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Ideas for Christmas Dinner

kdean
kdean Posts: 208 Forumite
in Special occasions & other celebrations
I will be hosting my first family Christmas dinner this year and we are having mum, dad, sister(20) and nan plus our family of 4 (two children under 4) also possibly other sister(25) plus partner and their child.

I want to do a three course meal with light starter but still wintery. The main course is going to be a difficult one because Hubby hates roast and only has it at Christmas because we usually go to my mum's. This year as we are hosting he has said he does not want roast. This is fair enough I suppose as it is his home too.

The problem I have is Dad is very traditional and loves his Sunday roast and could not imagine Christmas day without it. I want to please everyone and do a British dish that would go with roast potatoes (I will do some for dad) and another sort of potato side dish.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Ideas for dessert would also be great as Christmas pud is not a favourite at all.

Thanks in advance
«1

Comments

  • i_need_help_3
    i_need_help_3 Posts: 157 Forumite
    bless ya trying to please everybody - it is hard!!! i would just slap some potato mash in for your hubby then he doesnt have to have roasties
    !
    Just under £20,000 in debt and struggling!!
  • kdean
    kdean Posts: 208 Forumite
    i_need_help wrote: »
    bless ya trying to please everybody - it is hard!!! i would just slap some potato mash in for your hubby then he doesnt have to have roasties
    !
    I would but he only likes mash if it has LOTS of cheese in it and doesn't really like roast meat and doesn't eat gravy at all! He is very difficult to feed, unless it is pasta or curry.
  • shimmigirl
    shimmigirl Posts: 333 Forumite
    Potato Gratin as the other potato dish.

    What about Beef Wellington - not strictly a roast but maybe enough like one to please your dad?

    Pud for us is (at Mil xmas time) always trifle, blackforest gateau or xmas pud - and they usually go in that order too!!
  • kdean
    kdean Posts: 208 Forumite
    shimmigirl wrote: »
    What about Beef Wellington - not strictly a roast but maybe enough like one to please your dad?

    Thanks for your ideas. I was thinking Beef Wellington but then thought about the moneysaving aspect that a loin of beef big enough to feed us all is likely to be expensive, I could be wrong as never bought it before.

    Hubby does love a potato gratin too so will probably have that.
  • Trow
    Trow Posts: 2,298 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I would do a roast with all the trimmings - and then do something else as a main that your hubby would like, to eat with the veg - maybe a nice bit of salmon.

    But then I'm not very sympathetic to fussy eaters.
  • Danyúl_II
    Danyúl_II Posts: 1,335 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Ohhh my!

    I sooo can't wait for xmas dinner - lots of cranberry sauce and turkey please! :)
  • ashli_2
    ashli_2 Posts: 359 Forumite
    Tesco are doing frozen sides of salmon on special offer for £6 at the moment, that would look great on the table along side a roast and would be a nice alternative, still festive and special.

    :beer: :beer: :beer:
    Total Original Debt: £30404.24
    Current debt: £18586.16
    Total Paid: £11857.74 38.95% :T
  • ashli_2
    ashli_2 Posts: 359 Forumite
    Grrrrr, it keeps posting for me twice, sorry!
    Total Original Debt: £30404.24
    Current debt: £18586.16
    Total Paid: £11857.74 38.95% :T
  • C_J
    C_J Posts: 3,273 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    One of the main problems (for me, anyway!) at Christmas is having enough space in the oven to cook everything, so it's not easy if you are having to produce several different dishes to cater for everyone's different tastes. It might be an idea to do something like a chicken and broccoli pasta bake with a cheese and walnut topping for your husband - it's vaguely festive, and can be baked in advance and then just heated through (even in a microwave) at the last minute. That way you can still have rtoom in the oven to cook a proper roast for everyone else :)

    For desserts, I made a grand marnier, satsuma and cranberry cheesecake last year which was really nice (and easy to do). I also cooked a very small christmas pud and left it to go cold, then chopped it up finely and mixed it into a tub of Tesco Finest vanilla ice cream to make a quick (cheat's!) version of christmas pudding ice cream.
  • kdean
    kdean Posts: 208 Forumite
    I do like the Salmon idea actually, I think that would look good on the table(might need a bigger table at this rate though).

    I have made cheesecake before and it was lovely, totally forgot about it, that may well be an option, maybe rum raisin or something.

    Oven capacity is not a huge problem as I could get mum to cook something (that is ok being reheated) and bring it with her if there is not enough room.
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