Inspire me... what are your Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day menus....

[Karcheer]

I've 8 to cater for from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed as I've still got to order food, get the house straight, write cards and buy some pressies. Please inspire me with what you plan to do over the three days. Thanks!

I'm in the same boat, there's 8 of us too.

Christmas Eve: pie and peas supper
Christmas Day: turkey crown, ham, sides. Some sort of fishy/prawn/smoked salmon starter thing and fruit starter for kids.
Boxing Day: walk to pub. Beer. Restaurant for dinner.

Christmas Eve: Gammon with mash, parsley sauce, peas. Chocolate mousses

Christmas Day: bacon cobs at 11. Turkey and trimmings at 5

Boxing Day: hosting bring and share lunch for 18/20. I'll probably do loads of sausages and serve hot dogs, other people will bring salads and cheese

I'm not hosting so have more flexibility than most as there's only 4 of us

Christmas Eve- steak and red wine steamed suet pudding with green beans and swede mash

Christmas- bacon sandwich breakfast

Crumpets/ croissants/ Christmas muffin/ hot chocolate brunch

Goats cheese wrapped in Parma ham starter
Turkey and all trimmings dinner
Trifle and or Christmas pud desert (5pm)

Cheeseboard to pick through the evening

Boxing Day- leftover sandwiches
Turkey and pesto lasagne
Cheeseboard again

Only three of us here this year.
Boiled ham on Christmas Eve, turkey and pork with all the trimmings, followed by trifle.
Boxing Day bubble and squeak with cold meats.

Fridge will also contain plenty of bacon, cheese, eggs, smoked salmon and salad, which will form easy meals for the rest of the week as I'm back in work from Boxing Day.

I have dopne this for years, xmas eve ham with baked potatoes and coleslaw, the ham is then served alongside traditional turkey xmas dinner and boxing day is all leftovers with a few fresh french sticks

christmas eve is something really easy - probably frozen fish portions, oven chips, beans. Christmas day is turkey crown (comes in a plastic bag now you just stick in the oven, stuffing, cauliflower cheese, roast squash, pots, parnsips. pigs in blankets.

Boxing day is leftovers warmed up, maybe bubble and squeek and also a gammon which i'll have made yesterday.

deserts - my son will make a cheesecake, mince pies, christmas pudding. plus cheese and biscuits.

No starters - we would get too full. most of the deserts shop bought - and its easy to go overboard with these and end up chucking them - i never make trifle now despite liking the concept

its basically a big roast unless you want to make it very complicated

son only does cheesecake....not all the other stuff

Only four of us here.

Christmas Eve - cheeseboard, sausage rolls, pickles etc. Mince pies, Christmas cake and meringues for pud.

Christmas day - carnivores haven't decided what they want yet. M&S nut roast for me. Dauphinoisse and roast potatoes, roasted carrots, parsnips and shallots, sprouts plus normal carrots as well as the roasted ones, stuffing and probably Yorkies (whatever the meat). Christmas pud for dp and I. Whatever the dds choose for them - it'll probably be sticky toffee pudding.

Boxing day - going away, but I wish I was having bubble and squeak!

Just 4 of us for
Christmas Eve: salmon steaks with tomato pasta &
Christmas Day: turkey & all the trimmings, Christmas pud and mince pies
Then on Boxing Day, 8 of us:
Cold gammon, turkey, salads, cocktail sausages, crisps, etc

Christmas Eve - undecided
Christmas Day - Mushroom and chestnut roast, Brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce, bread sauce, red onion and red wine gravy, possibly gratin dauphinois
Boxing Day - leftovers

Christmas Eve probably a Chinese takeaway.

Boxing Day will be Boxing Day pie and cheese and crackers and cake and chocolates. Trifle

Similar numbers.

Christmas eve - Pizza, and I am determined to buy them rather than make them from scratch

Christmas day
Bagels and smoked salmon /bacon
Turkey and trimmings
Christmas pudding /yule log
"Nibbles " in the evening

Boxing day - a side beef for slicing, with chips, dips and cold turkey

Plus crisps/ chocolate / mince pies as wanted

My plan is to encourage everyone to pitch in with table loading /clearing etc.

so...
Christmas eve (6 adults, 2 smalls) - ham (this recipe www.nigella.com/recipes/ham-in-coca-cola ), garlic mashed potato, red cabbage & parsley sauce
Christmas Pavlova foodandspice.blogspot.com/2008/12/nigella-lawsons-christmas-pavlova.html

Christmas day - toasted bagels with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for breakfast, DH will have his usual half a pink grapefruit

Lunch 2pm- 8 adults, 4 under 10... angels and devils on horseback, and pigs in blankets when family arrive, hummus & veggies for the kids,
Full Turkey christmas lunch - roasties, red cabbage, parmesan parsnips, brussel sprouts with chestnuts and lardons
Christmas pudding or ice cream or trifle
cheese - mostly stilton
mince pies

Cake if they haven't expired from too much food

Boxing day
Brioche, croissants etc just family. (from the freezer or the jusrol ones)
lunch for 4 adults, 2 teens and 1 small: I have a stash of the lidl special offer lobsters & will probably do a seafood platter with smoked salmon, hollandaise, lemon etc. salami plate, homemade bread etc
Supper will be turkey curry - thai green & i have a load of frozen dim sum

hope this helps, good luck. tbh it does depend on your budget but you could look at the M&S Christmas in a box and see what the £/head is, we did this the year dd was born (a 48 hour old baby didn't deter visitors, bless'em) and had a fridge and freezer full of things to defrost, cook or unpack

My catering plans are as follows:

Christmas Eve - 13 people (party with friends) - Thai chicken curry, chilli, rice & accompaniments followed by salted caramel meringue gateaux or banoffie pie

Christmas Day 10 adults 4 children (family coming) - croissants & pomegranate fizz for breakfast then bacon sandwiches for lunch followed by roast turkey dinner in the evening

Boxing Day 15 people (another party with friends and family) - baked ham, smoked salmon, coronation chicken, sausages, quiche, baked potatoes, green salad, coleslaw, cous cous salad, greek salad, olive cheese bread followed by pomegranate pavlova, vanilla cheesecake or chocolate torte

I got lots of ideas from threads on here am looking forward to trying some new recipes as well as making some old favourites. I hope you have a great Christmas.

Christmas Eve - Hams baked...one warm today, cheeses, pickles, crisps etc
Christmas Day - not hosting
Boxing day - Bubble and squeak, cold ham, left over turkey (bubble and turkey brought by parents who hosted day before) salad, pickles etc

Christmas Eve:
Still contemplating, but its GOT to be something easy or 'make-ahead'.I
'm thinking about a lasagne (I have a lovely northern Italian recipe for a sausagemeat lasagne which is delicious) with salad, and maybe something light like a fruit salad for pudding.

Christmas Day:
Pretty traditional.
Brioche bacon rolls and bubbly for breakfast.
Lunch is smoked salmon starter (I try to change it up and do something more inventive some years, but get complaints if there isn smoked salmon), turkey + chicken +Christmaa ham (catering for a few fussers) with all the trimmings. Adults have Xmas phd and cream for dessert, kids have 'ice cream factory' - which is basically lots of ice cream and sprinkles and sauces to choose from.

Boxing Day:
Bubble and squeak and leftovers for lunch. My favourite bit!
A proper old fashioned sherry trifle afterwards.
Cheeseboard, crisps, crudites etc later.

3 of us Christmas Eve (me, dd1 (14) and dd2 (almost 2) DH is working but will be home about 9ish I think). I will make some "party food" rather than a proper meal which we will eat whilst we put the decs up (tree went up last weekend but we are making paper chains etc to go up) and watch Christmas movies. DD2, I will sit at her little table to eat whilst we decorate.

Christmas day (all 4 of us)
Breakfast will be scrambled egg and smoked salmon or bacon and pancakes, which ever they want at about 10. dd2 will have had a something earlier as well, maybe some toast or something - don't want her eating chocolate that early!

Christmas dinner we will eat around 2.30/3.00 after dd2 has had her nap. That is prawn cocktail for dd1 and for me and DH stuffed mushrooms. Then full turkey dinner with all the trimmings, followed by Christmas pud and yule log for dd2.

The rest of the day we will just nibble on left overs and chocolates.

Boxing day, I always lay a table of food about 1ish with cheese board, party food platters (the type you get from Iceland) and dips etc and this year there will also be a gammon on there as we have guests! I like to do as little of possible on the rest of the day. There will be us four, plus my mum, brother, possibly a couple of friends will nip in. Normally it is just the four of us.

Xmas eve I'm doing a small party food buffet for three of us. Slices of pizza, crisps. Nuts, spring rolls and chicken goujons while we watch Xmas films.

Xmas day we aren't hosting but will be full on Xmas dinner and I'm making a choice of chocolate orange cheesecake and a lemon and pistachio mirangue (can't spell that? Roulade.
Boxing day I'm thinking of doing a nice curry with all the trimmings. If we were hosting we would probably have left over a though

7 of us for :
Christmas Eve: fish pie and peas, mince pies and ice cream
Christmas Day: smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, roast vine tomatoes, sautéed spinach and home made bread for breakfast.
Mushroom Wellington for me, braised beef for the others, roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots, Yorkshire pudding, sprouts and chestnuts, stuffing, pigs in blankets (not for me), vegan devils on horseback. Chocolate Yule log for pud. Nibbles in eve, prob pasta and pesto for DC!

Boxing Day we're hosting an open house in the afternoon where people will bring bits and bobs and I'll create something out of leftovers as well as make a walnut and lentil loaf

Think we will have pizzas and nibbles Christmas Eve and watch films and then hot chocolates.

Christmas Day
Prawns and smoked salmon salad with brown bread and lemon

Turkey & ham
Cauliflower cheese
Mash
Roasties
Yorkshire puds
Carrot&swede
Veg
Pigs in blankets
Gravy

Crumble for pudding and custard

Cheese and biscuits later on then probably make sandwiches for tea if anyone's hungry.

Boxing Day

Buffet

Oh and bacon butties or pancakes Christmas Day breakfast

Christmas Eve, evening, usually kedgeree, in keeping with continental fish tradition, easy and can have people round and then midnight mass. V occasionally shepherd's pie, again v easy, mass catering.

Day, small breakfast, lunch turkey, smoked salmon starter, pudding.
Walk, tea prob panettone, supper poss turkey soup, more likely left overs.

Boxing Day, pub lunch or open sandwiches.at home or sandwiches plus flasks if out walking, Delia's magnificent turkey curry for supper. Never known any left overs.

Christmas Eve - duck, roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, asparagus in bacon, Yorkshire puds & gravy. Cheesecake for pud.

Christmas Day - out for a curry

Boxing Day - out for another meal