Christmas Dinner - are you doing something different?

[QueensCafe]

We've not had Turkey for a good few years, no one really likes it so we usually have roast beef and all the traditional sides.

I'm fed up with that now though and fancy something else. We'll be 4 adukts and 2 children.

I was thinking party food spread but with the traditional sides. But will that actually more hassle than doing a traditional roast. Take away delivery on the day? I don't know, does anyone have any interesting alternatives planned?

We don't like turkey so for years had a goose, but it was just too much for just DS and I

We now as a family of four, have stuffed duck and a filet of beef as OH doesn't do duck

Boxing Day is the leftover fillet and cheese

Christmas Eve we have picky bits and a ham

Reading with interest. I adore the ritual of making a big trad Christmas lunch… but last year after spending £££ on a fresh turkey and two days prepping, my three teenage boys and DH cleared their plates twice in eight minutes.

i think you need guests to slow things down, intersperse some silly jokes and games and make it more of an event. Christmas lunch is not fuel - it’s performance and celebration and a bit sacred. But it’s a massive faff too. My brother’s bagsied staying at my parents this year so maybe I’ll invite some neighbours…

We continue to have the traditional meal but do ponder alternatives. I imagine salmon en croute ie steak. But I think I’d still like it to be a bit Christmassy and really fancy a warm baguette stuffed with hot turkey, stuffing, cranberry with pigs in blanket on the side.

Ooh what beer bourguignon recipe did you use?

We usually have a turkey crown but I fancy a different bird, though they tend to be £££. I could order from Booths or try and find a slightly cheaper butcher.
I'm not sure I want Christmas pudding on Christmas Day either. I love it, but we're always too full! Maybe a Yule log?
I am aware this is only very slightly off piste!

We were at friends for supper a couple of weeks ago. Tbey made a fab BB and served it with Yorkshire puddings. I admit to thinking it a bit odd when they brought it to the table but my god it worked well. Just shows you shouldn’t knock it til you’ve tried it!

I have cooked Christmas Lunch for 20 odd years! Now my DD friend who is our lodger too (sort of Flodger?) loves to cook, and serves up a mean Xmas lunch.Some ideas though :Slow cooker meals .Lots of wine to serve as well! Whole Salmon ,Cold Beef served with salad/pickles/Roasties (Did this when DS small and BF) Meat loaf with Roasties/lovely tomato sauce (Delia Smith recipes) ) Steaks and a lovely sauce/Beef wellington? Depending on Budget maybe some luxury goodies from M and S and a showstopper pud.Or to really push the boat out A trip to pub for a Christmas lunch?( Really gone up here though 80 quid each! ) (just a chain of pubs ). I will have to pass I think

Yes. On the back of this thread I thought I’ll do roast beef instead but Dh has just said he enjoys the turkey. Think I might do both…🤔

We decided that although the children (2 and 5) would sit still and have a full roast, it wasn't actually what any of us really wanted to be doing on Christmas Day. We now have a party buffet style meal with food available to graze on pretty much all day and as much as possible prepared in advance. We let go of our usual rules of eating round the table and no desserts until a reasonable amount of main course has been eaten, and everyone just helps themselves when they fancy it. My DH loves to cook and spends ages coming up with Christmas style foods that can be made - last year's sausage and cranberry wreath was my fave! Bonus was that we had enough leftovers to feed another 9 people on Boxing Day with no additional prep at all...

@DamsonIcecream

It is a performance and an event id be upset also if people wolfed it down in minutes.

To stretch it out we have a starter , then open some presents at the table , we have crackers with things to do , main course , another small present , pudding and game of charades or something .

We have Chinese for Christmas! Usually go to a Restaurant but fancy takeout would be an option as well, especially if we had children…

I don't get the fuss - it's normally just another bog standard roast dinner. For the one day in the year that the shops aren't open (disclaimer - there'll always be shops open - even in the smallest of towns!) no one sane is going have a melt down because Brandy butter isn't on the table, even though no one ever eats it. Luckily, DH and I are very relaxed about it. We may splash out on some lovely shellfish, yummy bread and homemade Aioli. Benefit of that type of menu is you can keep the detrius e.g Langoustine, Prawn, Lobster shells and roast them hard with loads of aromats, flambé them with any high volume alcohol spirit, blitz, sieve, lob a bit of cream in and voila - you have yummy Bisque which you can tart up with swirl of aforementioned Aioli and garnish with garlic croutons / cheese toast. Most of us will have booze, cheese and cream to hand over Christmas!

I was thinking of getting two REALLY NAICE steaks, and two REALLY NAICE pieces of lamb and then all the sides rather than a massive joint, because we also have a ham as well, and I'm going to look for a small jamon leg too. We have tended to spread the one Christmas day meal out over three days or so for the last few years as we don't eat such a massive meal in one go.

We don't have turkey as there's only 3 of us now and we don't find turkey that exciting.
Over the years, we've had goose, Cockerell, beef Wellington, porterhouse steaks, rib of beef, all served with the usual trimmings.
We've got friends who have been for Christmas dinner at the local Indian restaurant and others who've ordered an Indian takeaway.