day old so I probably just had a sausage roll.

Lots of delicious sounding options here! Thinking I might go for a buffet of all that rubbish Christmas party food the supermarkets do - always so tempted by it but never actually manage to fit any in over the festive period. Possibly with a baked Camembert as well just because any excuse...

I do an epic buffet - glazed ham, pork pie, cheeseboard, salad, cocktail sausages, crisps n dips, pickles, quiche, naice bread, pate, anti pasti, olives. Then we have loads of extra bits for snacks over the coming days.

Hm it’s a good point, things will be different this year. We normally do Christmas carols in local church and then go out for dinner, we go to a Turkish place next door to the church. As the carols are out we might just do a takeaway from the same restaurant.

We always have a chinese!

@Spam88

We've previously attempted to establish a tradition of going out for lunch on Christmas Eve (then god knows what we did for tea...literally no idea), but I don't think it's going to stick. Last year I had a 9 day old so I probably just had a sausage roll.

Lots of delicious sounding options here! Thinking I might go for a buffet of all that rubbish Christmas party food the supermarkets do - always so tempted by it but never actually manage to fit any in over the festive period. Possibly with a baked Camembert as well just because any excuse...

I try to do that on 23 December - start of Christmas! Big pile of canape things.

Frequently, DH has had to work Christmas Day or at least this is what we tell MIL so we try to make Christmas Eve special, and have a tradition of seafood platter and fizz, which includes, potted crab which I do in advance, smoked salmon, prawns, bread etc

I would want something light, easy to cook and not taking up much fridge space, so maybe an Asian style salmon fillet of some sort,

Or else something warming and tasty that can be made a long time in advance, frozen and heated: steak in ale casserole or coq au vin or Lancashire hot pot.

Or a pie with Xmas decoration on the top, e.g chicken and leek, chicken and ham, also made in advance and frozen.

The fridge will be bursting, presumably prep to be done....

As long as I can remember my DM has made ham with a honey mustard glaze, served with wedges and salad. Then chocolate log for pudding. This year I'm staying at home for the first time, so maybe time for a new tradition?

When I was little, Santa got the first slice of Christmas cake

@AriettyHomily

I don't know how it started but we always have crispy dick in pancakes from the take away.

😂

Lol at crispy dick!
We have hot beef rolls or baguettes with chips or a takeaway

Now I can’t decide between fondue and hot beef baguette

@GazingAndGrazing
Do both! Dip your hot beef baguettes in fondue! Or do like a raclette type thing with the baguettes and beef!

When I was a child we went to my grandparents house and we always had hot roast pork sandwiches. My grandparents are all dead now but we go to my parents and have hot roast pork sandwiches any my mom does mini sausages and sausage rolls too. We always have an M&S celebration cake.

We’re having an extension in January and I’m already excited about Christmas 2021 when we will have enough space to entertain. We’ll do the same and follow tradition but I’ll also do a gammon joint too.

[quote OHappyDay]@GazingAndGrazing
Do both! Dip your hot beef baguettes in fondue! Or do like a raclette type thing with the baguettes and beef![/quote]
Oh my, I did have to google but, yum, that’s us sorted! Thank you

Philly Cheesesteak. Although that's best done with cheese in a can, rather than any posh raclette nonsense.

You could also dip your cheese/beef creation in gravy.

You can buy cheese in a can?

Spray cheese. Cheez Whiz. Almost impossible to get in the UK and costs a fortune via Amazon. There are recipes online for making your own for sad ex-pats. Closest thing is probably the orange cheese slices you buy for burgers that melt well. Also comes in jars.

www.amazon.com/kraft-cheez-whiz-cheddar-cheese-canister/dp/b00ydz4u7m?tag=mumsnetforu03-21