Christmas day dinners- starters?

[chuggabo]

What are your favorite starters? Or do you skip them?

I like broccoli and stilton soup but husband and children arent keen.

In the past we've had: tomato and mozzarella salad (arranged in the shape of a Christmas tree!), parsnip and sweet potato soup, retro prawn cocktail. All good 😋

Choice of prawn cocktail, pate or baked Camembert. Most people choose the same thing each year.

Usually seafood of some sort , often the M & S seafood cocktail with fresh granary bread triangles .

Christmas dinner is such a blowout you don't really need a starter to be honest. Why not have the soup on Boxing Day instead?

Prawn cocktail every time.

Often do a prawn cocktail or smoked salmon with brown bread triangles lemon etc. Sometimes make a smoked mackeral pate to have with toast.

Skip them, the main meal is so filling I wouldn’t like to take the edge off my appetite. Plus it would probably be quite hard to find one thing everyone would like in our family.

Crisps, nuts etc with a glass of fizz. Starters detract from my enjoyment of the main event - I like to be hungry for Christmas dinner!

We don't bother. There's plenty of food and washing up and not enough fridge space anyway.

We love smoked salmon belinis but without SIL and her girls staying this year I think we'll go direct to mains and then a delicious pudding.

We never have starters at Christmas, I’d rather fill that space with more pudding.’

When my Mum was alive we did Prawn Cocktail as it was her absolute favourite. These days we do Fish Soup….brought from France, with croutons, rouille and a touch of grated gruyere. We keep portions sensible with all courses so we can enjoy the whole meal.

does half a selection pack count😁

😃

Crisps and fizz but only if the in laws aren't coming 😃

Have never bothered.

We have Christmas Dinner as an evening meal, and have smoked salmon for lunch.

There is often a big gathering round the table and starters just adds extra crockery and cutlery just when the kitchen is at its busiest. The Christmas meal is such a feast I can't imagine wanting to mess about filling up on salad or soup.

Some lovely canapes with champagne at pre-dinner drinks an hour before dinner is a possibility.

We space our food out so starters are at midday ish and then lunch isn't until 2pm. Pudding is at 5pm ish. Cheese and crackers etc at 8pm onwards. Lots of talking and present-exchanging, plus games between each course.

I do a fish option such as salmon or prawn cocktail and a soup.

Nobody ever complains and if you don't want it, don't eat it.

We usually have mussels and sourdough

We always do baked Camembert with French stick. Just a few bits each. Suits me as I’m not a big pudding fan.

Smoked salmon with my dad's homemade gravadlax

At home we don’t have a starter, we have smoked salmon blinis and fizz an hour before dinner.

At my mums this year and everyone’s insisting on starters so am making gambas pil pil, nigella oven blushed tomatoes and pate, putting all three on a few serving boards, and serving with warm ciabatta

Pate with sourdough bread.
DH often likes something fishy, eg seafood cocktail or
lobster.

Leek and potato soup, prawn cocktail and pate with oatcakes, depending on who is coming. The soup is fairly thin but there are warm rolls if wanted.

We have a few canapés that are inspired by favourite starters a couple of hours before. Things like bite size crostini topped with pear, blue cheese and walnut, melon and prosciutto skewers, or spicy prawn and cucumber on a stick.
I’ve never understood soup as a starter. Its just too filling.

That's just a mid-morning snack!

Smoked salmon bilinis and mini prawn cocktails with a glass of fizz around midday to keep everyone going and then full on lunch around 2!