Critique my Christmas dinner menu

[shouldistop]

We'll be feeding 8 adults & 4 children aged 1-7.

Starter: sweet potato & butternut squash soup (people can add chilli flakes or crème fraîche)

Mains:

2lbs Roast beef
2lbs Gammon cooked in cider
2lbs Turkey joint

Pigs in blankets
Stuffing
Mashed potatoes
Roast potatoes

Broccoli
Carrots
Parsnips
Sweetcorn
Peas
Sprouts

Dessert: sticky toffee pudding with either custard or ice cream

Sweet corn and peas are a no

Sauces? Cranberry, mint, apple?

And yes you need something festive for pudding - Christmas cake, Yule log, mince pies etc?

Oh yes obviously gravy!

We don't eat Yorkshire puddings. We're in Scotland, maybe they're not such a big thing here? Ditto bread sauce, I've never even tried it.

We all love sweetcorn and peas 

@kinzarose 4 of them are small children remember (1yo, 2yo, 5yo & 7yo) Everything I've read says 6lbs of meat feeds 12.

Hmm maybe we'll get a second dessert but was planning to have chocolates later in the day. Maybe a lemon thing.

We usually do Christmas but I forget from year to year what we've served and sometimes it's nice to mix it up a bit. Can't imagine not having a starter and the kids all like soup so it's easy that way.

I probably wouldn't do a starter, but the rest sounds good, esp as you have a wide age range of kids. I'm sure they'll appreciate the sweetcorn.
I think Christmas dinner is a very personal thing and some people just can't imagine not having xy or z food there.
We will be having this year a choice of turkey crown, roast lamb or baked ham (which will be leftover from Christmas Eve,) with roasties, pigs in blanket balls (basically mix sausage meat with a jar of cranberry sauce, roll into a ball and wrap in bacon. Delicious!) sprouts, spiced red cabbage, glazed carrots, roast parsnips and gravy. Then Christmas pudding for afterwards.

@shouldistop Sweetcorn has no business being on a Christmas dinner plate IMO 😅 ditch that.
Add Yorkies, good gravy, cauli cheese ....

And I can’t believe not one other poster has mentioned Cranberry Sauce?! 😳 you’re all animals! A Christmas dinner without cranberry sauce isn’t a Christmas dinner at all 🤣

And don’t be stingy with the stuffing and sprouts - make sure there’s plenty lol

@toolazytothinkofausername no drinks menu as such. There will be wine, beer, vodka etc and people can just have what they like. No one will drink much anyway. We have a big break after the main too and eat it while watching a Christmas movie usually.
I like the idea of soup in cups maybe an hour or so before the main course.

@Seesawmummadaw none of us like it at all.

Bread sauce!

The soups too filling, have a fishy starter instead and lose the broccoli, peas and sweet corn also have a pavlova or xmas pud as well.
You also need mince pies and baileys!

Lose the soup (what fresh hell is this) and replace with a choice of pate and toast or prawn cocktail.
Lose the sweetcorn and replace with Yorkshire pudding

And now I need to look for nice Christmassy mugs to give people soup in it's a hard life

Get rid of the sweetcorn and peas and replace with cauli cheese.

Controversially we NEVER have puddings (as in Yorkshire puddings) on Christmas Day, and I'm a proper Yorkshire pure blood! 🤣🤣🤣

Rest of the year, they get served as a starter, as is traditional, but never on Christmas Day.

We don't really do starters full stop at Christmas. Feel like I need a lie down after Christmas dinner as it is without having a starter. But we do have both trifle, Yule log and cake as options!

Bread sauce
Cranberry sauce
Gravy
Potato dauphinois
Cauliflower cheese
Braised red cabbage
Yorkshire’s

Lose teh sweetcorn, add pancetta to the peas. I wouldn’t eat Brussels but I cook them for those that do.

Agree more meat and I never do a starter for Christmas.

@shouldistop

And now I need to look for nice Christmassy mugs to give people soup in it's a hard life

@shouldistop TK Maxx/Homesense are always fab for Christmassy mugs! Matalan too 😊

Sweet corn and peas have no place on a Christmas dinner

People are still pushing Yorkshire puddings even after op said they don’t like them. The cult of the pudding is strong

@CuteGirlsWatchMeEatEther

People are still pushing Yorkshire puddings even after op said they don’t like them. The cult of the pudding is strong

Pudding pushers... 🤣

"Where's the bleedin' chips?"

... as my Dad would say!

Op I admire your organisation!

I wouldn't be having soup to start, unless it was in tiny espresso cups as a sort of standing starter a while before the dinner itself.

I would replace with a few trays of nibbles; smoked salmon on tiny toasts with cream cheese and dill or devil's on horseback...or similar

I would leave off the ham and have that as the main for the cold spread the next day

Personally I would only have roast carrots, parsnips, and potatoes as veg with sprouts and add another different type of stuffing

And op you haven't mentioned gravy which is one of the most important components IMHO! Make in advance!

I personally think sticky toffee is too rich after Christmas dinner. I would have Christmas pudding and then an alternative such as home made bitter orange and cardamom sorbet or similar.

Good luck with it op! You are a very generous host!

I disagree with others. The soup sounds delicious and like a brilliant way to reduce appetites, meaning that you can save £££ on the meat.

My view on all of the veg dishes is contingent on how they are prepared. If all just steamed, sounds a bit meh

Sorry I have just seen your update op and see that the meal is child friendly, hence the sweetcorn.

Bread sauce is lovely and goes so well with turkey or game (add plenty of cloves to the milk) and would never have Yorkshire pudding on Christmas day. Would have one meat and one veggie stuffing.

Agree about lemony pudding as a contrast!

I would lose the sweet corn and peas.
I’d also add a trifle, which you can make to your family’s taste (booze, no booze, fruity, chocolate). I am thinking of making Nigella’s olive oil chocolate cake this year. I will decorate it with a star template/icing sugar dusting, silver balls, and maybe some Holly from the garden.

• Soup too hearty and will fill everyone up.
• There would be nothing to eat for me in the mains as I don't eat meat- obviously not a problem if no-one is veggie/pesce.

-No needs for peas and sweetcorn but make an effort with the other veg - roast parsnip and carrots are much better the boiled, and it would be nice to have chestnuts with the sprouts. -No need for three types of meat and two types of potato. Just turkey PIB and roast potatoes.

• I see no mention of home made gravy or sauces - it will all be very dry without gravy and sauce.

I meant to say what we do is canapés with fizz before we sit at the table and don't have starters. Things like gravadlax on blinis, mini pastries. If you do a starter that soup would be incredibly filling and a meal in itself, it should be something really light and small if you must do any starter.

You asked for it.

Things you shouldn't have:

starter - particularly soup, maybe salmon or prawns
peas
sweetcorn
mashed potato

Things you must have:

yorkshire pudding
spiced red cabbage
cauliflower cheese
cranberry sauce

I’d lose the soup, just not the right thing before Christmas lunch. Maybe some smoked salmon on brown bread if you must have a starter.

I’d also lose the gammon for Christmas Day, doesn’t go with gravy, serve it another day with cold cuts.

Veggies,
steamed/boiled broccoli, cauliflower,, carrots, mange toutes, peas and sprouts,
roasted potatoes, parsnips and I like sweet potatoes, peppers and onions as a medley.

As for sides, stuffing, bread sauce, pigs in and out of blankets and loads more than you think!

Pudding, it’s got to be a choice of a chocolate log or traditional Christmas pud, lemon cheesecake if you want an alternative.