NO Christmas lunch on Christmas Day!!!

[Staringatthetiles]

Has anyone ever done this and if so what was your alternative?

I don’t want to go into the reasons why but would love to hear if anyone opted out of cooking Christmas dinner especially any creative alternatives that will appeal to a family of 5 with 2 preteens.

@lovablequalities

Well *@beachtosunset* let's us have Christmas dinner together! Leaving my ma who doesn't eat fish and my dad who doesn't eat veg and my bil who MUST have bread sauce and my brother who won't do without gravy and my sister who doesn't like untraditional food and my kids who only like unsauced meat and white carbs to away and see to themselves! 🥳🤩😁

Yes lets!!

Does no - one else cook/host or pitch in? Your needs are greater than theirs given all the hosting you have done to date, no?

We also have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, it makes for a much more relaxed Christmas Day. I hated missing the kids opening presents & playing games while I was busy in the kitchen so now we all chill out in the living room all morning with a brew, pastries & chocolate for breakfast. Then we'll eat leftovers or bacon sandwiches for lunch and my family come round in the evening so I put out meat, bread, cheese, pickles, etc & everyone helps themselves. Nothing too fancy but quick to set up & clear away. Handy if you get visitors too as they can just grab a plate.
Plus my dining table is free to play on all day if it doesn't need setting for lunch.
Regarding time on Christmas Eve, DH & I prep our main meal in advance as much as possible. Potatoes, carrots & parsnips for roasting are chopped, blanched & frozen, mash & Yorkshire puddings are made & frozen. We also spatchcock the turkey so it cooks much faster, that was a game changer.

We are having pie and mash on Christmas Day this year and the kids want pizza. We will make the pie on Christmas Eve so it will just need sticking in the oven on the day. We will have a roast with all the Christmas trimmings on Boxing Day.

I think you should eat whatever you please!

However, I am one that can't imagine Christmas day without Christmas dinner! We don't have roasts often so look forward to it. I'm usually only cooking for 4 and prep on Christmas Eve so don't spend much time in the kitchen. We have a buffet and leftovers on Boxing Day.

I like the trad roast on the day, but we never have it until at least 5 pm. Far less of a rush for whoever’s cooking.

With a lot of the prep done in advance, and keeping it fairly simple - I.e. not a mass of different veg and sides - I honestly don’t find it stressful.

Eating late also means everyone is too full to want another proper meal later. Picking at the leftovers/mince pies, or making a ham or turkey sandwich is easy enough for anyone peckish again before bedtime.

DH’s step brother had pizza last year. He ordered it Christmas Eve, gave it 10 minutes in the oven to heat it back up and had a lovely meal with that and his sides.

We had a curry a few years ago

The children hated it and we went back to roasts to following year 😀

DP and I have a roast dinner on Xmas Eve (we have chicken; and although we always have roast potatoes we don't go trad veg-and-gravy but instead have a grain of some kind with herbs and nuts, something green and leafy and yoghurt/harissa etc.)

On Xmas Day we have the leftovers, with added nice bread/pickles/cheese/crisps/olives etc. I much prefer not cooking on Xmas Day.

We had steak and chips one year, but it didn't feel right at all so we've not done anything other than the full turkey ensemble since.

For the first time in 40 years, my husband and I were alone last Christmas Day. We made a chicken Rogan Josh, had samosas, poppadoms, naans, and lots of beers.

@CoffeeRunner

Where do you all live that you have the option of takeaway on Christmas Day?

We only have one Chinese, one Indian & a kebab/chicken shop that deliver at the best of times! Let alone Christmas.

I would love to have our main dinner on Christmas Eve but will be at work until around 7pm. Sounds great to just have a more relaxed Christmas Day.

London and Leicester had lots of places open as usual on Christmas Day. Not everyone is celebrating Christmas.

My DD never used to like roasts, so we spent more on steak and red wine than we usually would and had that. We then grazed on cheese, crisps etc while watching films. We had a full cooked breakfast in the morning.
Then she started eating roasts and that's what we had. This year she is working Thursday to Sunday, Christmas weekend. So we are back to steak, so she isn't weighed down and can fit junk food in and having our Christmas dinner and alcohol on boxing Day night.

Personally with kids involved I always feel making Xmas dinner special is important , even if you go for alternates,

We have done Indian restaurant twice, because we were with friends, our children were late teens, and one of our family was working, we then did Xmas dinner on Boxing Day.

We went out for an Indian buffet one year.

We are having shin of beef this year and DS wants a steak with chips. We aren’t fans of Turkey.

Do what you like but...

For me, a special dinner is part of the special day.

If I'm just going to slob out with crisps in my pyjamas watching TV, why is it special?

I cook the Turkey on Christmas eve and portion it all up/make the gravy etc. Then I pop it with some stock in the slow cooker on Christmas morning. After presents, we go to the pub for one or two and then come back and do the veggies etc. it works well for us.

A special dinner is part of a special day for us too. We just don’t consider roasts to be particularly ‘special’ so cook other things instead.

Heard the “trad” Christmas meal in Japan was a KFC family bucket

I googled that and it’s actually true 😂

OH loves Christmas dinner but last year there was just us so we simply had a lot of bits and pieces. Pigs in blankets, sausage rolls, prawn cocktail, soup, pate and toast, cheese and pickles, pork pie, trifle, black forest gateau, christmas pud, etc. Far too much but we just put it out and nibbled through the day watching films (and eating chocolate).

@Sn0tnose

DH’s step brother had pizza last year. He ordered it Christmas Eve, gave it 10 minutes in the oven to heat it back up and had a lovely meal with that and his sides.

I think everyone is different but seldom would I see day old reheated pizza as a lovely meal. 🤷‍♀️

We did one year. We had mashed potatoes, peas and sausages over a camping gas stove as there was a storm the night before and the electric was gone. ( turkey's had to be thrown out ) To be honest i didn't like it there was nothing special about it at all. Not a lover of looking of Turkey but xmas day is special, you can make it as hard or as easy as you like. You can buy xmas dinner nearly prepared in most supermarkets. I wouldn't get a take away nor go to a restaurant- xmas day s a bank holiday in the UK and Ireland and believe no one should work if they don't have to. Well done to the emergency staff etc who do have to . We don't do dinner till around 3om or 4pm so were not in the kitchen all morning and we al help out and prepare where we can.

Growing up we never had Christmas dinner.
It was always a breakfast, cooked by Dad, Sherried kidneys, hot buttered toast and eggs benedict for whoever didn't want the kidneys (I loved them) then he made his signature champagne cocktail in a big Sangria jug he'd bought in Spain. (Lemonade for us)
Around 4ish, Mum would do a buffet tea of cold cuts, cheese & pineapple & little sausages on sticks, gherkins, pork pie, cheese, biscuits and her Trifle.
He made the Champagne cocktail the morning of my wedding, 34 years ago. Me & him were slightly sloshed as we arrived at the registry office. Don't think anyone knew
My parents have been gone many years now but I'll always treasure our Christmas Day.

We did the full xmas dinner every year with ds until the last 3 years. Now we have what we want.

We are having beef wellington with dalphonaise potatoes and veg.

All from M&S so stick in the oven and ready. Then some desserts.

Avoiding lots of prep, lots of washing up and giving us time to relax and just enjoy the day - movie, board games, dog walk etc

If I'm just going to slob out with crisps in my pyjamas watching TV, why is it special?
For me that is, because I almost never get to slob out with crisps in my pyjamas watching TV!
But anyway, we have a big dinner the night before, so we get a treat dinner and then a slobby Xmas Day.