What are your festive menus?

Buffy_the_Vampire_Bat

We will be spending Christmas in our favourite little holiday cottage in Devon this year - just the two of us, can't wait!

Christmas Eve - sirloin steaks from the local butcher, big flat mushrooms, might do HM potato wedges with this. Generally don't do desserts, but will probably buy a box of mini millionaire's shortbreads from Sainsburys just in case we want a little something sweet to nibble on

Christmas Day -

Late breakfast taken to the beach at Westward Ho! - will be smoked salmon rolls washed down with wine. (I love smoked salmon, but only buy it when it's on offer at Christmas/Easter/bank holiday times )

Not going to bother with lunch as such as smoked salmon rolls are filling, and will probably get some nibbles from the local deli.

Dinner will be: roast turkey crown, pigs in blankets, spicy red cabbage, roast potatoes, roast parsnips and brussel sprouts. No gravy as OH hates the stuff! My mum made some cranberry sauce last week and sent my Dad down with a jar for us to take to Devon She's also made a little Christmas pudding and a (very) small pot of brandy butter to go with it.

Boxing day will be turkey sandwiches taken on a nice long walk along the beach at Woolacombe, and then spicy turkey for dinner, served with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots.

juliettet

This is great
Here is what we usually do -

Breakfast is Bacon sarnies or scrambled egg for me (veggie!) and Buck's Fizz also pain au choclate (Christmas Lunch is at 4.00!)

Lunch is prawn cocktail!!!! or melon with ginger dressing

Free range chicken & nut roast with roast potatoes, sprouts, carrots and veggie stuffing.

Christmas pudding and home made boozy trifle.

later on

Cheese & biscuits, sausage rolls, pickles and hot mince pies & brandy butter.

Boxing day is help yourself.

Lovely:T

pobby_2

Still working on mine... we have the in-laws coming who are French so we'll have 2 festive dinners (main christmas dinner is the evening of 24th in France).

Thinking of breaking with the whole turkey tradition and doing:

Christmas Eve dinner:
Seafood platter (traditional in our house) - smoked salmon, prawns, lobster if I remember to pick some up in Lidl this week!
Roast pheasant (still working on what to serve with it veg-wise)
Cherry and chocolate trifle (good old Delia)

Christmas day:
Breakfast: probably something light after the feast the night before! Might make some christmas muffins.

Lunch (normally not eaten till about 2-3pm):
Some sort of starter (yet to be decided)
Roasted Haunch of venison marinated in red wine which will then be used to make a sauce. Roast potatoes, Green beans, Julienne of carrots and leeks.
Still mulling over pudding - not yet decided to make / buy christmas pudding or to make Delias christmas pudding souffles....decided! Making christmas pudding souffles!

Dinner - finger buffet as everyone's too full or tired to move to the kitchen to cook a full meal!!

New Year's eve dinner:
Starter to be decided but possibly sushi or seared tuna salad... decided! Seared tuna salad
Beef wellington, potato gratin, stir fried cabbage with bacon and mushrooms
Sticky toffee pudding with ice cream or custard
YUM cannot wait. Plan to finalise the menus this weekend after a good old root through my cookery books to find some interesting starters and puddings.

witchmabel

What a fab thread - love reading what everyone else is having and what other people's traditions are!

Buffy - I am remarkably jealous that you will be on Westward Ho! beach on Christmas Day - I spend vast swathes of the summer there - and am saving to have a winter place there too!

My Christmas will start on the Sunday evening before

Will have a picky bits/party tea - with all the usual suspects served

Christmas eve, I'm working and then it's just me and Wizard Wilf in the evening. So we'll open a bottle of bubbly when I get home, and have bagels with scrambled egg and smoked salmon, followed by some yummy chocs and good coffee. Just enough to whet the appetite

Christmas Day - spent at my Dad's with all my family.

Breakfast as always is mince pies and sausage rolls

To start - Prawn, pink grapefruit and avocado salad - light and zingy
Main - Turkey, Roast pots and parsnips, carrots, sprouts, broccoli, cauli and peas
Puddings - Christmas pud/mince pies with cream/custard or hm apple strudel for those that don't like.

Tea/Supper - Generally cheese and fruit - but there'll be plenty for anyone who fancies more

Boxing Day - everyone is to me. We'll have cold meats, mashed potato, pickles, sausage rolls and good bread. Pudding will be a choice, but I don't know what yet - something light and fruity, and something rich and creamy.

The rest of the day people can raid my bulging cupboards!

I love Christmas - and planning the menus plays a big part!!!

Witch M

helcat26

Dear All
I have probably got over confident now. This is my 4th post! But I wondered if you would be interested in some ideas as to what to eat after Christmas day- bearing the money saving thing in mind.
I hate throwing away food and feel really guilty.

So the basics first- Anyone cooking poultry you must make soup!

Chicken/Turkey etc Soup

Take the meat from the bones- sort it into nice bits for sandwiches etc, good bits and bits for your or someone-elses cat.
Simmer the bones for 2 hours with a lid on - or pressure cook 20mins
Sieve and allow to settle.If you are v healthy remove fat on top with paper towel.
Fine dice 1 large parsnip, 2 carrots, 2 sticks celery add
Add 1 handful red lentil and 1 handful barley
add nice chicken
2 stock cubes

boil until veg is soft, serve with crusty bread.

Thai Curry soup

Make stock as above- you usually get 1.5 litre from a chicken
Add 1 tin coconut milk
Add 0.5 teaspoon thai red curry paste
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
2 spring onion diced
nice bits chicken
simmer until well blended.
add thin rice noodles and then when soft you can add green veg like pak choi, or fine beans. Sprinkle with fresh corriander if you have it

hope this is useful?
Anyone know something constructive to do with Christmas pudding? I heard you can fry it at breakfast but frankly that turns me over. I have tried Christmas pudding Ice cream- OK but not fab
regards,
Helen


A

ashli_2

That is almost how I make the obligatory turkey soup. I tend to add a few rashers of finely chopped fried bacon bits

moanymoany

Buffy_the_Vampire_Bat wrote: »

We will be spending Christmas in our favourite little holiday cottage in Devon this year - just the two of us, can't wait!

Christmas Eve - sirloin steaks from the local butcher, big flat mushrooms, might do HM potato wedges with this. Generally don't do desserts, but will probably buy a box of mini millionaire's shortbreads from Sainsburys just in case we want a little something sweet to nibble on

Christmas Day -

Late breakfast taken to the beach at Westward Ho! - will be smoked salmon rolls washed down with wine. (I love smoked salmon, but only buy it when it's on offer at Christmas/Easter/bank holiday times )

Not going to bother with lunch as such as smoked salmon rolls are filling, and will probably get some nibbles from the local deli.

Dinner will be: roast turkey crown, pigs in blankets, spicy red cabbage, roast potatoes, roast parsnips and brussel sprouts. No gravy as OH hates the stuff! My mum made some cranberry sauce last week and sent my Dad down with a jar for us to take to Devon She's also made a little Christmas pudding and a (very) small pot of brandy butter to go with it.

Boxing day will be turkey sandwiches taken on a nice long walk along the beach at Woolacombe, and then spicy turkey for dinner, served with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots.

Buffy, move over, two more coming on board! This sounds the best Christmas yet. A few years ago at Christmas, 8 of us went to stay in a gite just outside Calais. It snowed! We had the most fab time, the gite was beautifully decorated by Madam Gite. The food was sublime and the booze!!!!

I don't like to eat a large meal at lunchtime, so we have a dinner. This year I hope to have guinea fowl. There are only the two of us so one should be enough. I'm thinking of beef stew and jackets on Christmas eve. Smoked salmon appears on our menu too.

Your Christmas plans do sound such fun. Have a lovely time.

moanymoany

helcat26 wrote: »

Dear All
I have probably got over confident now. This is my 4th post! But I wondered if you would be interested in some ideas as to what to eat after Christmas day- bearing the money saving thing in mind.
I hate throwing away food and feel really guilty.

So the basics first- Anyone cooking poultry you must make soup!

Chicken/Turkey etc Soup

Take the meat from the bones- sort it into nice bits for sandwiches etc, good bits and bits for your or someone-elses cat.
Simmer the bones for 2 hours with a lid on - or pressure cook 20mins
Sieve and allow to settle.If you are v healthy remove fat on top with paper towel.
Fine dice 1 large parsnip, 2 carrots, 2 sticks celery add
Add 1 handful red lentil and 1 handful barley
add nice chicken
2 stock cubes

boil until veg is soft, serve with crusty bread.

Thai Curry soup

Make stock as above- you usually get 1.5 litre from a chicken
Add 1 tin coconut milk
Add 0.5 teaspoon thai red curry paste
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
2 spring onion diced
nice bits chicken
simmer until well blended.
add thin rice noodles and then when soft you can add green veg like pak choi, or fine beans. Sprinkle with fresh corriander if you have it

hope this is useful?
Anyone know something constructive to do with Christmas pudding? I heard you can fry it at breakfast but frankly that turns me over. I have tried Christmas pudding Ice cream- OK but not fab
regards,
Helen


A

We used to have Christmas pudding fried in lard - before the days of oil and lard is not savoury and makes the best pastry half and half with butter/marge. I remember it being lovely. Now I buy a tiny pudding to give just a taste so none left over.

Try a little bit, if you like it served in the usual way you will like it fried.

mrs_metal

We always go to Mum's for Christmas lunch (although I do spend the whole of Christmas Eve getting last minute bits for her and helping her prep the veg and make puddings).

Christmas eve, whatever Mum feels like cooking, something quick and easy and always lots of brandy snaps filled with brandy cream. Nothing says christmas to me more than brandy snaps with brandy cream, lovely.

Christmas day

Breakfast

Me and hubby get to Mum's for 9ish to open pressies and breakfast is always just help yourself, he'll be good and have toast and I'll have my chocolate orange, just can't help myself

Lunch about 3ish

Starter
Usually a choice between melon, prawn cocktail (we make the rose marie sauce ourselves, very easy and much tasier) or soup.

main
Turkey (no yorkies, Mum's from Yorkshire so we only have them with roast beef and always served on their own first with gravy) the turkey is from M & S so is stuffed with chestnut stuffing, also make some sage & onion stuffing. Roast potatoes, hasleback potatoes & new potatoes, carrots, brocoli, sprouts and parsnips and lots and lots of gravy (me and my brother can go through a pint between us)

Desert
choice of Christmas pudding & fresh fruit salad (we always make this christmas eve and it's lovely after a big lunch also my brother has a wheat allergy)

Tea

Mum and Dad will have sarnies, sausage rolls then mince pies or brandy snaps but me and DH will be visiting in-laws in the evening so not sure what there'll be but I'll still be stuffed from lunch anyway

Buffy_the_Vampire_Bat

at witchmabel and moanymoany...we spend a lot of time in Devon and plan on moving down in the next couple of years...can't wait For now though we have to make do with regular trips down...