Christmas Day meal plans

[obbie]

What do you normally do for Christmas day recipe Ideas, or meal plans.

Do you do traditional hot meals, or salads and seafood.

Any must do recipes, please share..

Any drinks, cocktails

I need ideas to help me.

Thankyou

[mcmich]

We are very traditional and always do the big baked dinner no matter how hot it is with all the trimmings. At least it is easy and I do ahead some of the side dishes. The roast potato's are par boiled etc. I don't put out too many nibbles before hand as the stepkids do breakfast with their mum as does my DD with her in-laws and they all have folk to visit for dinner after us.

Being a blended family I have tried to keep traditions going from both sides as well as starting some new ones unique to our family.

The only one thing I have to make is trifle. Even the SKIDS insist on it. I wanted to make a Donna Hay dessert last Christmas and nearly had a mutiny on my hands.

[cookie1]

Robyn we usually have all cold meals Christmas day. My Dad started this about 63 years ago when he told my Mum it was too hot to make a roast on a wood fire in December. Although they are no longer around I still have cold.
We have cold roast turkey, ham, often pork and possibly a terrine. We then have a large potato salad, a layered salad ( an old WW one) and lots of smaller salads.
For dessert we occasionally have plum pudding, but usually not. We'll have fresh fruit salad and trifle, some sort of lovely icecream or I'll make an icecream cake. Then some other sort of fattening dessert for the evening meal. This year I will select something from Tenina's e book.  For drinks DH likes his beer, I'll have some sort of wine, DD doesn't really drink and ma in law I make a fruit punch for, although we all drink it.
This year DD is working Christmas day so I'm not sure when we will eat it all.

[*suzanne*]

We usually go to my parents and the IL's for lunch and dinner both hot christmas dinners with the trimmings but this year my parents are doing breakfast since we have all my siblings and lots of grandchildren coming so close to 30 people, then we will go to dinner at IL's as usual.

My MIL always makes trifle, certainly not christmas without it 

[mcmich]

I think I feel Tenina's turkish delight ice-cream torte calling my name this year. I will just make it and not tell them.
As a compromise I'll make trifle for the tree raising dinner.

[obbie]

we normally do the hot roast, ham, turkey, veges, plum pudding, brandy butter, custard.

2 years ago we did seafood and salad.

Not sure yet this year.

[*suzanne*]

We did the seafood and salad one year but it just didn't 'feel' right so my mum said never again 

[mcmich]

DH likes an entree of prawns, so we have kept this going, not every year but maybe every second year.
 I am definitely making Turkish Delight Ice-Cream Torte this year though. And we also have along with roast pork, roast lamb as DH is a Kiwi and a vegetarian mixed nut roast for the non meat eaters. I would like to do some really different sides this year. Nigella's new book has some nice ones.

[Kimmyh]

We do a traditional hot lunch every year and alternate between mum and dads house or mine. It's my turn this year so doing turkey in hooded BBQ, rolled chicken, glazed ham, veggies and homemade plum pudding. Thinking about doing a choc dipped strawberry or cake pop tower as a table centrepiece. Entree and nibbles are my sisters job as she is good at gourmet platters. Dinner is leftovers or prawn salad (depends on how much I ate at lunch). Getting excited about it all now!

[judydawn]

When I used to have it, it was always a traditional hot lunch but not sure what is happening this year - DD's turn to host her in-laws for lunch I think so we could be going to SIL & BIL's place.

[Amy :-)]

I have never had a Christmas the same. It all depends what is going on in the family

We've had cold roast turkey, hot roast turducken, cold prawn and avocado salad, a whole side of baked salmon, potato salads, coleslaw, garden salads, roast root vegetables... a lot of traditional, everyday foods but more of them
Mum has done boiled fruit pudding since SD moved in because he loves it. She makes brandy custard in the TMX to go with it. My brother and I hate it so we used to have lemon cheesecake. Usually have a fruit salad too

I can't stand trifle

[Moptop]

We have champagne breakfast at Mums with croissants and fresh fruit. We alternate lunch every year - one yer at Mums and the next at MIL. Lunch at Mums is always a Ballantine (turkey stuffed with a boneless duck stuffed with a boneless chicken stuffed with stuffing) cooked in the weber with heaps of roast vegies. Dessert is always homemade plum pudding and custard.
Lunch at MIL is always a cold mix of seafood, roast meat and salads.  They are not foodie people at all and it is always revolting. Everything comes out of a packet or from the bulk salads at Coles - ewwww!
And guess where lunch is this year........yep......MIL.   Grrrrrrrrr

Moptop

[Cornish Cream]

Lunch at MIL is always a cold mix of seafood, roast meat and salads.  They are not foodie people at all and it is always revolting. Everything comes out of a packet or from the bulk salads at Coles - ewwww!
And guess where lunch is this year........yep......MIL.   Grrrrrrrrr

Moptop

This did make me giggle Moptop. Had a couple of bad meals at my MIL too.

[Cuilidh]

Moptop, you should offer to make something ... "Dear MIL, I now have this fabulous machine and I would love to experiment this year and make ...." do you think you might get away with making a suggestion like that?

[achookwoman]

Lunch here again.  Suits to have all family on Boxing Day.  Will have half family for dinner on Xmas night,  so probably roast Pork or Turkey. Then cold lunch on Boxing Day.  Cooked Xmas Puds yesterday.  I give some away as presents.  I cooked some individual ones,  large cup cake size.  We always have a few extra friends,  usually those who don't have family.  They enjoy watching the kiddies open their presents.
Chaos is what it all is,  but we love it.   If it looks like being cold, ( we have had snow on Xmas Day), We will have hot lunch.  THen,  thinking about it, a whole salmon always looks nice.