What are your festive menus?

wee_D

well husbands 5 yr old daughter is stayin with us Christmas Eve, opening her presents here Christmas morning, then we'll go to his mum and dads just after lunch. We've always done the full Christmas dinner thing, but as we only have the little un every other year on Christmas day and the other year on boxing day, his mums decided she's not cooking so she can see her open and play with her presents, so we are going very untraditional this year and ordering a chinese takeaway! Can't wait!!! (detect the sarcasm??? lol). As this is the first Christmas me and my husband have been married, we have decided to lock the door on boxing day, stay in our pyjamas with a supply of booze, have a traditional Christmas dinner together, and play with his daughters Christmas present of a wii as she will have gone back to her mum by then! As you can imagine I can't wait for boxing day!!! lol.:rotfl:

play2day

Christmas Eve:
DH at work so it is a ‘normal’ day for us. Dinner will be a quick tasty meal, possibly a chilli. I will do all preparations for Christmas Day and have them in the fridge ready.

Christmas Day:
Breakfast: As normal! I’m too busy with the kids to be sorting that.

On Christmas Day the family come round for lunch

Pre dinner nibbles:
Asparagus in parma ham, HM cheese straws, stuffed mushrooms.

For starters there will be a choice of:
·Tiger prawns in chilli & garlic served with HM brown rolls, green salad & lemon wedge
·Smoked salmon served with HM brown rolls, green salad & lemon wedge
·HM parsnip & chestnut soup with HM brown rolls

Main course choices:
·Roast beef with horseradish or wholegrain mustard
·Roast chicken with a plain sage stuffing plus a seasonal one
·HM roast Mediterranean veg tartlets
Served with a variety of chipolata sausages, bacon rolls, sausage & bacon rolls, stuffing balls, Yorkshire puds, roast pots & parsnips, stir fried sprouts with chestnuts, spices red cabbage, mashed carrots & swede (for kids) carrots, pees & green beans, cauli & broccoli in cheese sauce, poultry & beef gravy, bread sauce, cranberry sauce

Dessert Choices:
·Christmas Pud & brandy or rum sauce
·Sticky toffee pud & custard
·Fresh fruit salad
·Lemon cheese cake

To follow there is Christmas cake for anyone who wants it, cheese & biscuits then coffee & mints.

In the afternoon we are joined by more friends and family; by mid afternoon all the leftover sausages, bacon rolls & meat will be eaten up with cheese and HM rolls.

I will serve a buffet in the early evening with all the usual suspects though most HM. A large cheese platter, cooked meat platter and seafood platter are my starting point for this with a crisp salad and twice baked jacket potatoes for something hot. For pud I’ll do huge HM trifle, fruit salad & profiteroles for those with a sweeter tooth, oh & of course Christmas cake & mince pies.

Any leftover food is shared between Tupperware boxes and those who want to take them away do. The only left overs we will have come boxing day is cold veg which the chickens will polish off with their breakfast.

Supper? Not a chance, they can make their own!

Boxing Day.
DH is working so I will devote the entire day to what the kids want. It will be kiddie nibbles all day with DVDs and lots of selection box goodies.

We haven’t made any plans for New Years Eve yet so no ideas on meal plans for then. We are going out to eat on New Years Day.

radio_hack

Loving reading all these ideas. Christmas this year is just me, OH and two kids after years of hosting various relatives so there is NO prawn cocktail (everyone likes it except us).

Christmas Day brekkie is croissant, pain chocolat and special dried fruit salad with yoghurt (boil water, red wine, sugar and a cinnamon stick until slightly thickened then pour over a variety of dried fruits such as prunes, pears, peaches etc. Leave overnight to plump up fruit. Tastes delicious and gives you a real feel good healthy kick before all the stodge later in the day.)

Standard turkey dinner with the free range organic beast that was ordered about three months ago but I'm wondering whether to try Nigella Lawsons suggestion that you stuff the bird with shop bought gingerbread. I can sort of imagine how it would work but am I brave enough to try something so different with the most traditional meal of the year?

suzy_g

We will have a light breckie and maybe a buck fizz,
my mother in law and my two daughters and partners will come round at 11ish, i will do some little nibbles ( i cheat and buy frozen one's) dinner this year will be a turkey crown (first time, i normally buy a whole one)
roast potatoes done in goose fat
roast parsnips with maple sauce
pigs in blankets
sage and onion stuffing
cauli/broccoli cheese
carrots
and sprouts done with pancetta ham chestnut and Madeira wine
(a nigella special)
followed by Christmas pud - home made ice cream- truffle or profiteroles.
this dinner normaly starts at 3pm,
I will print this out and hang it in the kitchen so i dont forget anything:T

DdraigGoch

Our Christmas menu will be pretty much the same as the last 4 years!

Christmas Eve
Nibbles then off to midnight service

Christmas Day

Breakfast - croissants [memo to self, get reduced ones [no, not smaller ones!] in readiness], grilled with cheese or just plain
Coffee/Earl Grey tea

Lunch
Smoked salmon and cream cheese/soup with bread/bagels/brioche or Soup
Roast beef
Roast turkey - a Christmas gift from friends
Roast pork
Roast potatoes
Creamed potatoes
Spiced sauté potatoes
Cabbage
Sprouts with chestnuts - just for me!
Carrots - batons and Vichy-ed
Broccoli
Roast Parsnips
Creamed Parsnips
Carrot and Swede Mash
Roasted Butternut Squash
Roasted Beetroot
Home made gravy x 3

Bought Christmas pud and cream

Local cheeses and bought biscuits

Tea

Are you kidding?!

Nibble at the aforementioned if you feel like it



We have quite so much meat as all of it is either gifted or bought wholesale from a chum who breeds Rare Breed beef cattle. And, quite frankly, it's once a year and does us for butties for ages! Plus we cube/slice up and put loads in the freezer for later

theamazinggem

christmas eve probably wont have much special, tho will need something filling before the pub...

christmas day something like:

breakfast: smoked salmon (got loads on offer in tescos the other day) and english muffins, with jacobs creek fizz (£6 in tescos, not quite as good as the proper stuff, but a very decent wine all the same) with or without oj.

couple of baileys at the pub with oh's family

lunch/dinner:
turkey (assuming i find one...)
homemade stuffings, one sage & onion, one cranberry & something
gammon in ginger ale (a la nigella - is online somewhere)
sprouts with smoked bacon and caramelised onions
turnip & swede mash
honey roasted carrots & parsnips
creamed leeks
roast tatties
gravy
homemade bread and cranberry sauces (again nigellas)

m&s christmas pud w/homemade brandy cream

later:
£1 frozen nibbles from Asda
Some cheeses & chutney
breadsticks and cheapo dips

boxing day - probably a slow roast lamb shoulder for the family, put in nbefore i go to football, and served once i get back

easy peasey

SAVINGMUM_2

Christmas Day

Breakie: Smoked Salmon & Scrambled Eggs on Toast & Bucks Fizz

Lunch:

Starter
Prawn Cocktail

Main
Roast Turkey, Roast Potatoes, Carrot & Swede, Pigs In Blanket, Stuffing & Gravy

Pud
Christmas Pud & Rum Sauce, Cheese Biscuits, Coffee, Mince Pies & Mints

(Never eat all of it, probably will have pud for tea!)

Tea: Turkey butties!, pickles, colslaw, sausage rolls, nigellas glazed ham, pork pies, cheeses, pringles, vol-au-vents and any other picky food i can find.

mmmmmm hungry now

grovenor

I have to join in! We're in the middle of China and are the only one of our friends with an oven so we're cooking for 17 people - covering 9 nationalities! Some of the others are bringing their own traditional dishes but I only know how to do the English xmas dinner so it'll be:

Breakfast - eggs florentine (yum!)

Lunchtime - something light to keep up going until ....

mid afternoon - mince pies using delia's homemade mincemeat recipe - really yummy

Dinner at 7 - We'd usually have it earlier but most people have to work here so they're all coming after work.
starters - bruscetta and dips
mains - Turkey, roast potatoes, roast carrots, roast shallots, bread sauce, gravy, cranberry sauce (from a can - no real cranberries available!).... and a few chinese dishes some of the other girls are bringing!
dessert - figgy pudding, chocolate yule log, pumpkin pie and more mince pies

think that's all.....

and then collapse in a heap!