Vegetarians invited themselves for Christmas- got beef ordered!

[EdenFlower]

So, my vegetarian relatives and asked if they can join us for Christmas? I have it planned- joint of beef on order, I've perfected my roast potatoes and like them cooked in beef dripping, likewise the yorkshire pudding, my sprout recipe is cooked with pancetta, starter is parma ham and figs...and so on! Grrr! Now everything will need to adapted to be veggie because I'm not doing two versions of everything. It was already adapted to be gluten free for MIL but now two more special diet guests is a push.

Would it be rude to ask them to bring their own veggie options with them- nut roast and vegetarian gravy or whatever it is they eat?

@hotmeatymilk

It really isn’t double the work. Two meals is definitely twice as many as one meal

It isn’t two different meals. Lots of the veg can be the same or adapted slightly.

@PurpleDaisies

And they probably want to stay with us because I always make them the most fabulous vegetarian food- on their last visit I made a whole gluten free vegetarian buffet in a middle-eastern theme! (despite them being the only 2 vegetarians at a family gathering of 12 people) It went down well to say the least!

So you’re used to making vegetarian food. I really don’t get what all the fuss is about then

Yes, although never a Christmas dinner, and not as a second dish to the main- usually I cook veggie for everyone when they visit as it's easier, but I'm not prepared to do this Christmas day. I haven't made a fuss, I never said I was stressed b it or couldn't cook anything- I've only asked all along if other's thought it rude of me to get them to bring their own 'nut loaf' (yes I know lots of people sneered at that) or whatever.

I'd do shop bought nut roast (or whatever looks easiest in the supermarket!) for mains, switch the sprouts to be served with chestnuts. To start I'd do grilled peppers stuffed with baby tomatoes, garlic, olive oil & goats cheese. A sprinkle of thyme if you can be bothered! I feel your pain! My veggie went back to meat eating after a few xmas's of me jumping through hoops! I was livid!

You know what? I've decided I'm inviting myself to their house next year for an amazing vegetarian Christmas feast!

It isn’t two different meals. Lots of the veg can be the same or adapted slightly.
The question I asked of the OP really flew right over your head, didn’t it? If she made the Middle Eastern vegetarian buffet as well as a meat-based buffet, that’s twice as much work. And her guests may well be expecting that work again.

And again, the point in the OP is she doesn’t want to bloody adapt her sides/starters to make them veggie – she wants her beef and beef dripping potatoes – or do twice as much work by doing two versions of everything. She wants them to bring their own food.

Oh & veggie gravy granules & frozen veggie roasties! Maybe frozen veggie Yorkshire's as well. Make life simple for you!

@hotmeatymilk

It isn’t two different meals. Lots of the veg can be the same or adapted slightly. The question I asked of the OP really flew right over your head, didn’t it? If she made the Middle Eastern vegetarian buffet as well as a meat-based buffet, that’s twice as much work. And her guests may well be expecting that work again.

And again, the point in the OP is she doesn’t want to bloody adapt her sides/starters to make them veggie – she wants her beef and beef dripping potatoes – or do twice as much work by doing two versions of everything. She wants them to bring their own food.

The question I asked of the OP really flew right over your head, didn’t it?

Do you not cook much? That’s the only reason I can see for you being completely clueless about how to adapt a meaty dish to make it veggie. Roast potatoes start exactly the same. They only need to go in a separate tray in olive oil.
Sprouts can have a portion removed before bacon is added.
Half the Yorkshire mixture cooked in dripping, the other half in oil.

Etc etc etc.
That is not double the work.

And again, the point in the OP is she doesn’t want to bloody adapt her sides/starters to make them veggie

The starter is the easiest of all.
Instead of Parma ham, put cheese next to figs. Is that really a huge amount of work?

@EdenFlower

They don't usually spend Christmas day with us...we usually see them either a few days before or in the new year. Not sure why they have asked if they can visit over Christmas this year- think lack of their own children around these days maybe, I usually have no problem cooking vegetarian when they visit, but Christmas dinner is different- it's hard enough cooking for large numbers as it is without having to provide different things for different people. I'm a good cook and would never serve guests ready-made supermarket food- everything is always homemade!

Supermarket stuff has come on a long way in the last few years but if you really can't bear the thought of it you probably have only 3 choices: 1. Cook something separate for them 2. Make the entire meal veggie for everyone 3. Ask them to bring their main dish & you do them.veggie sides.

@WombatChocolate

Oh and guests at Christmas.....make sure you step in and do some washing up after the meal. Don't be put off by comments that you don't need to...roll up your sleeves and get stuck in.

And if it's someone you know well, look for other ways to help....make the coffees after lunch, unload the dishwasher etc. Do not sit on your arse all day and let the host spend their whole Christmas slaving.

Total rubbish, it's so rude to impose your wishes in someone else's kitchen. A guest a few years ago became very aggressive when I told her not to dry the dishes, I left them to dry overnight, she grabbed the cloth and started to dry them, so I went to bed.

Do you not cook much? That’s the only reason I can see for you being completely clueless about how to adapt a meaty dish to make it veggie.
I’m a food editor.

Twice the trays, twice the oven space, twice the time spent juggling things around in the oven which is always a bugger on Christmas Day, twice the serving dishes to heat, twice the counter space, adding in extra steps to everything to separate out elements, making sure you keep everything separate and don’t end up accidentally giving the vegetarians the dripping Yorkshire puddings, more portions to keep warm – again always tricky timing wise with a fancy roast like Christmas, but now you’ve got a small portion of veggie sprouts and your bacon sprouts are in a smaller bowl too because you kept some aside, so they’re rapidly cooling which you didn’t account for originally, Ah fuck there’s the entirely separate main, which wants a different oven temp to everything else, new ingredients to adapt the starters, separate gravy, etc etc.

This really gets my goat. It’s more than a month until Christmas. Welcome then and make the effort of picking up a nut roast or tell them that you don’t care for them and not to come. Let’s face it if you did care you’d want to make the effort rather than make them feel like the burden they most obviously are to you!

My mistake, you were so rude about them I assumed you didn't like them!

However, if you like the relatives, and like cooking, and are good at it, and know perfectly well what vegetarians eat, why the worry?

What’s wrong with bisto????

I get your not wanting to buy a supermarket nut roast. Could you order a really nice nut roast? Roast potatoes are nice in sunflower oil. Could you do half sprouts with and half without pancetta? Or maybe too much faff.

What’s wrong with bisto????
It’s horrible????

@hotmeatymilk

Do you not cook much? That’s the only reason I can see for you being completely clueless about how to adapt a meaty dish to make it veggie. I’m a food editor.

Twice the trays, twice the oven space, twice the time spent juggling things around in the oven which is always a bugger on Christmas Day, twice the serving dishes to heat, twice the counter space, adding in extra steps to everything to separate out elements, making sure you keep everything separate and don’t end up accidentally giving the vegetarians the dripping Yorkshire puddings, more portions to keep warm – again always tricky timing wise with a fancy roast like Christmas, but now you’ve got a small portion of veggie sprouts and your bacon sprouts are in a smaller bowl too because you kept some aside, so they’re rapidly cooling which you didn’t account for originally, Ah fuck there’s the entirely separate main, which wants a different oven temp to everything else, new ingredients to adapt the starters, separate gravy, etc etc.

Only if you're really bloody minded.

Just make the potatoes with a vegetable oil, put chestnuts with the sprouts and serve bacon separately. Then everyone can enjoy the same meal with hardly any extra work.

@EdenFlower You should have posted the effort you've been to for them in your OP. Given that you've produced a vegetarian feast before and have a reputation for a good cook I can see why you were hesitant about shoving something from M&S in the oven.

To give them the benefit of the doubt they may not realise how much effort it is - simply that 'she's done it before, she can do it again'. Why don't you talk to them and explain the constraint of oven space etc. Adapting a few sides is easy enough but they cannot turn up and expect a vegetarian feast when they invited themselves. Of course you know your relatives best but if they chose to go to yours on the basis of your cooking skills they're CF's.

Not at all, I always provide for myself. I dont eat meat, what annoys me the most is turning up and can't eat anything provided. So please ask, explain the situation and relax

Just make the potatoes with a vegetable oil, put chestnuts with the sprouts and serve bacon separately. Then everyone can enjoy the same meal with hardly any extra work.
Yes, that’s less work, but isn’t the same thing as making dripping potatoes and vegetarian potatoes. Which is what this side debate is about: I was asking OP if, when they’d made a specialist veggie spread for her relatives, it had been in addition to an already planned meat meal.

“just make the potatoes with a vegetable oil” is a perfectly fine solution to adapting a meal to be vegetarian: but it’s not what the OP was about (she wants to keep her dripping potatoes and have her relatives bring their own food), not what the debate was about: is it twice as much work to make two different types of things? Answer is yes. Is it less work to make it all vegetarian? Yes, obviously.

Am I going mad? Am I speaking Swahili? These are two different concepts: two dishes, twice as much work. One dish adapted: not twice as much as work. Not disputing that!

@hotmeatymilk

Do you not cook much? That’s the only reason I can see for you being completely clueless about how to adapt a meaty dish to make it veggie. I’m a food editor.

Twice the trays, twice the oven space, twice the time spent juggling things around in the oven which is always a bugger on Christmas Day, twice the serving dishes to heat, twice the counter space, adding in extra steps to everything to separate out elements, making sure you keep everything separate and don’t end up accidentally giving the vegetarians the dripping Yorkshire puddings, more portions to keep warm – again always tricky timing wise with a fancy roast like Christmas, but now you’ve got a small portion of veggie sprouts and your bacon sprouts are in a smaller bowl too because you kept some aside, so they’re rapidly cooling which you didn’t account for originally, Ah fuck there’s the entirely separate main, which wants a different oven temp to everything else, new ingredients to adapt the starters, separate gravy, etc etc.

@EstherTW this. I'm used to cooking for a variety of diets. Recipes are the easy part. Juggling all the equipment isn't. Also it's double the washing up, and sometimes someone else has to run and wash things as you use them because you have only 'one' good pot

Also OP - you say the relatives are good cooks themselves. Surely they realise how hard it is to cook separate meals? If they know the effort you generally go to the polite thing to do with be to reassure you so that you didn't stress. Them keeping mum doesn't reflect very well on them

@Amitskitshaw

This really gets my goat. It’s more than a month until Christmas. Welcome then and make the effort of picking up a nut roast or tell them that you don’t care for them and not to come. Let’s face it if you did care you’d want to make the effort rather than make them feel like the burden they most obviously are to you!

What gets my goat is people not reading the thread properly. The OP has had two people who have specific dietary requirements impose themselves on Christmas Day which is already probably the biggest culinary operation of the year, and they haven’t even offered to do whatever they can to mitigate the extra consideration involved in hosting them. She’s entitled to be a bit miffed at having her best laid plans thwarted without actually hating them.

I agree re asking them to bring their own food to be honest. We have both a nut allergic ceoliac and a vegetarian in our immediate family and I am very used to catering for them and actually enjoy the challenge but I know both would be perfectly happy to bring their own food to someone else's home and indeed have done, although this was not at Christmas. They would not, having said that, invite themselves to another persons house, relative or not, for Christmas or at any other time to be honest,

PurpleDaisies

“No ruder than inviting themselves to someone else’s home for Christmas.”

I feel like I need to point out that I said exactly that in my next post having pressed post too soon.“

Fair enough, PurpleDaisies. Apologies. .

@TractorAndHeadphones THANK YOU. Felt like I’d entered the Twilight Zone there for a minute. Food: easy. Space in my galley kitchen, Fisher-Price-sized oven and Lilliputian hob: yikes.