People in New Zealand, what are you having for your Xmas dinner?!

[Rillyrillygoodlooking]

It will be our second Christmas in NZ, had lamb last year.

What are you guys having? Do you do roast dinner, or something cold? Or nothing special?

We haven't decided yet, it will be my 10th Christmas here so I have tried most things over the years. Usually we just do some stuff on the barbecue plus some salads, maybe a nice cheeseboard for later. Actually I usually leave the choice up to dh as he is a way better cook than me :o

I don't like mince pies, fruit cake or Christmas pudding so we don't have any traditional Christmas desserts. I think we had meringues, cream and strawberries last year.

Also haven't decided yet. May barbecue or do a leg of lamb. It's probably just the three of us so will be quite chilled.

Will be out first christmas in NZ!!! We are going to friends for brunch late morning and plan to cook turkey stuffed with lemon and olives ... yummmm ... on christmas eve and eat it cold with hot veg. on Christmas evening.

By the way DH is insisting on getting a "real tree" bless him. Does anyone do real trees here or do I finally have an excuse to buy a tackey tinselly thing?

Yes, some years we have had a real tree. The past few we have had a fake one but I think this year we will get a real one now our dd1 is old enough to be really excited about Christmas.

We get ours from a house around the corner that sells them as a fundraiser for Scouts or something, but that's not much use to you shelscrape :o. They're about $30. I can't remember, are you in Auckland? There's a place on Balmoral Road, in between Mt Eden and Dominion Road that grows and sells them...I'd have to google for more details though.

Word of advice, don't put a chocolate Father Christmas on top of the tree as my flatmate did one year. Melted Santa. Also the tree will need lots of water cos of the heat and don't put it up too early as the real ones don't last as long (again cos of the heat)

Hi we are having a BBQ (and lots of alcohol) for lunch then will have a cold meat salad for dinner :( We would like a traditional roast but going to the family's however i will be taking my xmas pudding and brandy butter yummy :) we will have a fake tree as pine needles are annoying when its hot and they fall off all the time, but love the smell of real ones it's just not the same havin a bbq

Undecided here too but probably Duck or Lamb. Not a traditional roast unless it's cold (and in the past 9 years we have had some cooler Christmas's).

I ALWAYS have a real tree. It is frazzled within a nano-second of being put up but I love it. In fact we have 2 (one at home and one at the beach) and lights (although you can't see them as it's light so late).

I love Christmas and love the family traditions we have created here but still sooooo miss a 'proper' Christmas. DH however is kiwi and associates Christmas with holidays and heading to the beach - we try to combine the 2. Real tree at the beach with a modified roast dinner depending on weather. Emphasis on friends as we have no family close by.

Ooooh I get to post here as we are going to NZ for Christmas this year :) I'm a Kiwi but DH is French and we live in Luxembourg, and I am soooooooooo excited as I haven't had a summer Christmas for 7 years.

We're having roast turkey - didn't have it that often growing up, but the kids always have Xmas with the French grandparents so my mum wanted to give them the authentic English-y experience :) and dessert will be a trifle or a coffee gateau with cherries and strawberries.

I so can't wait for the mince pies and Christmas cake - no other mince pies seem to be as good as my mum's somehow!

We mostly had real 'trees' (usually just a branch off a pine tree) when I was a kid...

Lovely Christmases all round
I am thinking of doing a ham now, I was sweltering last year cooking that lamb leg!
We have a cheesy plastic tree here whereas we used to have a real tree in the uk.
It just doesn't feel like Christmas is coming up a) because you're not so bombarded with it here (yeay) and b) it's just too hot and sunny to be Christmas. The seasons are still confusing me

DH has a big family so Christmas dinner is quite a feast - everyone does a share of the cooking and there is usually a whole salmon, ham and turkey or duck, then lots of different salads and some fabulous desserts (I am just an eater of dessert, not a creator, tho I have mastered a pretty mean pav!) oh and a starter - melon, prawns or similar. Dinner generally lasts all afternoon, hopefully with nice weather for playing outside. Not sure who is hosting this year, but not us as we had it last year! They don't really plan, so it could well not be decided until the week before Christmas (location, menu, presents, etc) - this is very different to my family who would be asking about Christmas from about August.

We always have a real tree (DH insists) and there's a great place just outside Hamilton where we go. They are different trees to UK Christmas trees though - they have long needles and don't shed quite as badly. They smell different too.

It took a while for me to get used to Christmas in the summer and still feels weird to go Christmas shopping in nice weather - it should be cold, dark and rainy - but I appreciate the differences now. Christmas lights are a bit of a waste of time when it doesn't get dark until 9pm.

Our Christmas dinners growing up were:

Starters: Crayfish cocktail
Mains: Ham, Duck, Turkey, loads of veges and salads
Dessert: Pavlova, Cheesecake, Christmas pudding
Then traditional cake and assorted goodies throughout the day.

Supper: Pick your own from leftovers - lasted us for days.