Christmas Eve family dinner

[Amerimoon]

What are you having? Something with no faff as it’s a busy day!

It's always takeaway for us Xmas eve.

We used to always go out for dinner which was always a nice treat but looks like that will be off now. Maybe something easy in the slow cooker either a curry or a ham with nice snacky bits a kind of buffet. We are now having xmas day dinner here now so will also be prepping for that x

Everything crossed we'll still be going to the panto on Xmas eve (it is the only Christmassy thing I've booked), so we will have dinner out somewhere close to the theatre. Probably Wagamama or Yo Sushi as we'll let the DCs pick.

I find a buffet/ picky bits even more trouble than a meal usually! Maybe I overthink it

Fish and chips on the beach is our tradition.

We always have a stand pie with various accompaniments. Mash and mushy peas this year as we don’t have the inlaws and their insistence of chips and pickles

we also used to go out to eat on Christmas Eve, but obviously wont be posisble this year as everything is shut!
Think we will do take away instead.

We always have Iceland! Lots of nibbles and canapés all evening while we watch tv/ hide away with wrapping paper/ play board games and wonder whether we’ll stay up for midnight mass/ go to pub/ peel veg

We always have soup, baguette, brie and cranberry sauce
Then a nice dessert - profiteroles
I like to have something light (until you get to the profiterole part! ) before the big meal the next day. It is super easy to make and clear up too.

I think this year we will have cold seafood - I will be working all day so don't want to be faffing around don't like DH's cooking, don't want anything too heavy before the Turkey Feast so prawns, smoked salmon etc, with a chilled white wine might be nice - unless it's a really miserable cold day of course - one year we had a cheese fondue which was nice and a bit 'different'.

We have the same every year.

Roast gammon, red cabbage and dauphinois potatoes.Will have as a late lunch/early dinner.

Then later on we have snacks/nibbles while watching films.

We've had roast beef sandwiches for the last few years, slow cooked beef with lovely thick gravy on huge breadcakes from the bakers

We were trying to decide this earlier as it will be just the 2 of us this year, we used to go out if it was ever just us 2 but won’t be able to this year as we are in tier 3. We might have some nice M&S nibbles as they have some 3for 2 type deals on and then keep some for New Year’s Eve as well x

Agree that a buffet is a lot of work. I made one a few years ago and it took up a lot of my time and then the clearing up and storing any leftovers. We have a take out every single year now. Either from the local chinese or kebab. So stress free, plus we order the food and take a stroll around town to look at all lights before picking it up.

Kedgeree - it's simple, one pot (apart from boiling the eggs), quick and totally different from what's to come the following day. We'll probably open the Christmas chocolate stash later on, or maybe have a mince pie or two with a few drinks.

We're having a bbq this year and seeing how that goes down. Usually it's soup and crusty bread, but wanted to change things up a bit so bbq it is, come rain or, er, rain

Lots of takeaways, I’m suprised! Love a takeaway but I want something for everyone and the toddlers wouldn’t touch a Chinese. We love a fondue too, usually do a big one on NYE with a big fancy buffet. I’m thinking Christmas Eve we just need something that feels special but very quick to sort. Maybe a pre-roasted chicken and veggies again it will have to be!

We're having a dominos! First Christmas at home so we asked the teens what they'd like and pizza it is!

Heap of fruits de mer is our tradition.

This year supplied by Waitrose click and collect. If anything goes wrong, it will be take away from reasonably local Asian fusion restaurent.

Vintage Pol Roger

Lemon sorbet with a shot of vodka/gin palate cleanser at some point. Reasonable early night. Excited.

Husband is now suggesting steak, Italian potatoes, rocket and Parmesan - maybe that would be a plan!

Dd will have an easy pasta type dish, either cheating with pasta n sauce or a simple tomato sauce over pasta.
I think for dh and i it will be a cheese/grazing board to much on whilst watching a film once dd in bed.

We usually do buffet - few canapé things we pick up in the supermarket, a selection of cheeses I get at the Christmas markets, maybe a baked Camembert, sometimes DH does a small baked ham for himself to pick at over the Christmas period (I don’t eat meat), crusty bread and pickles etc.

This year there obviously won’t be the markets and we have a baby so am actually contemplating a takeaway once she’s in bed as a bit of a treat as well as an easy option.

Growing up it always used to be fish pie.

We usually have fish and chip shop F&C but our local has shut down and I'm not ready to face the disappointment of going somewhere else and it being shit. We spent ages working our way around town years ago to find the best and settled on this one. Whenever I've asked for recommendations someone always raves about somewhere I thought was crap.

Lunch on the 24th is always sausages in baguettes.

Supper will be at MILs and almost certainly will be smoked salmon, prawns, a salmon mousse, bread and salad. Some kind of fancy ice cream pudding afterwards.

DH and I might have some cheese and biscuits later, at home, while wrapping and watching TV

I used to cook a big dinner on Xmas Eve and another one on Xmas Day. Then about 4 years ago I thought 'what the hell am I doing!!'. Told the family (all adults) that I will make dinner on Xmas Day but if they wanted Xmas Eve dinner then someone else would have to cook it. Funnily enough, they all complained but no one volunteered.

This came about because I used to cook dinner on Xmas Eve and Mum cooked dinner Xmas Day. As she got older and started to become incapable of it I went from 'helping at her house' to 'cooking dinner on my own at mine' because she enjoyed both meals so much. But once her dementia was advanced enough she moved to a care facility. It was a couple years after that when I said 'no more'.