Munchers of Bernard Matheww turkey crown and imbibers of Country Manor and Lambrini; this thread is not for the likes of you so clear orf. I want to know what the hard core foodies are having for all/any of the following; Christmas Eve,Christmas Day ...

[moondog]

As for self, think one of my slowly diminishing but precious staff of tins of caviar from Mr Moondog's recent extended period in former USSR, followed by gresh Lleyn crab on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day, will risk a goose reared by friend. Trifle to follw.

New Year's Eve will be with friends.My contribution will be Margeritas. Delicious but lethal. Hazy on other detail and booze as yet.

Am relatively hardcore foodie due to living in France and DH's grandfather having been a chef in posh French restaurants. MIL is a scarily good cook.

We will be doing Christmas in traditional French manner with the following as Christmas meal which for some reason is done on the evening of the 24th round these parts;

Oysters with lemon, brown bread and salted butter.
Foie gras with fig confit.
Smoked salmon.
Boudin blanc (French sage and truffle cross between a sausage and a dumpling).
Goose with trimmings.
Smelly cheese.
Big rich chocolate log type thing that nobody has any room for.
Lots of wine.

Also there is always lots of champagne as DH's grandfather and Head of Tight Nit French Family was from Reims.

DH's ancient but spritely grandmother will get pissed and put her scarlet lipstick on squint.

There will be loud and drunken heated arguments over the best way to shuck an oyster.

Sounds great Beach.My sister is married to a Nicois and lives in France (or rather French Caribbean now) and I'v had many dinners like that.I remember outrage when she decided to prepare her own foie gras years ago. There was outrage that an Anglaise (never mind that she is a Galloise) would dare to have such assumptions that she knew of such things.

Woodstock, that whole menu sounds great.I used a lot of pomegranate molasses as they were realy into it in Turkey where we lived. They started every meal with diced toms/peppers/onions/cukes with oil and it. I have finsihed my last bottle.

rissoto for Xmas eve

Christmas lunch my sister is cooking though I am contributing a tiramisu

Irish Bree? Haven't heard St Stephen's Day since grandad....

FGS Kew, we need more detail woman!

Christmas eve - going to Thai with friends.

Christmas day: Champagne and scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for breakfast.

Canapes mid-morning when family come. (Salmon and caviar on blinis, pate and red onion chutney on oatcakes_

Lunch: Goose and Nigella's ham in coca cola. Roast pots, sprouts, red cabbage. Not sure about starter or pud. Lots of lovely cheese.

Hogmanay - my favourite meal. 16 of us having roast venison and gratin dauphinoise. Again, not sure about starter or pud. Maybe ginger and white choc cheescake.

i can only get the molasses from turkish greengrocers in big bottle with strange pictures on - never seems to be in supermarket.
if you dribble it over the skin of the duck then grill it it comes out sort of sweet but tart, rather balsamic-y. then tip a load of pomegranate seeds over some rocket, slice up the duck, away you go. hadnt thought about using it in salad dressing tho....hmmm......

It would be fab with duck.Love the sound of that salad.

Ooohh great thread, was begin to worry I wasa bit obsessive!! You want detail...I'll give you detail!!

Christmas eve:Scandi/Swiss night - gluwein, frozen vodka, fondue, new pots, glazed ham (home-made natch), gherkins, homemade sourdough, homemade gravadlax, Loch Fyne Smoked Salmon, Chocolate mousse, ammaretto apricots.

Christmas Day: Brekkie - Smoked salmon, caviar, scambled eggs, toast an blinis, Champagne, OJ and bloodies.
Nibbles - olives, dips and kettle chips, spiced nuts and g&t's, black velvet and fino sherry. Oooh and jamon de serrano carved off the leg in the kitchen.
Late lunch/dinner (about 4-5pm) - Maaa-hoosive plateau de fruits de mer - crab, langoustines, oysters, mussels, prawns, scallops, clams, cockles with hollandaise, new potstoes and green salad, fab cheeseboard including vacherin mont d'or and then lemon whip (lemon moussey thing - family recipe. With copious wine, port and dessert plonk.

Boxing day - Pain au choc/croissant, fruit and yog and bloodies.
Nibbley lunch...???leftovers etc.
Roast rib of 12 week beef (hung - not veal!), yorkies, marrow-bone-reduced-to-nowt- propergravy, glazed carrots and goose fat roasties....left over mousses and cheeses and then....

another 12 months of abstinence and possibly a collonic!

Oh Ali. I like it.I like it very very much indeed.
Your liver will need 6 weeks ot recover but even so...)
Are you in UK or abroad?

We are in our new house in Cornwall...10 mins from the sea.So at least there is no excuse for a lengthy daily constitutional...
Our guests own a pub so they are doing the booze and we are doing the food...apparantly I raised the bar!!!

Ali, that sounds stunning.

You can say that again.
I wish I had a friend like you.Apart from one friend and my sisters,their spouses and our parents,I have shit cooks for friends.

Moreover, we have people coming for christmas day who don't give two hoots about food. it's most disappointing you know.

DH bought champagne flutes today. I can't help but feel they're wasted.

We have been planning it for weeks and I have to admit I can't wait...
To put my foodyism in perspective DSS (nearly 13) posed the question "what we would be like if we didn't have to eat...if you could just take a pill..." and I was genuinly horrified. I told him I would probably change the world as I would save so much time by not needing to plan menus, shop, cook, eat etc...he thinks I am sad!!

Ohh what a fab thread...I love it all..and though I adore cooking and all the planning that goes with it..I would so love an invite to enjoy all that scrumptious food at Alibeans, would not even mind that I had no part in it. Just so nice to see other fellow foodies getting so excited about something my guests this year just do not understand. I understand how you feel Marymotherofcheeses..it is so disheartening when cooking for people who don't give a flying fiddle about the food. My inlaws are lovely but no interest in food, so christmas dinner at my house is all plain no ponceness (that I adore). They host boxing day and it is lovely to get an invite but just not my kind of food I want to eat on such an occasion... At least on Christmas morning we are having smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on some home made Gluten free bread (trying to find a recipe for GF bagels, Hubby does share this love.

Cost, what do you have with ILs on Boxing Day?

Christmas day we're at my inlaws and I think its something like beef.
Boxing day though we're having one of our yummy chickens. the last one was gorgeous and well worth all that effort.

christmas eve - curry from takeaway

christmas day - smoked salmon blinis before lunch, then free range turkey and rib of beef
christmas pud

boxing day - home cooked ham

I'm sorry I'm going for a retro 70's Trifle. Sponge fingers,a little sherry, tinned cocktail fruits, jelly, custurd made from birds powder, if I can find it in that shop 'I saw you coming...' you know that one in Fulham High Street. cream glaced cheeries and of course sprinkles.Oh maybe some little silver balls from above shop... Should cost me a fortune

OMFG

christmas eve homemade chicken korma
christmas day turkey with all the trimmings. Nobody likes christmas pudding in this house so will be lots of posh icecream, mincepies and homemade custard.
Boxing day a massive buffet at ILs house with cooked beef, ham and trifles galore.

Christmas Day - traditional 'breakfast' of my mum's amazingly light mince pies, washed down with plenty of bucks fizz.

Lunch (ish) - Goose with all the trimmings, including lots of stuffing and brussels with chestnuts and bacon, glazed parsnips, the crunchiest roasties known to man, and a sausage or two wrapped in bacon (secret Christmas obsessions).

Followed by my first ever homemade Christmas pud, complete with a nugget of the purest gold.

Chocolate orange cake for those who hate pud.

Boxing Day - long walk followed by proper ham with lots of lovely spices, jacket spuds and a big salad.

Cheese, cheese, cheese - and my marvellous Christmas cake and/or gingerbread.

Am pregnant, so perfect excuse to completely succumb to foodie urgings and cravings.

oh, I LOVE all the planning that goes into Christmas food. I have made menus for the next 3 wks and my butcher and fishmonger orders arrived on Thursday- NOTHING else is getting into that freezer! (Or out of our bank account )

Christmas day we are having homemade chicken liver parfait with mango chutney
Followed by smoked salmon and prawns with the terribly unfashionable marie rose sauce (because it is an absolute favourite of my 3 and 4 yo)
Followed by Beef Wellington, made with a gorgeous beef fillet from my lovely butcher. We are having mashed potatoes (my speciality!), dauphinoise potatoes, honeyed carrots with caraway, roast parsnips, and petit pois in creme fraiche.
For dessert we have christmas pudding, but I am also making a white chocolate cheesecake, with cream/ hagen daz
Then cheeseboard and port
Then real coffee, Christmas cake and mince pies (sadly not home made this year- noone bar me actually likes mince pies, so I've given up making them!)
Then we are having folk over at night for trivial pursuits/ charades, so the cheeseboard usually makes a reappearance, alongside crisps, breadsticks, and homemade dips- and lots of wine, of course!! Take it as read there will be also be plenty wine/ champagne flowing throughout the whole meal

On boxing day, I have a side of salmon, which I intend to do with pesto and lemon and parma ham, new potatoes and veg.
Pavlova for dessert

We are having friends to stay over Hogmanay, and I'm not sure how long for! I'm doing a Venison casserole, with mash. Cheesecake and rhubarb crumble to follow. I have a big lasagne frozen. If they stay more than a couple of days, I think one night will be take-out night! On Ne'er's Day we have to have the traditional steak pie.

Oh, and I always make a huge pot of ham soup , so anyone dropping in can grab a bowl- also good for hangovers, and stood us in good stead a couple of years ago when we had a houseful on Hogmanay and all the lights/ electricity/ heating went out! Thank god for the gas hob and a hot bowl of soup.