Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve?

[Auxbutteschaumont]

Does anyone do, or has anyone made the switch to, having Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve?

I’m toying with the idea this year. We’ve got two DC who are 5 and 2 and I think I’d just like a more chilled Christmas Day but I love all the trimmings with a dinner so don’t want to give that up.

At the moment, as with most parents I assume, it feels like I don’t really sit down on the day itself even with DH’s help. Up early with the kids, all the fun of presents, getting everyone ready, putting the toys ‘away’ for people coming over, the cooking and the clean up etc. We always eat around 1pm because my DM goes back to her house around 4 for the family going to hers for the evening about 5 so the morning just feels feel on, then I’m knackered by mid afternoon.

The only thing putting my off doing the dinner on Christmas Eve around 4pm is the whole ‘tradition’ thing. Will it still feel like Christmas Eve/Day or will doing the lunch the day before take something away from it?

Anyway, forgive my ramblings! What do your days look like if you do The Dinner on Christmas Eve?

Not quite what you asked but a couple of years ago I moved our boxing day buffet to Christmas day. So cold cuts, cheese, chutney etc. I did roast potatoes, pigs in blankets and gravy fresh to go with it so had the best bits of the trimmings without all the cooking. It was a really relaxed Christmas day.

We had lots going on last year so I prepped & cooked all the trimmings and veg etc on Christmas Eve and put them into big foil over trays.
Christmas Day I cooked the turkey breast joint fresh and just threw the foil trays (covered in foil) in the oven with the turkey for the last half hour or so to heat back through.

It was so much easier and we spent so much more quality time with DC rather than in the kitchen. I’ll be doing the same this year 😊

My girls are 5 and 4 and for the last two years we have had it on Boxing Day. We didn’t want to spend Christmas Day cooking and we felt like we were missing out on Christmas Day. We do what the kids call party dinner on Christmas Day and we all much prefer it this way. Would never go back to dinner on the day now.

We do but DH is French and doing the big meal on Christmas Eve is more traditional for him! I like it and means you get the day to prepare stuff rather than trying to fit it all around the present opening etc.

Yes ive done this for a couple of years! Christmas Dinner on Xmas eve to properly start the festivities, and i can prep and cook without 'missing out'on anything xmas day. Xmas day food is m&s party food plus leftovers. Xmas day is just all the fun stuff! Max 20mins in the kitchen. I love it 😀

I love a festive Christmas Eve dinner. More romantic and atmospheric because it’s dark. Relax with port and cheese afterwards.

Then have a lovely Christmassy breakfast the next day, smoked salmon Christmas Lunch / cold game pie or similar.

Christmas night: give the kids sausage and mash and sit down with DH for steak or pre-made and frozen Bouef Borgignon or whatever your idea of a lovely (but low effort) dinner is

We do this if mum's working on Christmas Day. We then have cold meat, mash and pickles ob Christmas Day

Not christmas eve but this year we're not doing christmas dinner on christmas day. Going to have the big traditional turkey dinner the Sunday before so it's totally over and out the way long before the big day.
Maybe slightly different as it's only us (me, DH and kids 6 & 4) we have family in the evening but not for a meal. Sick of wasting so much time and thought on a meal that the kids aren't overly fussed about when we'd rather just enjoy time with the kids.

We go away on the 26th so do Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve and then again ok B Christmas Day. We love it, Christmas morning is so relaxed without any meat cooking

What time off do you have, and which aspects of Christmas are most important to you? Personally I love a lazy Boxing Day, but if I didn’t have that off, I’d push dinner back to Christmas Eve.

I usually prep on Christmas Eve, and it always felt like a lost day. Last year I cooked and froze all my side dishes through November and December and apart from stuffing the turkey, I had nothing to do but slide trays in and out of the oven. It was the most relaxed Christmas I’ve ever had. And it was nice doing little bits of cooking, here and there, with the Christmas music on.

I’ve not had Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, but like another poster I do a lot of prep in advance to make Christmas Day as relaxed as possible. I prep and par boil the potatoes and parsnips and freeze them a week or two in advance and prep the other veg, the pigs in blankets and the other meat on Christmas Eve and put them in tin foil oven trays (I only use these at Christmas as I appreciate they’re not environmentally friendly, but that one day a year I can live with myself and it means there’s a lot less of the hard washing up) . I also make a sticky toffee pudding (our Christmas Day pudding) on Christmas Eve to reheat on Christmas Day. Then, on the day, it’s almost like making a ready meal - it’s just about timing things to put in the oven and water on to boil for the green veg. It’s a bit more work in advance of Christmas, but it works for me, as we all get a ‘traditional’ Christmas, but I get to actually enjoy the day too - I just set alarms and pop out to put stuff in the oven occasionally. I appreciate it might not be for everyone, but it works for us!

Glad so many people enjoy it! You’re totally getting what I mean as well about feeling like I spend so much time in the kitchen on Christmas Day. My idea was to have leftovers and party food on the day itself. Also agree that my kids don’t really care about the meal either 😅.

We do do some pre-meal prep but interested to know what everyone does for that, right now I tend to do the roasties other than putting them in the oven, peel/cut most veg and I make the Yorkshire puddings but it still means Christmas Day is spent keeping track on timings, taking things in/out, turning roasties, mashing etc - never get out of the kitchen for more than 10 minutes before something else needs doing!

I finish work on the 18th this year. I’d say the dinner itself is important (especially to DH), when it happens is less important. Right now my priority has shifted to just spending time with the kids and not having pressure on the day. The idea of going for a walk after a later breakfast then spending the day eating picky food sat in comfies and playing with the kids new toys sounds like bliss!

We actually all go to the football on Boxing Day and this year my team is at home so we don’t get a quiet Boxing Day at home this time round.

We do this every year and have never questioned it. It works better for us. Husband and me can see children opening there presents it's more chilled and relaxed

We do this every year and would never go back unless maybe kids all grown up and it works, I guess. Nope. For me, big roast dinner on Christmas Eve, then crib service at church even though we’re not religious (I still always cry!) then home for cosy pyjamas, muppets Christmas carol and bed. Christmas Day is about presents, building and playing with and enjoying the presents, films and Snowman type short films on, and light food. For breakfast I run and toast some Christmas tree shaped crumpets when there’s a lull in the opening, and bring them into the living room on a tray. Dinner is the traditional Boxing Day fare of leftovers and picky bits, hams cheeses and chutneys. Boxing Day I always do a big piece of salmon because it’s quick and light, with some fresh bright greens.

We nearly did Xmas eve last year but got cold feet at the last minute and had it on the day as usual but definitely regretted it. I was super preped, even cooked the turkey Xmas eve and had it sliced in a Pyrex, poured gravy over and heated it in the oven but it's still the faff of all the timings and cleaning up after! My issue is though I also LOVE Xmas eve and don't want to waste it cooking any more than Xmas day hence why we're going with the Sunday before this year

I love the sound of that.

I do know what you mean, although we don’t usually do anything special on Christmas Eve during the day. Last year we took the kids to soft play to run off some energy. Other than that we usually just get a takeaway & do the usual pjs on, milk & cookies out & a Christmas movie so in theory we could still do all that minus the takeaway of course (with DH taking the DCs to soft play so I can cook in peace 😉).

Think.this is commonplace on the Continent. I'd say do.as you please.

That sounds ideal OP, get DH to take the kids out christmas eve while you sort the dinner. I'd personally aim to eat mid afternoon so late lunch/early dinner then you have everything finished and tidied in time for christmas movie etc

My kids were always lukewarm about the Christmas roast. If it were up to them, they’d be happy with (adult) party food on the day as they love stuff like tempura prawns, chicken on skewers etc and a special dessert afterwards would have made it special for them.
I’m divorced so didn’t always have my kids on the day so ate my roast on other days some years. I would buy stuff like extra pigs in blankets to eat post Christmas for savoury snacky meals anyway.

I have friends from another European country who do this as standard,

We have moved from Christmas dinner at lunch time to having it as an evening meal.

Well my children are mid to late twenties and I really think you have the best idea! Make it your family tradition while they’re young. I’ve missed so many Christmas Days and then fallen asleep 😂 Shame I never thought of it before but I think it sounds fab, also the football tradition ❤️

Large parts of rural-ish USA too. Traditionally the whole family would be at church (and often still are) so nobody at home to cook. So Christmas Eve is the dinner and present opening, Christmas Day is church followed by buffet, wallowing and general doing nothing very much.