Too much food on Christmas day

[SpacePug]

Does anyone skip Christmas dinner on Christmas day? Maybe have it on Christmas Eve instead 🤔

Just discussing how we are never hungry enough for the buffet on the night, and end up serving it all and then only having a couple of nibbles each. There will be 6 adults and 2 kids.

I'm thinking maybe the buffet should be the star of the day, make it a little bit more special and ensure everyone will be hungry enough to enjoy it by not having a huge Christmas dinner the same day. Anyone else do something similar?

We usually have pastries, terrys chocolate Orange and other bits from stockings for breakfast.. 3 course lunch usually from around 1.30pm, usually after eights and my chocolate Christmas pudding (made from terrys chocolate Orange and malteasers) whilst playing games in the afternoon, then if anyone is hungry around 8pm we have a Turkey sandwich… oh how I love Turkey sandwiches with pickled red cabbage

We don't have as big a Christmas dinner as most seem to on here. I would feel uncomfortable eating so much that I would not be hungry in the evening, so we have

chocolate from selection box for breakfast
Roast dinner
Christmas pud a couple of hours later.
7pm bits and bobs buffet... cheese, crackers, chicken wings, salad, and pop those pringles...

We usually have the traditional lunch at 1 o clock but we gave up on the starter a while back. We found that we were always too full to eat pudding and everyone likes to have the Christmas pudding in our house.

We also have a buffet in the evening but then I have to cater for special dietary needs. There is one vegetarian, one with a severe nut allergy and one who is allergic to wheat so I try and provide something to suit all without going overboard. We do have a much bigger buffet on boxing day though. Again i need to take food allergies, etc, into account so we do have a big mix of foods.

@NorthLodgeAvenue

scroll past always an option.

Enjoy your midwinter fest/ birth of Christ.

But really, honestly, how can people be angsting about pain au hocolate or nibbles or when to have tea?
Please look outside at the bigger picture.

I imagine most of us on here are perfectly well aware of the bigger picture outside - but are simply taking a few minutes out of our day to chat about our Christmas food. If you were to scroll past you coukd spend more time thinking about the bigger picture

But really, honestly, how can people be angsting about pain au hocolate or nibbles or when to have tea?Please look outside at the bigger picture

A little bit of Christmas planning and perusing (not angst) in September is a welcome escape from the bigger picture for a few minutes

We do it all haha. We have the big meal on Christmas Eve night usually fish. Then have smoked salmon and Prosecco plus fruit at 9/10am for breakfast. Usually we’d have another big meal (was turkey but now veg equivalent like mushroom Wellington) at about 1ish. Then go to see extended family and pick at the buffet of canapés, cheese and chocolate from about 8-midnight. The evening event won’t have any alcohol so we maybe eat more? On Boxing Day we used to have another big dinner but it’s now a more substantial buffet with the other side of the family. You’re fairly rolling home after those 3 days

Forgot to mention on 24th and 25th we won’t have pudding except picking at chocolate in front of a film.

@NorthLodgeAvenue

scroll past always an option.

Enjoy your midwinter fest/ birth of Christ.

But really, honestly, how can people be angsting about pain au hocolate or nibbles or when to have tea?
Please look outside at the bigger picture.

Yes yes, but do you have a buffet?!

Croissants, big lunch cooked by son.....cheese and biscuits

Hope that helps.

We are Spanish and English. We have our nice dinner on Christmas Eve, early enough so our small child can join in.
We have breakfast then a buffet on Christmas Day, mainly because I don't think it's fair to give kids new presents then expect them to sit at a table for ages.
Works for us!

Traditional Christmas food is meat potatoes and veg.

It's not that interesting or special. I'm not going to bother with it this year.

We do:

Christmas Eve:

We make sure to have a proper hot chocolate either out or at home at some point during the day.

Dinner will be seafood of some description. Last year we had scallops with garlic butter and chips washed down with champagne which was divine.

Christmas Day:

Smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels around 8am with a glass of bucks fizz.

Turkey and all the trimmings approx 1pm

Christmas pud approx 4pm as can't face it immediately after the roast

Hot turkey and stuffing mixed with a bit of gravy on buttered rolls approx 8pm. This is the best meal of the year in my opinion!

Boxing Day:

Depends what we're doing but I have to have a cheeseboard at some point as I love cheese but no room for it on Christmas Day.

We used to have masses on Christmas Day when my dad and brother were alive as both are like horses (but charmingly gifted any additional weight directly to me - how kind).

They have both passed away now so it tends to be 5 of us for Christmas Day with one veggie, 3 people who really arent fussed about the extra bits which turn a roast into Xmas dinner and who hate turkey and my mother who doesn't eat much.

We have a big dinner on Xmas eve which is as fancy a roast as I can get them to have - I manage pigs in blankets stuffing red cabbage and bread sauce.

Then on Xmas day we do the running buffet thing - big breakfast then bits throughout the day. I will have an Xmas pud because I love them but a small one that me and dm share. I have given up with proper Xmas cake but Dd1 makes a Yule log and Dd2 makes a ginger cake. Last year I did trifle too for dm but even though it was tiny we still had a bit too much waste as only she and Dd1 like it.

I actually find it a bit upsetting - we used to do the full shabang when I was a kid but my kids and dh just don't like traditional festive food

Last year because we were on lockdown we decided sod it as although I enjoy Xmas dinner it's always such a faff with the kids and their new presents and tripping over my well meaning folks in the kitchen and what not. We asked the kids what their favourite meal was so DH, DD1 and I had pizza and DD2 had fish fingers and chips. And it was brilliant. We had a scaled back Xmas dinner with turkey and what not on boxing day and that was brilliant too as we were all able to sit and enjoy our meal without the excitement of Xmas day.

We have a late lunch, normally between 3 and 4 and no buffet. If anyone gets hungry it's normally a sandwich about 10pm.

Boxing Day is buffet day you absolute ninny!

We have breakfast then some nibbley things around midday and the main meal early evening.

Last year we did 'Christmas Dinner' on New Years Day instead, took the pressure off!

Buffet on boxing day
Christmas day is wine for breakfast, big late traditional lunch and chocolate and cheese for supper

A Christmas Day buffet would be odd in our household!

When my kids were small my exH wanted me to spend Christmas Day cooking a trad meal whilst he & kids opened gifts in other room.

So, I developed our 'tradition' of having Christmas Dinner on Boxing Day and The Grand Boxing Day Buffet on Christmas Day: it worked!

We also have a nice Fish based Meal on Christmas Eve.

So, for us, it is:
Xmas Eve: Salmon en croute / hollandaise. Fancy puddings
Xmas Day: Up. Brunch (eggs benedict, bacon & eggs), Church. Home.
Grand Buffet (hot meaty things at lunch, cold /cheese type in eve)
Boxing Day: Brunch. Full Xmas Dinner at 3pm.
Day after: Curried turkey / turkey sandwiches.

We have a Xmas eve buffet for the 2 of us, usually just a couple of a few things from m&s or a baking Camembert with crusty bread and some nice ham.

Xmas day is usually a pastry for breakfast with baileys, opening presents and then Xmas day lunch served by 1/2pm.

We then get ourselves ready to go to relatives for about 5pm where we all graze on gammon sandwiches, leftover pigs in blankets and selection boxes through the evening before we leave around 12pm/1am.

Boxing Day is usually leftovers and bubble and squeak around 3pmish with grazing on other picky bits through the evening.

NYE is then a similiar buffet board to Xmas eve, with a bottle of Prosecco and other picky bits.

NYD is usually picky bits as we go to other relatives and spend the day with them.

@Ragwort

We have two meals .. breakfast and the traditional Turkey meal ... I do love a Christmas Buffet but I serve that on Boxing Day.

Same

The last five years or so, we've knocked en evening buffet on the head as it was obvious that folk were too full from the dinner.

We now do a later breakfast then a later dinner.
There's always bread and cheese to fill up on in the evening.

It also means that we have something to look forward to on Boxing Day , ie all those frozen nibbly bits.

We have a late breakfast/brunch, nice canapés around 3 pm, trad roast dinner (no starter) at around 5, 5.30.

Nobody then wants anything later, except maybe a little pick at the cold turkey/gammon/cheese/a mince pie, but I don’t do a proper buffet.

Any small Gdcs staying will have their normal breakfast and lunch at the usual times.

We don’t do a buffet on Christmas Day. Lazy breakfast, pastries and/or scrambled eggs with smoke salmon. Main meal later and then leftovers and salad/ cheese board and nibbles in Boxing Day.