Christmas food plans

[wendy james]

How far into it are you? We have P's 20% staff discount event coming up 13-19 Dec, so have already given it some thought as we'll stock up on non-perishables then.

My parents are coming round for a late lunch on Christmas Eve and as I've pre-ordered a vegan Christmas pie from a shop in Glastonbury, I'm going to serve it then for me and my mum. I've suggested we source some sort of steak pie for P and my dad (the girls will have sausages probably - they won't touch my pie with its lentils, sprouts, cranberries, etc. :lol: ) and we have a couple of veg sides.

The girls want Christmas Eve takeaway pizza, with leftovers for Christmas Day. P and my dad will share a joint of beef and gammon again (P chooses and cooks them, my dad gives us half the cash and takes his share home on Christmas eve) and P wants cauliflower cheese with his. I'll have leftover pie. Other sides tbc.

The girls also want cinnamon buns for Christmas Day breakfast, which we can prep the day before, and they want sausage rolls/eggs on toast for their other meal on the day itself. We've agreed on a fruit smoothie a day through the Christmas period to supplement all the beige and chocolate they'll consume so I'll stock up on some frozen ingredients. :ella: I do want fresh fruit with those cinnamon buns though.

[Marth]

That sounds really nice, Wendy. I love the idea of pie.
The bloke never says when the events are on so I've just messaged him as my Tesco slot is booked for the 20th!

The children will be here on Christmas eve so we may all go out and eat. Christmas day is trad but with chicken for the meat eaters and my nut roast for the rest of us. Sb1 and his gf want to cook Cranks homity pie for boxing day which I think will be lovely, and we will do harrisa green beans with it.

[emma_p]

So far I've only got as far as ordering a turkey from my usual place!

My parents are staying from the Monday to Saturday so I have a LOT of meals to plan! :emme: S's brother, his wife and son are coming for Christmas Day and the jeweller from work too. The jeweller is American so has never experienced a British Christmas dinner so I'm thinking about going more traditional that I usually would.

[Mountain Goat]

Homity pie is a great Boxing Day idea! I'd have it with a side of cold chipolata.

You have a lot of guests and for a long time emma.

I'm unsure how many people I'll be catering for beyond the actual Christmas dinner as J's brother announced he'd be working from our house ( :lol: ) for an unspecified length of time. I think J will nip this in the bud as he's not happy, but I think we'll have him for longer than expected still.

I've ordered my turkey and sausages/bacon/sausagemeat, Christmas dinner will be trad. I'm doing canapes rather than a formal starter as I find the whole clearing and resetting the table while carving a turkey in the other hand while someone jams a cracker at me to be more faffing than I enjoy. So they can have canapes (no clue what yet) in the living room while I get on with the last minute turkey bits in peace. Not sure about dessert, there's a place local to me that makes lovely ice cream and I will order some of their special Christmas flavours they've just announced, but whether I'll just serve that or serve it on the side of something more high effort remains to be seen.

I've got a beef wellington for one other meal (prob Christmas Eve depending on numbers) and I've ordered a ham and also some nice merguez sausages which I'll do with couscous/roast veg/harissa/yoghurt for an easy meal once we're sick of Christmas flavours.

[Pippedydeadeye]

I could have sworn we’d already talked about this but I have realised that it was all in my head or the years are blending together. My memory is messed up right now.

We’ve got an M&S order and we’ll be having pork on the day. Either a seafood lunch, or we’ll have the seafood feast on Christmas Eve. No one in my family seems to want to come to ours this year and we have an invitation to my sister’s for that night but we might have to host FIL + his fancy piece, and my BIL and family. No one is committing and it’s doing my head in.

I’ve made some sides in the freezer in advance, just deciding what to do about cauliflower cheese.

My family are coming the Sunday before Christmas turkey a buffet/open house so I need to dig up last year’s thread & remind myself what to do b

[emma_p]

Honestly TMT saves me so many times when I can't remember! I'm so glad I share it all here

[Derek Nimmo]

Christmas Eve and Day are not my responsibility this year, the only thing I know is that there's going to be venison for the main

I have friends coming for Christmas #2 on the 27th and am going to do beef brisket, a potato bar (two types of roast potatoes - goose fat, and butter/marmite - mash, duchesse and maybe a dauphinoise if I can be arsed), plenty of gravy for dipping, good crusty bread, roast carrots/beans/parsnips. Oh, and a festive prawn ring and smoked salmon to start.

If anybody can move from the sofa after that lot, I will have failed in my mission :))

[ParisGal]

Potato bar!

[Ruby]

We're having;

Christmas Eve; what we always have. Roast ham, pate, cheese, crackers, pickles etc.

Christmas Day;
Breakfast; Bacon butties

Dinner;
Starter - some sort of lobster thermidor crumpets (?) I might have hallucinated this. I ordered it at the beginning of October from Sainsbo's.

Main course - standard Xmas meal but with chicken instead of turkey.

Pudding - Christmas pudding and/or something called a 'crackling fireside log' which is basically a toffee sponge with popping candy.

Boxing day; buffet of doom at MIL's.

[wendy james]

I had to google lobster Thermidor crumpets to see for myself. :lol:

[Ruby]

Quite bizarre. I like the idea, I think, but I may have had a fever when I put my order in.

[Pippedydeadeye]

Aha! This is why I thought there’d been a thread on this; Ruby & I privately shared our food orders way back in like August or something.

[Pippedydeadeye]

Check me out, trying to be cool by association with Ruby.

[Ruby]

I also thought we had had this thread for the same reason. Maybe we had both decided, internally, that September was a socially unacceptable time for a Xmas thread.

[Annabella]

As it will only be me and OH - we will do a Swedish (sort off as I do not like the herring) smorgasbord on 24th - smoked salmon, meatballs (made by OH), rye bread, boiled potatoes, beetroot salad, cheese (which I also do not like).
Christmas Day I will do a roast chicken dinner and Boxing Day will be a miss mash of leftovers.
There will not be any desserts unless OH has some ice cream. There will of course be chocolates and champagne and wine dotted about - during and in-between eating :))

[Margo]

There’s me, J and Mum on Xmas day and J has bought a porchetta from Cook. Serves 8. A porky Xmas to us, then!

[Jet]

I don't have much planned out yet, but L has informed us he wants beef wellington so that will be Christmas day. We are going to my MIL's the weekend before Christmas and I had had a thought to make a lasagne (gluten free) to take when we all go to my BIL's but they asked me not to (which is fair enough of course, its just a shame to not be able to contribute). Otherwise it sounds like we'll just be eating out with my MIL.

I think I'd like to do pizza on Christmas eve maybe. And I need to put some thought into sides and breakfasts and things still...I feel very un-put-together this festive season.

[Morganna]

I will have both of mine for Christmas Day, and possibly my mum.

Christmas Eve will be some sort of bean casserole, and I can add smoked sausage or chorizo to J's and mine at the end. J is going out with 'the lads' (his schoolfriends), and S may well be out too, so I thought people could help themselves and heat it up as they eat.

Christmas Day will be nutroast, Quorn roast (for S), chicken for J, possibly my mother and me, (and for J to take home for C) with all the trimmings, followed by Christmas pud (the Aldi one with orange slices), or a choice of cheesecake, ice cream, lemon or chocolate sponge pudding (all from the freezer, so they'll have to decide the night before which they want). J is leaving to drive home at about 5.00, which means we'll have to eat early, so I'll get cheese and 'picky bits' for later in case anyone's hungry. If anyone has ideas for a vegetarian starter that doesn't involve figs, blue cheese or mushrooms :ella: please shout?

Boxing Day will depend on my mum - if she doesn't come on CD she will probably come on BD instead. I prefer to graze on leftovers on BD, but she would hate that, so if she's coming I'll have to think of something. I was thinking about leek orzo - the Mob recipe - and adding chicken to Mum's. I have ordered two corn fed chickens, so there will be plenty to go round. That's very quick and easy, and will suit all diets.

[Jet]

Lots of diets to contend with!

What about something like this - https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/c ... d-walnuts/

I also saw some cute little asparagus and ricotta tarts that sounded good.

[Morganna]

That looks lovely, Jet. J hates beetroot though. I am going to save it for another time though, as both M and I will love it. Thanks.