Christmas Dinner Menu

[Lwrenagain]

Hi! Can we share what we're cooking? I want someone who shares joy in cooking Christmas food to get excited with!

I budget around £200 for the food for Christmas period, including treats and meals. I really shop around for this.

I make lots of "big" sides because we have open door policy for family/friends/neighbours/colleagues or if any school mums etc need some dinners plating up (we've had that happen when a mums oven broke Xmas day and we were able to drop off some dinners for her) plus DP works shifts, so if any of his colleagues are working over the Xmas day without a dinner we plate them up and he'll do a drop off.

To be cost effective I get loads of veg and tart it up for the mains, plus it lasts days/can be made in advance to help with small oven situations.

Meat - turkey / a joint of ham.
Stuffing - homemade - sage and onion with sausage meat is the favourite for my family but I prefer chestnut and apple stuffing 😋
Pigs in blankets
(I do try to stock in veggie/vegan equivalents in!)

Veg - roasties with garlic and rosemary and lemon
Potato dauphinoise topped with brie and sage
Carrot and Swede mash
Roasted garlic sweet potato mash
Glazed heritage carrots with thyme
Honey and mustard parsnips
Cauliflower, leek and brocoli cheese
Sprouts with chestnuts or pancetta
Braised red cabbage 😋

Homemade cranberry sauce/apple sauce and mint sauce (I dislike my homemade cranberry so I buy ocean spray for me, I just enjoy making it even if its a bit shite😂)

I make the gravy in advance and just use the Colemans bread sauce packets because I've never liked fresh bread sauce tbh.

I try getting all the veg and potatoes when they're on offer at aldi or lidl and to keep costs down I'll make a veggie soup or stew or curry for a few days we need something less rich to eat and also not dead expensive ☺

The meat when it's half price at sainsburys seems to be the best bargain because it lasts ages.

Last year Morissons had a great deal on wheels of brie being half price and some good deals on cheeses and pates.

For the veggies/vegans
I defrost vegan sausages and use them with sautéed mushrooms to make stuffing.

I see what veggie mains I'll see what's being stocked in all the supermarkets, aldi has vegan pigs in blankets etc

Lidl and aldi do nice veggie pastries ❤

Desserts
I'll make mince pies and a Christmas cake with the DC but also look for ideas on the Jane's patisserie blog, I like her trifle ideas ❤

I love stollen/dried fruit/marzipan flavoured puddings, anyone else?
I'd happily swerve chocolate for Christmas flavoured sweets!

Cheese board with homemade chutney (Mary Berry has a terrific recipe) and then some shop bought ones such as quince.
Lots of French stick/crackers/butter etc

We don't drink alcohol in my house but I'll get a baileys and amaretto in for guests, if anyone wants to bring their own booze I'll provide mixers etc maybe someone can recommend a nice bottle of wine for me to keep in for visitors? I'd appreciate that!

Last year was a really crap Christmas so I'm super excited for this one 🌠

You sound like a lovely lass. I think I would be happy to have you as my friend IRL.

I am not normally someone that gets excited about Christmas but your post made me smile.

Shameless placemark for later 🎄

What about a sorbet for Christmas dessert, SoRainbowRhythms?

https://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/c/christmas_sorbet_with_cranberries.html

With a few out of season mint leaves, it could look so Christmassy. Or serve it with pistachio vegan ice cream for a traditional red and green look.

LWrenAgain what a lovely idea for a thread and how good does Christmas sound at yours! Personally I wouldn't expect anybody who doesn't drink alcohol themselves to provide it for me but have you thought about wine in cans?

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/review/best-canned-wines

Do not listen to anyone who dismisses wine in a can. I went to a virtual tasting which included wine in a can because they are actually becoming very popular, especially for picnics because they are lighter and less likely to break than bottles. The problem with wine in a bottle is that it does go off when opened (although a vacuvin helps because it creates an air seal). Having a few cans means that you can offer red and white to the odd guest who wants it without adding a lot to your budget.

@nettie434 I'm not s sorbet fan but could do for DH and I could have Yule log and a cheese plate 🤣

@momtoboys we are friends, we just don't know each other yet 💐

Ooh canned wine, excellent shout, thank you! I was thinking actually about the waste if it doesn't get drank.

And pistachio ice cream is the most beautiful ice cream in the world, it would be easy to make it festive if topped with some chopped nuts and dried cranberries with dark chocolate shavings.

Tesco also used to do vegan churros with a cinnamon sugar Glitter and dark chocolate sauce.

Also, how about a ganache with salted caramel dark chocolate and heated lactose free or coconut double cream? So easy to make and so indulgent.

Maybe serve with these? They're in ocado and sainsburys already, I've used these to make a vegan/gluten free cheesecake base and they're really tasty, I used the coconut collaborative double cream and the vegan oat philly, oreos are also lactose free, but not as festive 😋

Right, I've caught up.

Why the actual fuck have I never fried my Christmas cake?!

Ooh a Christmas food thread! Excellent.

I haven't actually started planning too much other than I always make my Christmas cake at the end of September so that'll be coming up soon. I know I could buy one for less than half the price it costs me to make it but it is tradition in our house. I make one every year and have photos of DDs stirring the cake mix from each year since they were babies.

I've bought some vacuum sealed chestnuts so far to add to my sausage meat and sage and onion stuffing. I tend to make a big batch of it and make stuffing balls with half of the mix and the other half I use as the filling for homemade sausage rolls. All can be frozen and heated up as required.

I'll be following the thread for inspiration!

An excellent solution 😀 I also like the ideas for non dairy puddings from LWrenagain. I'm tempted to practise making and eating the ganache so I can make a perfect one at Christmas!

I have found my people!

I'm actually a little nervous about the dinner this year as for the first time ever it's only the 4 of us (well, there was one during covid but that was last minute so had everything in already and not a planned small one)

Due to family stuff DM will now spend this year with her partner and his mum who is very ill. My Granny is no longer with us and it was her who I took over form with the cooking of the dinner. DBro is no longer in the UK and won't be home for Xmas. We do the open house for Dh brothers and their wives/our nieces and nephews, Fil and MIL from 5pm ish (we all live walking distance from each other)

So for our main meal it will be Dh and I who love the big traditional Xmas dinner, Ds1 who is 7.5 and DS2 who is 3.5 - the waste of all of this amazing food worries me but should I keep cooking it all to ensure the tradition lives on as they get older?!

We are your people 😁 (my fave thread!)

If you can afford to do a decent sized dinner, do it and use the left overs for sandwiches, roasties can be reheated (air fryer works brilliant for reheated roasties!) And if you've got any neighbours who might not fancy cooking for one, offer them some?

For your guests later on, could you use the left over meat for a buffet?

I'm starting to lurk on the supermarket websites now waiting for a full list of food that'll be released in December ☺

Hello....love this thread. @QforCucumber I am nervous for the opposite reason. For the past few years we have had a small Christmas dinner for 4 but this year i am cooking for 12 and I'm already sweating about timings!!

@Ghostjail do you have enough chairs? 😳😂

Ahhh I miss cooking for the masses when my granny was no longer Able! It’s not really acceptable to have another child just so there’s loads of us at Xmas right?!

actually talked to dh about Xmas dinner menu today - he wants us to do dinner but scaled back a touch so my plan is as follows

M&S for starter (usually would be a seafood platter)

turkey crown from butchers
many many many pigs in blankets
mash and roasties
yorkshire puds
sage and onion stuffing
honey roast carrots and parsnips
shredded sprouts with bacon, chestnuts and butter
brocollli and cauli cheese

my homemade white chocolate cheesecake with caramel sauce for dessert.

My honey roast ham for when family appear later alongside ALL of the cheeses and crackers and grapes and wines,

a vastly scaled down version but still special enough :)

Everything homemade for 10 people

Starter choices

Salmon mouse
Prawn cocktail
Pate
Melon
All with homemade bread rolls

Main

Turkey
Pork & sage & onion stuffing
Chipolata sausages
Sprouts
Carrots roasted in sugar
Honey roast parsnips
Mashed potatoes
Roast potatoes

Veggie main - giant mushrooms stuffed with goats cheese and sage & onion stuffing with red wine jus.

Deserts

Yule log
Ice cream & jelly

We used to do a turkey broth soup course but dropped it a few years ago as was just too much.

I may have to ask people to bring their own chairs 😜🤣. I am also wondering where the hell I'm going to fit the extra table I will need to seat everyone. I don't like having a kids table...I think we should all be together. I'll figure it out. We might just need to hire a removal van to store most of our other furniture for the day.

I need starter ideas. It's traditional on Scotland to have soup as a starter (well in my bit anyway). We would always have Scotch Broth but it's so heavy I don't do it anymore.

Dessert is Christmas pudding or homemade trifle (retro).

I'm after a retro trifle recipe if you have one @Ghostjail 👀😁

Starters always leave us all too full so I offer picky bits up until lunch, I love the tradition of a starter but I want that room for roasties 😂

This is actually the best thread ever. Will be planning my menu ASAP off the back of this. Thank you, all!

OP, I have no idea how you do all this with little ones in tow! Sounds magical.

I have no idea how I'll do it this year with a tiny one 😂
Lots of coffee I imagine!

We've always done non-alcoholic trifle because all the kids in the family love it too. I use a shop bought Madeira cake for the base, then I use shop bought raspberry jelly (the cube kind because all need to test a cube 😋), tinned fruit. Let it all set. Then a layer of custard and a layer of whipped cream. It's so 70's and not at all sophisticated but it's how my gran made it and now it's stuck.

At @Lwrenagain I make this and it's great. https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fruit-recipes/mrs-oliver-s-massive-retro-trifle/

I got some idea from here, please have a look https://christmaseverydayclub.com/serve-at-christmas-dinner/

I do starters - about an hour or so before main course!
doing mini prawn cocktails in large shot glases, Brie and cranberry filo crackers, garlic dough baubles, and star toast with a couple of pates.

main course will be
ham and turkey
some sort of veggie roast for DD and niece.
pigs in blankets
veggie pigs - DD likes halloumi wrapped in aubergine!

roast potatoes
roast carrots and parsnips
mashed swede
sprouts
red cabbage
brocolli
cauliflower cheese

yorkshire puddings (I know they don’t go but DS2 always requests them)
cranberry sauce
stuffing balls
gravy
bread sauce

then we always have mint sauce and apple sauce etc in fridge (DS1 has apple sauce on any roast! We don’t abide my roast rules her 😂)

puddings will be later and be
Christmas pudding
ive for a chocolate and a toffee pudding as well for non Xmas pudding eaters
ill also do a chocolate orange cheese cake
trifle
and possible some ice cream layered type pudding.

there will be plenty of cheeses etc but often we don’t eat any of them until Boxing Day!!!

I like to go a bit on-traditional on Xmas eve. When kids were young I made Xmas shaped pizzas or we have had a curry delivered but last year I did fahitas and made margaritas which went down well so might do that again

I'm working nights on Christmas Eve and day so lunch will be a Boeuf Bourgignon made ahead with some mashed potato, leeks and carrots. Pudding will be made ahead and frozen - most likely being my Mum's own recipe Cottage Cheese Cheesecake with raspberries. It's my favourite pudding. Probably will have a homemade mince pie with Delia Smiths trad mincemeat recipe. I make them with shortcrust just like Mum, they are perfect in their simplicity and not especially sweet.

Supper will be a round of sandwiches, some Pringles and a piece of Christmas cake. I make quite a simple cake, again one of my mum's special recipes - a light fruit cake with a can of apricots mixed in. treated like a simnel cake as we love marzipan. Last year I did this and it went down a treat. I top it with more marzipan and marzipan flowers.

I am making Turkey and cranberry croissants at work for the team so this will be my 3am smackerel of something.

Heaven of marzipan...

I don't think I've ever seen something so beautiful.
I could weep at it's glory.
I feel like the sistine Chapel screamer must have felt, it's so glorious! 😍

I had an almond croissant in a cafe Nero togoodtoogo bag a few weeks ago and it was the most gorgeous marzipan tasting thing ever, I dare say you'd have adored it!