Christmas eve meal inspiration

[Wherethereshope]

Looking for inspiration for Christmas eve, do you have any traditions?

Preferably something simple! Or prep ahead

We usually have gammon, chips and salad!

Gammon
Salmon wellington
Baked mackerel

Fish is popular in northern europe/scandi and seems right for christmas eve.

Takeaway app on phone!
Or just nibbles and bits - no desire to cook at all before the big day.

We always do a nice meal on Christmas Eve as dh's family is German and they always kept that tradition. We now do presents on Christmas Day but have kept the meal.

Usually we have either steak or venison. This year we are having venison slow cooked in red wine and juniper berries, with rosemary potatoes, red cabbage, tenderstem broccoli and asparagus wrapped in Parma ham. To start is smoked salmon on pumpernickels and pudding is my mil's homemade pavlova.

When Dd was still at home we had a buffet, the more beige food the better 😋

Yes we always have fish. I'm cooking a Jamie Oliver fantastic fish pie. Plus Nigella's clementine cake and then maybe mulled wine in the evening.

We usually have mussels in either a white wine or cider sauce with loads of crusty bread.

I always do kedgeree - this year with smoked cod and prawns.

Nachos or chilli. Or nachos and chilli.

Lovely ideas, Thank you. It's making me feel hungry!

We have buffet food. Salads, nice bread, cheese, hummus, cold meats etc.

We have hot ham sandwiches with the best crusty loaf I can find. I cook Christmas Day so keep it simple Christmas Eve.

We're RC and do the (sort of) fast before feast thing.

Christmas Eve last year was kedgeree (we were hosting).

This year's (just us) it's a proper home-made minestrone with good bread, small cheese board and fruit platter.

In the past it's been crumpets and Marmite.

Smoked mackerel with chicory, walnut and watercress salad.

Smoked salmon on home made blinis/ potato pancakes etc.

Ds and dh always wanted deep fried bits, but last year I had violent heartburn from it and I told them this year it was either stuffed shells or cheese fondue. So we’re doing cheese fondue with rosemary bread, Bosc pears, steamed haricots and apples with sticky toffee pudding for afters.

Roast pork sarnies with apple sauce and stuffing. Last year we had a takeaway and years before that we always had curry or buffet.

A cheese-fest here, plus veggie sausage rolls and a bit of salad to avoid scurvy. Mince pies and Yule log for pud.

We're having party food followed by Yule log 👌

We always get a Chinese

Sharing platters of cold meats, cheeses, fruit, olives, crusty bread, dips etc

Tradition is my Husband cooks whilst I watch Carols at Kings shouting instructions at him.

He's making spiced chicken livers on sourdough toast and monkfish wrapped in Parma ham.

Roast gammon, macaroni cheese and various veg. Pleases everyone from the 5 yo yo the grown ups.

We always have hot pork sandwiches and over the years have added more bits with it, like hot sausage rolls and mini glazed sausages.

It’s picky tea here! Some beige food (chicken, prawns, etc) and some nice homemade bits....all made ahead and presented on a big platter with nice bread and dips. A couple of my nice bits this year are Jamies’s smoked salmon pate, christmas dinner sausage rolls and retro mushroom vol au vonts! I’m most excited about the vol au vonts inspired by my grandma’s from the 80s which were filled dollop of condensed mushroom!

Make at home kit from the local pizzeria

Christmas eve is mental. Visiting graves, food prep, dropping of presents etc, visiting grandparents and we big cousins breakfast

We are having a cold fish platter - prawns, smoked salmon, maybe mackerel pate .... salad ....I want to keep it simple and not too 'heavy' with all the feasting the following day. Plus I am at work so just want to get ready to eat stuff from Waitrose.