What do you eat in the run up to Christmas?

Sod.

Never really plan food in advance. Well Xmas Day and Boxing Day have been vaguely sorted, and ordered on Ocado. Sunday will be a pizza place with grandsons (not the awful Hut or the other ridiculous one). Other days, who knows?

Daughter cooks Mama Sergio's pasta on Xmas Eve. That is always delicious. [chenille]

I will be on my own this Christmas, no need to go crazy but I want something decent to eat as well as the basics. I had had enough of supermarkets so I decided to do a large shop on line. I have asked for no substitutions so I will see what comes. I doubt if I will starve. I have decided on a sirloin steak for Christmas day, that is what I fancy.

Up to Christmas I cook the unmarked pakages in the freezer and like others, get a shock.

Rockgran - sorry!

Rockfran the poisoner

In answer to the original question, as little as possible. Just random stuff from whatever I'm cooking for Chridtmas.

We are away this year so no need to go mad on the stocking up! Just a few mince pies, stollen etc for us and the odd visitor. What a difference it makes! I am also trying to keep on with the 5:2 diet this week to be ready for a big week in the Cotswolds....

We are getting through any containers in the freezer and there have been a couple of surprises as 3/4 have lost their labels,what I thought was a chicken casserole turned out to be liver & bacon but that just added a nice change to the menu,we will also be having ham & eggs on Sunday and then a selection of toasted sandwiches Mon/Tuesday depending what is available we call it "if its" a case of if its in the fridge we will use it.

I try to remember what we did before we had a fridge or a freezer. I remember spending the last week frantically baking and filling tins. For weeks before that it was making pickles and chutney, puddings and Christmas cake. Gosh I feel old! No big supermarkets from which to do a big shop. Very little drink, because we couldn't afford it. Decorations were holly from the woods, plus gold painted pine cones.

I was living in a tied cottage in the middle of a field with no car or telephone, one bus came twice a week, Saturday and Wednesday, which was market day and a two mile walk, pushing a pram, to the nearest village shop. Those days were hard work, but we all appreciated the little we had and the children weren't bombarded with ads for expensive toys.

the good old days!

Just normally here too. I haven't even thought about what we'll eat next week yet. Much the same as usual so I don't have to think about it until I do the shopping. Will need a little extra as DD2 is turning up at some point.

Contented sigh.

Sounds lovely ffinnochio. We will skype the families first thing and watch the grandchildren open their presents (I have never seen the Spanish grandchildren at Christmas, nor my son for about 20 years) then smoked salmon sandwiches, a walk around the village and dinner in the evening. I hear my daughter talking about how busy the shops are and think, why? Of course there will be big queues at the fish stall and the patisserie here, but we won't be there!

Well, I have some cream left over from freezing some roulades and I've unearthed some chicken breasts so tonight it looks like Marsala chicken with gingered green beans. Tomorrow we are having a takeaway curry - I don't cook when it's the Strictly final! After that - goodness knows!

It'll be our 10th year as well, Mamie. The French attitude suits me very well. Calm, laid back, and a bit of family if you're lucky.
Fingers crossed for reasonable weather. We're taking a long walk by the shore, stopping for a picnic, driving home, skype with our lads, feet up in front of the fire with some crumpets, music and chat. A present or two to open. Watercress soup later. Seems pretty perfect to me.

Just normally here. No visitors for Christmas, not going anywhere, so we will celebrate quietly with a bit of smoked salmon and a roast goose on Christmas Day. Oh and a nice bottle of wine. This is our tenth consecutive Christmas in France and nobody here seems to fuss too much about it all.

As I wanted to defrost the freezer and clear the fridge before stocking up we have had a few meals I call "Honey, I emptied the fridge!" This means some weird combinations but my husband will eat most things.
"Rhubarb jam, pineapple and banana yogurt with custard surprise" was quite nice as was the piccalilli and fried egg sandwiches. Yesterday was a courgette and apple curry and tomorrow is "tidy up "soup with home made bread (made with various flours). Pizzas are always good for a few added embellishments too. I always feel a warm glow when I throw away a few emptied packets and refill the storage jars afresh. I hate to just throw food away - I prefer to poison someone first. Must be my inner Heston Blumenthal. Now I shall start on the. sprout cocktails......

This year we will be eating whatever's cheap in the supermarket, because in just less than an hour I shall be jetting off (not strictly correct, but I always liked the idea of 'jetting off') to Norway for Christmas and food there is ridiculously expensive.

We were late in tonight after visiting DD so made do with cheese on toast.

I'm wondering about the ancestry of lidls ducks now though - one half's obviously irish but what about the other half?

Having already cleared out the freezer of all the rubbish(worked our way through 7 haggises over the past 6 weeks) in late October, the cupboards are a bit bare but it wans't a case of "special" recipes but things which bear no resemblance to festive food, cost next to nothing and don't involve a lot of work because I am not in the mood!!!

I did a roast leg of lamb tonight- got a fresh one this week when shopping - invited friends to join us as they are hosting Christmas Day - then OH was not well and had to visit Dr - a cold had made his asthma worse - should be fine with the new medication - so friends did not come but I still cooked and did meals on wheels for them! I did mustard mash instead of roasties though. Enough meat and veg for tomorrow - may well do the ham eggs and chips on Sat now you have mentioned it!

When my children were small, money was short. After I had done the 1 big Christmas shop, I remember saying you can't eat that its for Christmas. Heaven knows what we ate because every thing was saved for Christmas

phoenix Have you tried the half Irish duck from Lidl? If you like Peking duck, it's £4.99 and there's enough for two people.
12 pancakes and a sachet of Hoi Sin sauce included and it was very tasty.

Bez
Roasts are "banned" for the 2 Sundays before Christmas in our house!

Last night I did a Thai curry with the big king prawns (£2.49 for around 28 of them) from Lidl. The night before we had a ham and mushroom omelette.

I will probably make a large shepherds pie for Sunday which we will have with veg, and there should be enough to re-heat on Monday and have with baked beans.

I'm having a bit of a use up because we're going to be away for Christmas. Chilli-con-something or other tomorrow night!

I know exactly what you mean. We diet in advance. Not consciously, but we do find ourselves holding back, although we do go to a lot of social events and mince pies are so fattening that it's a good thing. I live on boiled eggs, or poached egg on toast, for about a month before Christmas. I sing in several choirs so can't have dairy and need snacks at weird times, poached egg is perfect. DBH lives on sausages in rolls as he too careers about the country singing at various events. I eat lots of raw carrot and fruit and I make masses of flapjacks, because they are portable and filling and I trust them more than I do those cereal bars. I ate one last night for my tea between rehearsal and performance. Tonight I was in and did have a jacket potato with cheese and salad. I rather like not having to bother about cooking proper meals, this is the only time of year that it happens. If DBH gets fed up he makes himself a cooked breakfast, even if it's at midnight when he gets in. He eats lots of nuts and dried fruit and we grab pears, apples, oranges and grapes.

I think what I have very long-windedly meant to say is, don't worry about finding different recipes. If you too are going to have a hectic time, then have a bit of a break from all the food and cooking and just snack for a few days. Bread and flapjacks and poaching eggs are my limit during this time. Explore your stock of tins - I had a very elderly tin of herrings on toast one evening, with tomatoes.

Whatever my family put in front of me!

We eat whatever we usually have. Why should the run-up to Christmas be any different?