What do you judge about other people’s Christmas dinners?

[Talkingtomyhouseplants]

Lighthearted - we all know every other family apart from our own does it wrong!

Mine are:

• no pigs in blankets
• BOILED veg 🤮
• treating the Christmas cracker like a competition (we are are each person gets their own cracker prize family!)

All this talk of pigs in blankets has reminded me that whilst we have them, growing up we always just had bacon that has been cooked on the top of the turkey to help keep it moist and add extra flavour, which was then crunchy and tasty to eat.
however there would also be bacon rolls - ie half slices of bacon that were rolled up before being cooked.

these days I do all three but I can’t remember having pigs in blankets really when I was little and I can’t really remember when they were introduced as a definite thing…

love having plenty of all of them though - in an ideal world I’d just have them, the stuffing, the mashed Swede, roast parsnips and butter fried Brussels sprouts with plenty of home made cranberry sauce as my ideal Christmas lunch! Oh and a couple of Yorkshire puds with home made gravy in too…I keep threatening that one year that’s all I’m going to do but sadly DH and dc like the other bits so still need to do the whole lot!

Not enough cranberry sauce.
No (home made) bread sauce.

I love Yorkshire puddings! I didn’t even realise for many years that some people will only have them with beef, they are just a roast dinner staple with any meat.

I also like cauliflower cheese with Christmas dinner. I think the main thing is to just eat it the way you enjoy it, not forgo certain items that you would actually really enjoy eating because of some made-up ‘rules’. That is a really strange concept to me.

Not just Christmas dinner but any gathering where everybody insists on clinking each other’s glasses. I bloody hate it with a completely irrational fury. When did just raising glasses stop being the way it was done? Why is there this expectation to keep on clashing glasses until everyone has banged everybody else’s (fnaar)? I CANT STAND IT!!

As a plant eater, I find it odd when people cook all the vegetables in animal fat, but I guess that's what they like even if it means veggie guests go hungry.

If you are guilty of that and don't want to cook a few veg separately either don't invite veggies or tell them in advance so they can decide whether to accept your invitation or not.

Fanilies where the women do all the cooking and then The Man carves the turkey at the table (bonus judgy points if he uses one of those electric carving knives).

My mum when I lived at home used to cook the turkey (always a crown) on Christmas Eve and her and my dad would have turkey sandwiches for supper. I can’t really remember but with hindsight that must have made the turkey (served cold) on Christmas Day, quite dry.

I’ve rarely met a Christmas dinner I didn’t like - we have mash and roast with ours but we also have a chicken (ducks) cos it’s so much less faff and we have our roast chicken down to a fine art

Mashed potato.

And I judge myself for doing Yorkies because I think they’re not technically correct with turkey, but my family would riot if there were no Yorkies.

Well, of course. But they are not ‘made up rules’.
Yorkshire puddings in the not to distant past were served to pad out a joint of roast beef. And in Yorkshire were served often before the dinner, to fill people up before the meat. So historically that is how Yorkshires with beef came to be.
They were not served with chicken. People did not eat as much chicken then. More pork was eaten. And apple sauce went with that.

Cooking the day before and reheating. It isn't Christmas if you aren't having a full on family fight by 9am over the timings and getting it all ready at the same time.
🤣🤣🤣

Any food served or cooked which involves plastic. Especially hot gravy poured out of a plastic measuring jug, arrgh!

Shop bought desserts, unless really good quality.

Apart from that, not fussed what the actual food is. Mash, cauliflower cheese, dry turkey, bring it on!

Animals don’t have rights.
Human beings are omnivores, it’s very difficult to eat a truly healthy diet without meat.
I love a good roast animal carcass!

Single use plastic Christmas table cloth

This is another tradition that stems from way back in time. When men did the cooking in vast kitchens and only very rich people ate meat. Men did the carving then. And it has been something that has stuck.

Political agenda 😂

Turkey.

Yorkshire pudding on there, and cauliflower cheese. Both not part of my Christmas Dinner, and braised spiced red cabbage is a must on there!

I don't judge anyone, why would I won't be there so it doesn't effect me at all. To be fair I know very little about what others even do for Christmas dinner as we are the type that stay home by ourselves not visit hosting family etc...

That said, not Christmas but you mentioned 'boiled veg' and my great grandparents (who lived until I was in my teens) boiled veg into an indeterminable mush for every Sunday for dinner so the smell of boiled veg makes me think of them... and while I liked my grandparents and not trying to be rude but its not a pleasant smell, it very much smells like 'old people'.

@Justnot

"we also have a chicken (ducks)"

Chickens are not ducks. 😀(Although my late mother used to serve a roast duck if it was a small gathering. Much nicer than türkey, IMO.)

I’m just grateful to be here for another Christmas - so many people won’t be. Who gives a shit if there is a bit of boiled veg or a Yorkshire pudding.

Peas, tinned sweetcorn or mash 🤮

I love potatoes. I'd have roasties, mash and new on my plate given the choice.

rubbish thin gravy, it ruins the whole meal.

People who have a picnic or leftovers so they "don't have to spend all day in the kitchen".
It really doesn't take that long and lots can be done in advance. I don't really understand it.

People that bang on about 'animal carcasses' would like to ban eating meat. This thread isn't the place for it.