Traditional Christmas dinner

I suppose lots of people no longer eat meat, some are gluten and lactose intolerant, cheese is bad for cholesterol, ......
I could go on!

We have declined a reunion dinner for completely the opposite reason.

We were offered a really pedestrian 3 course meal - soup or pate, roast beef or fish or a vegetarian option and creme brulee for £38!!

I'm not keen on Xmas dinner. I can easily forego turkey , too often it is dry and boring. I would eat Xmas pudding but would prefer another choice . I suspect that wouldn't go but it would be because there was turkey on the menu. We rarely went for a traditional meal at Xmas when I worked. I think we had Greek or Italian, or a curry because it was easy to find alternatives for vegetarians , Halal, Kosher etc.

Work do’s were always as much about the fun and socialising as about the food when I was working.

Like others we always went for the restaurant we all fancied, and often ended up in a non-traditional one.

To a degree I still feel the same, we are part of a group of people that meet quarterly to socialise and eat and although we enjoy the food we also enjoy the company.

If we want to eat something special, we usually go out alone as our taste is not necessarily the same as others, nor our willingness to pay a bit for something special.

I am having to organise three Christmas dinners for organisations or departments this year, and all three restaurants have the traditional Christmas turkey and trimmings as one of the options, perhaps it is just a case of looking further? I actually usually choose something different given the choice because I like my Christmas turkey meal to be something special I have cooked for the family (those that come), rather than a repeated option so that the Christmas Day meal is something I have had before.

Oh, clearly it is me then. Thanks.

On my list of indigestible foods are garlic ( big trigger and in everything it seems now), anything "Italian", curry
(anything curry or spicy kills me). I can eat cheese and I am not watching my diet, cholesterol or anything else (yet) .

But obviously I am a one off.

I noticed somehow my keyboard is missing - the cost of the meal £50 a head.

We’ve eaten out for Christmas dinner a few times over the years, I’m not a huge fan of it traditional or not, but the last time we ate out at Christmas, a couple of years ago, it was fifty pounds a head, and awful, I had the vegetarian options, and it was just tasteless slush.

We never have family Christmas Day, so we’ll probably just have picky food, then when everybody comes on Boxing Day, we are going to make a big lasagna.

To be honest, my old Aga isn’t up to the job anymore.

I've gone off Christmas dinner these days. It's like a fancier version of the traditional Sunday roast which I rarely eat now.
The quantity is too great. When the turkey, gravy, stuffing and all the veg are plated up it looks like a dog's dinner which I find very off-putting. I don't like enormous meals and get indigestion too if I overdo it.
Modern twists aren't for me either. I don't object to garlic but can't eat spicy food. So it'll be interesting this year, won't it?

My own eating habits are not as they were at all, very hit and miss. Even out last night I just had a starter as a full meal.

Christmas, I'll still buy a " crown " though not the same somehow and will do the full dinner as my D is working and GS who lives with her will both be here at teatime when she finishes. Plus I'm not sure how the land is going to lie with my GD and all the GGC so at least there'll be plenty to go around whatever happens.

Once in a restaurant at our staff Christmas dinner, I opted for the salmon, and to my amazement, I had exactly the same as everyone else, with just turkey substituted for salmon, stuffing, roast potatoes, sausages, the lot! It was horrible!

I agree beigecardigan....my husband used to make it and it looked like well....a dog's dinner, a great pile of beige.

OP £50.00 is a lot of money for something you don't really want.

I think we are going out to an upmarket curry place this year.

I have booked my Walking Netball groups Christmas Meal at the start of December at a Hotel restaurant the group have come to love because of the enormous choice on the menu so while some will have the Roast Turkey etc I know that others will be having scampi, sausage, fish and chips, curry, lasagne - it good home cooking and about £15 for 2 courses.

That sounds vile, Sarah65!

I’d always choose another option over the traditional Christmas dinner on a night out, but still enjoy it on the day itself. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a work Christmas do though where it wasn’t an option, apart from the two occasions when we went to an Indian restaurant. It’d be a shame not to go, as the Christmas do’s more about the socialising than the food, but £50’s an awful lot of money if you can’t eat anything! Would there be an option of joining them after the meal?

I dont think I have ever dished up a dogs dinner for Christmas day. I always see turkey, roast potatoes and veg , followed by christmas pud as indulgent, but not slop. Yes, I could put on pork or beef and have done sometimes but never other things.

I never cook slop, or I hope not anyway. Maybe it is in the portion size for some? I never give giant portions myself.

Now, I do not mean to offend but when I see Lasagne, or pasta dishes, Bolognase or curry, slop comes to my mind. Lasagne is little more than pasta sloshed in cooked cheese with mince in the middle really isnt it?

I guess we are all different.

Teatime - I like the place you have booked! I wish someone would find something similar near my work. I looked at several places myself but even the local "Greasy Spoon" restaurant, which I liked for good home style food at reasonable prices, has some sort of odd combinations for Christmas. Maybe it is a trend in my area.

Most restaurants usually offer a range of dishes for their Christmas meal. Looking locally, the usual choice is three. The startersusually include, smoked salmon, a soup (vegetable) and something else, The main course choice is usually a straight forward, plain, roast turkey and all the trimmings, fish dish and vege/vegan option. Dessert, again Christmas pudding with brandy sauce, something like fruit salad and then ice cream.

There is one local pub that does its own version of a Christmas mea, we had it oncel and actually it was really quite nice. I am very fussy over poultry, which I do not particularly like, unless it is organic and I find most catering turkey unpalatable, so having it garnished with a cranbury marinade, served on a bed of an unusual stuffing with gratin dauphinois was rather nice and meant that the home cooked Christmas day meal was looked forward because I hadn't already eaten 4 Christmas dinners of mediocre quality.

I would rather have cheese and tomato sandwiches while sitting on a nice warm beach!

aprilrose, all those things you have listed as 'slop' are some of my favourite foods! Perhaps you haven't had them cooked properly. I enjoy traditional English food, but really love anything spicy, Asian, Italian, Middle Eastern.

BlueSapphire

I agree

And me. I’m lucky in that I can eat anything, and love trying new things.

Reminds me of an aunt, long dead, who always referred to anything she was served that was not meat, veg and potatoes as 'foreign muck'. I didn't agree with her then (I was a teenager) and I certainly do not now

I shall go to several Xmas meals in run up to Xmas. One with my sisters after making our parents Xmas wreath, one with my fellow foster carers, one with old teaching colleagues after Xmas church service on final day of term and I always organise a Xmas meal out with all of my 3 children, 1 foster child and 2 dgc one weekend in mid December as I won't see dd over Xmas day or Boxing day. I tend to order a traditional Xmas dinner but my dh is vegetarian and one son prefers a steak. I don't mind, each to their own, I just happy to share a Xmas meal with them.

At home for Xmas I serve a turkey crown and a beef as one son does not like turkey. I also do a ham on Xmas Eve so then on Boxing day I have plenty of cold meats for a Boxing day buffet. I bought a metal hostess tray form Aldi a few years ago and find it very good for keeping veg warm so I serve up lots of veg as dh is a vegetarian. He has a Lentil Loaf that is cooked in microwave with lots of veg.

Just realised what I am cooking for Sunday lunch as Daughter, her partner and GS are here......Roast Chicken, sage & onion stuffing, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, cabbage and sprouts. I am 72 days too early ??