Should you let guests know you're not cooking traditional Christmas Dinner

Yes, I think you should tell them.
We used to have a turkey etc. on Christmas Eve so we could all enjoy the 25th with all the family without any of us having to miss any of it. We had curry on the day.
We do have a large family and there were children all over the place.

Nanagem

Christmas dinner is Christmas dinner, I think if you are doing something different you should say before asking if guests would like to join them. I would expect a roast, maybe not Turkey, but definitely a meat joint of some kind It’s like being asked for Sunday lunch and given pasta.

I totally agree. Christmas dinner is Turkey and all the trimmings. It’s one day of the year!……I wouldn’t go.

BlueBelle

I d love an Indian meal for Christmas dinner
Can’t the said lady have her traditional Christmas dinner for Boxing Day
Traditional can get a bit boring
I m going to a Christmas work meal and the only vegetarian option is a stuffed pepper and traditional vegetables not at all sure how that’s going to be, it doesn’t exactly float my boat

Christmas Dinner is once a year. How can it get boring?

As it is something that may not be expected then I would tell them. But I go out with people for their company not the food.

For something so traditional as Christmas dinner I think it would be polite to inform potential guests beforehand that you're intending to have Indian takeaway.

Any other day of the year it wouldn't matter but this is one that most people would have certain reasonable expectations of a roast of some sort.

Iam60 Your Christmas meal sounds like ours. Recently DDiL has added bread sauce to the meal (I loathe it, so have no involvement with that part).

I am delighted to hear of someone else having gammon as well as turkey. With that and the stuffings, we do not have pigs in blankets.

I am going to be with family, who cares about the food, it is family that counts. Btw they are vegans, I am not but so wonderful to have a very thoughtful invitation and to be with family who care enought to have invited me. Roast dinner or not, at christmas = third world problem

M0nica

I would thank them for the invitation and say as happy as I was to eat vegan or Indian at any other time, for you Christmas Day isn't Christmas Day without the traditional meal.

Mind you, I am a homebody and arch traditionalist on Christmas day, so wouldn't consider being other than with immediate family on Christmas day. Last year it was just myself and DD and as it was all done within the family tradition we both enjoyed it.

Exactly this.
I only cook turkey on one day of the year. It’s a big roast dinner with even more choice of potato and veg than usual. I do two yummy types of stuffing from Delia’s original Christmas book. There’s ham that was cooked on Christmas Eve and some eaten that evening. Plus copious amounts of gravy.
Lockdown Christmas last year had me considering other options but - one of the joys of the traditional feast is eating left overs after the Boxing Day walk. Then finding new ways to enjoy what’s left over.
Love it

But in answer to the question( I forgot) yes I think you should inform guests when you invite them as to what dish/s you will be cooking.

I love traditional, but! when my mum was poorly and we knew it would be her last Christmas, we choose potato pie mushy peas, red cabbage beetroot etc. she loved it, we ate out of the chip shop trays. my mum devoured it, she could not have sat down and ate a traditional Christmas meal. my cousins have fish chips every year for Christmas dinner.

I don't think it really matters what you have, I am grateful to have what family I around, the food comes second place.

I am myself hosting this year 7 of us and it will be traditional as I am trying to make it nice for my dad whos 86 and grieving as we all are, so curry, fish n chips, what ever, I will take whatever so long as family around.

I would thank them for the invitation and say as happy as I was to eat vegan or Indian at any other time, for you Christmas Day isn't Christmas Day without the traditional meal.

Mind you, I am a homebody and arch traditionalist on Christmas day, so wouldn't consider being other than with immediate family on Christmas day. Last year it was just myself and DD and as it was all done within the family tradition we both enjoyed it.

I’d appreciate knowing in case it’s something I don’t like (I really dislike Indian food and wouldn’t eat it). I’m doing the traditional Christmas dinner this weekend, so that when we go to my daughters on Christmas Day we’re having a chicken pie for less fuss and bother giving mum time to play with the babies and enjoy the day.

We are going to our son’s, “Not doing turkey or anything, it’ll be steaks and salmon”.

Fine by me, but suspect DH would prefer traditional.

Yes, the host should definitely mention if he is doing something different, although it’s just another meal really.

I find annsixty’s comments rather poignant…

given the choice, I would stay at home
under pressure, I am going out again this year

Crossed posts kitty

The question the OP asks is should you tell prospective guests that you are not doing a traditional meal.
Yes you should.
They are then forewarned and don’t have a shock/ surprise when the meal is served.
If they choose not to come that is their choice.
I would always accept as I would be delighted with the invitation.

The question was - should guests be made aware before hand. This thread shows they should.

GagaJo

I'm in two minds about it really. I think an informal comment about it not being the usual Christmas roast is OK. But I also think it's up to the host to serve what they want to cook/provide. There are plenty of other days to eat a traditional meal. Boxing Day?

For a while, our 'traditional' meal on Christmas Day was Mexican. I got bored with it after a while.

You can eat an Indian or vegan meal any day of the week. Christmas is a day for the traditional meal. I would decline.

I'm simply there for the lovely family company. Anything I'm offered to eat will be acceptable. I can do my own thing on many other days of the year.

I’m not cooking but know it’s going to be vegan but I’m guessing it will be traditional just without any bits of dead animals. Everyone knows this and not a problem as there are 5 vegans , 3 vegetarians and only 4 omnivores in the group , so it made the decision easy. The person that is doing most of the cooking is a French trained chef so we know it will be good!

(and) 'traditional' turkey dinner only started to become popular in Victorian times. It would be goose (or wild boar for the wealthy) before that.

People who want a 'traditional' meal are free to enjoy one on any other day, so I don't see a problem. We shouldn't expect a particular meal as guests, should we? We get what we're given, that's polite. It's lovely to be offered something different.

Here, I do the usual dinner and a vegan dish or two, making sure all the veg etc. are suitable for vegans. If I go elsewhere, I'll take a few vegan things along, rather than expect the host to make my preferred meal, especially for me. That would be ungracious.

I can still remember the disappointment of my MIL not doing mashed potatoes one Christmas. If the rest of the Christmas dinner had been missing I would have been traumatised for life.

Spare a thought for our family's Christmas catering! As usual, I'll be going to stay with DS2 and his family. He is vegan, his partner vegetarian, as am I. And my teenage GSs are carnivorous. On Boxing Day, all being well, my other son and his partner will be coming for lunch. They are carnivorous but she is gluten and dairy intolerant. In past years, DS2 and I have created the vegan/veggie dishes and left the cooking of turkey and trimmings to someone else. We quite often find that other family members will ask to try our veggie offerings.

Christmas dinner is Christmas dinner, I think if you are doing something different you should say before asking if guests would like to join them. I would expect a roast, maybe not Turkey, but definitely a meat joint of some kind It’s like being asked for Sunday lunch and given pasta.

Last year for the very first time in my 84years I went out for dinner on Christmas Day.
It was very expensive and very disappointing.
I like the chaos in the kitchen, will the turkey be cooked through?
Will it be dry.
Will Grandma drink too much Sherry, will she be rude as usual?
Will the GC have eaten too much chocolate?
A time honoured ritual, I missed it so much, and under pressure I am going out again this year.