Tell me your Christmas menus

[Kendodd]

Breakfast, lunch and dinner, all of it, I need ideas!

Dear god, a massive roast is as far as any planning goes. I am amazed at the all day menus..

Breakfast - DIY/whatever

Late lunch
No starter (how do people fit it in??)
Turkey, pigs in blankets, stuffing, sprouts, carrots, parsnips, ROAST POTATOES, bread sauce, gravy, mustard (for me), cranberry sauce (only cos it looks nice)

Pause...
Christmas pudding (small), drowned in brandy sauce (blows b butter out the water), and cream

Longer Pause

Cheese board, salami etc in the evening.

Chocolate

Boxing day

B/fast - DIY/Whaeves

Lunch - cold cuts, salad, FRESH ROAST POTATOES

Sometime late evening, maybe... leftover sarnies, Christmas cake, leftover cheese board

I really love C'mas dinner, and the cold cuts on Boxing day..

@Lightisnotwhite

American here...
Roast potatoes are not usually the preferred potato choice.
I only know about roast potatoes because I lived in England. I was 25 when I had my first roasties.
I still prefer mashed with lots of gravy.

[quote elp30]@Lightisnotwhite

American here...
Roast potatoes are not usually the preferred potato choice.
I only know about roast potatoes because I lived in England. I was 25 when I had my first roasties.
I still prefer mashed with lots of gravy.[/quote]
So, so wrong...

I'm American and our Thanksgiving is next Thursday and that's closer to a British Christmas meal. My Christmas meal is very different as I have Hispanic traditions.

Thanksgiving

Breakfast:
Breakfast casserole with eggs, mushrooms, peppers, cheese, and Mexican chorizo
Fresh fruit juice-apple and citrus are in season where I am

Late Lunch:

Roasted turkey breast
Jamie Oliver cranberry and butternut squash "sausage" rolls for two of my vegetarian kids
Roast potatoes for English husband
Mashed potatoes for me
Gravy
Cranberry sauce
Green bean casserole
Cornbread stuffing
Honey-glazed carrots
Brussels sprouts probably roasted with onions and pecans and finished with pomegranates
If I can find parsnips, I'll make the husband some in the oven

Dinner:

Whatever leftovers anyone wants
Apple cinnamon loaf with coffee & tea

This is all going down next week. I've yet to buy anything!

Christmas

This is the most important meal of the day for my family because it starts on Christmas Eve and should end by the time we leave for Christmas Midnight Mass.

We are having traditional & non-traditional tamales
Traditional: pork in a spicy red chile sauce
Non-traditional: roasted Anaheim chiles with mozzarella cheese
Dessert: raisin and coconut

We will eat a few on our return from Catholic Mass.

If for whatever reason we can't get to Mass, we will watch Urbi et Orbi from Rome on our Mexican television station: Univision

We drink a traditional drink called, "atole", a cornstarch-based drink with Mexican chocolate.
Husband drinks Buck's Fizz 😝

We WANT to wake up late but MIL in England Zooms at 8am 😖 To be fair, England is six hours ahead from us.

Lunch:

Probably a salad because tamales are corn-based and heavy

Dinner:

Chipotle brisket (that's also started on Christmas Eve) that is slow-cooked then shredded to make tacos on "surprise, surprise" corn tortillas.
The toppings are radishes, white onion
The vegetarians will have fried avocado tacos with the fixings.

Dessert:

Mexican cinnamon cookies

I'll probably buy stuff for it on the week of Christmas.

I forgot to mention that the Christmas Eve tamales are made in dozens so I make enough to freeze and we will eat them from the 26th to the 31st.

I just realized I didn't explain tamales. Here's a link:

www.thespruceeats.com/all-about-tamales-3029232

Atole & Champurrado drinks:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champurrado

Breakfast: smoked salmon with scrambled eggs at home.

Lunch: we always go to MIL's but it will be Turkey, cranberry sauce, pigs in blankets, stuffing, potatoes and veg.

Dinner: Usually too stuffed for a dinner so later in the evening we will have finger foods along with copious amounts of alcohol .

Breakfast: coffee for me; if anyone wants anything else, they can help themselves BUT NOT WHILE I’M BUSY IN THE KITCHEN.

Post-present opening: sausage rolls, crisps & dips.

Lunch: turkey, stuffing, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, sprouts, gravy, bread sauce, cranberry sauce; Christmas pudding, brandy butter, cream.

Rest of day: you can have whatever you like but I’ve finished catering.

We always go out for dinner for Xmas eve because usually the kitchen is packed

xmas eve I usually do a fish bouillabaise as a nod to the Italian seven fishes which is very popular with Italian american friends.

Breakfast is sausages, bacon and toast after opening stockings.

Dinner will be spanish tapas this year - same as last year when everyone loved it and I spent less than 2 hours in the kitchen in total.

But I am doing Thanksgiving next week and am doing the full roast for that:

Turkey
Ham
Gravy
Cauliflower cheese
Green beans with gremolata
Mashed carrots and parsnips
Brussels sprouts - probably roasted with a balsamic glaze
Sausage stuffing
Bread stuffing
Mushroom and leek stuffing/bread pudding
Winter salad with walnuts, pear and goat cheese (we have a salad-loving vegetarian coming)

pies and whipped cream/vanilla ice cream
mixed berries with mascarpone/lemon cream

I've already made my stock for the gravy and have breadcrumbs/herbs whizzed up in the freezer for the stuffing.

oh forgot to add the potatoes - roast potatoes and mini- potato gratins made in muffin tins (take the place of the traditional mashed potato at thanksgiving). It helps that no one at the table is used to an american thanksgiving - not doing mashed potato would be devastating for anyone who grew up here with a very traditional thanksgiving.

DD2 is going to a "friendsgiving" on sunday with her college friends. She has never had sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping or green bean casserole with mushrooms and crispy onions but she is getting them sunday night!

Breakfast. Pastries or bacon sandwiches once the contracts of sticking have been eaten

Lunch. Pigs in blankets road in the hole, pudding summer kind of roulade/meringue your thing.

Yes. Buffet with stuffing pigs in blankets warm rolls gammon, cranberry sauce, basically what works have been the left of Vers of we'd had a traditional Christmas dinner.

We are 6 adults, no kids.
Breakfast - smoked salmon on blinis with dill creme fraich.
Lunch - Prawn cocktail to start. Then turkey, roasties in goose fat, mash, roast parsnips, Brussels with chestnuts and bacon, devils on horseback, stuffing, cranberry sauce and bread sauce. We then offer christmas pudding but noone can fit any in!
Dinner - cheese, crackers, chutney, grapes, crisps, pork pie etc. Something that doesn't generate any washing up!

Everybody's menus sound so delicious! This is my first year hosting family and I'd completely forgotten to think about breakfast so I'm definitely pinching some of these ideas!

We're having Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve this year:
Roast Beef Rib with yorkshires, gravy, roast potatoes/carrots/parsnips, sticky onions, pigs in blankets and cabbage & bacon.
Plus a small turkey crown & stuffing so we have extra for sandwiches on Christmas Day!

Dessert: Berry Roulade, Pear Frangipane, Christmas Pudding

Christmas Day:
French dipped beef sandwiches, turkey sandwiches.
Cheeseboard w/ meats and party food.

Boxing Day:
I've only just realised they'll need feeding on Boxing Day as well! Maybe I'll stick a curry on?

We also often pop a pan of apple juice on the stove with cinnamon & nutmeg - it tastes great and makes the house smell so festive!

With pudding remember the cream, sauce or custard. Or is it just me who forgets the basics ?!

[quote Inmypjsagain]@sashh ohh your brie and mango chutney filo pastries sound lovely- my MiL has just given us homemade mango chutney. I found this recipe secretsauce.co.uk/vegetarian/canape-recipes/brie-and-mango-chutney-parcels/ does yours have any extras to it?[/quote]
Just the brie and chutney, if I've made my own chutney it has a few sultanas in it and isn't as sweet as the supermarket ones. It is amazingly easy to make.

Although I currently have a mango and chill chutney open that might be interesting. I think I might have some filo in the freezer.

Breakfast coffee, scrambled eggs, toast and smoked salmon, maybe a Bucks Fizz

Christmas lunch eaten between 3 and 4 pm. Roast turkey, gammon, stuffing gravy roast potatoes, roast parsnips, M&S spiced red cabbage, brussels sprouts, carrots, peas plus a homemade vegetarian dish for vegetarian member of family, not sure what yet.

Pudding - choices Christmas Pudding, or mince pies with either brandy cream/pouring cream/ice cream. Or vanilla or salted caramel ice cream topped with homemade chocolate sauce and chopped nuts. Maybe some homemade meringues to go with the ice cream.

Later on if anyone wants anything else Cheese board, sandwich of smoked salmon or turkey/ham, Christmas cake. Maybe a chocolate or two because it's a very rare treat.

Breakfast:
Nordic rice porridge with cinnamon, sugar and a hidden almond for luck

Lunch at around 3pm or so:
Starter - smoked salmon and champagne around the fire
Main - roast partridges and pheasants for adults, roast chicken for kids and cats, roast potatoes, carrot and swede, brussels sprouts with bacon, gravy
Dessert - Christmas pudding, brandy butter
Cheeseboard and port
Coffee, chocolates and homemade gingerbread

No dinner after all that as lunch goes on for hours!

Christmas breakfast is at about 10 am. Buck's Fizz and smoked salmon and scrambled eggs (plus vegan version now).

Lunch is at about 3pm. No starter as we get too full. Turkey, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, sprouts and chestnuts, a parsnip dish some steamed veg and a veggie main. (Was home made nut roast but DC hate it so now something bought in). Christmas pudding with cream, ice cream or brandy butter. DC have a chocolate melting middle pudding instead.

Supper is leftovers, cheese and biscuits, grapes and celery.

Oh. And lots of Heroes, Quality Street throughout the day !

First thing: coffee (maybe with a dash of Baileys)

Brunch: bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, marmalade & fizz

Late dinner (6 ish): roast goose, sage, onion and citrus stuffing, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes (in goose fat), shallots, roast parsnips, sprouts and lashings of gravy.
Various wines, fizz and chocolates to finish us off.

Can't wait 😋

Breakfast/brunch: french toast with bacon and maple syrup.

Christmas meal (eaten about 4.30). The usual turkey with sprouts, roasties, parsnips, sweet potato, beans, carrots, stuffing, bread sauce, pigs in blankets, red cabbage, Christmas cake and something else for dessert.

Laters: pick pick pick.

No idea! Whatever I can pick up, I usually treat us with an M&S shop with whatever takes my fancy as I go around. Will have a sort of roast lunch, vegetarian.

This year we are having a change
So breakfast will be anything you like
Christmas day lunch
Chinese food from the takeaway for 7 of us all ordering 2/3 dishes each plus selections of starters and extras all chucked in the middle of the table buffet style to help yourselves
Dessert, for some reason known only to him my db wants to make poached pears for us all
All followed with copious amounts of chocolates etc.
For those of us who wanted a Proper Christmas day lunch well that will be on boxing day and you are welcome to attend or not!