message from a butcher lol

I’ve only just read this. Yes it is common sense and like has been said just a big Sunday dinner.
As there is only ever six of us I buy my stuffing from my local butcher.

Fleur just read your post that's so funny. Love the down to earth no nonsense view on Christmas lunch. Love a butcher with a sense of humour. 😁

Birds custard tastes good with brandy added. Aldi Christmas Puds ditto. A good brandy.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I do my 'Christmas' feast in early December - as a family gathering, then I'm my daughter's guest for the real one. I make a lot ahead of time then just defrost or reheat, as I enjoy cooking that way - but not all at once and under pressure. There's vegans, vegetarians, those with allergies and carnivores to feed. Nobody here likes Christmas pudding so it's a giant peach and raspberry trifle (made the day before) instead.

Just the 2 of us so I have got a Cooks meal for about £36. Chosen one of their starters and will just make Christmas pudding. Cooks even send you instructions of what to do when. Couldn’t be easier.

I did love the posting Fleurpepper. So true.

Oh I love that! It's so funny, but also full of common sense.

These things like gravy (not JO’s) bread sauce stuffing etc are one of the few things I’m quite good at which is why I make them (yes often freeze them too) no other reason … plus IMO they taste better , note IMO…..

Ladyleftfieldlover

I make Jamie Oliver’s gravy a few days ahead and freeze it. I make bread sauce ahead too, and freeze it.

Is it worth the trouble. Does anyone mention it? I suppose the answer must be yes or you wouldn’t do it.
Personally I like turkey gravy made with giblets ( if I can get them) onions and Bisto’s turkey gravy granules.

LOUISA1523

Lucca

I would ignore jamie Oliver too but equally I wouldn’t use
Paxo
Or bisto
Or aunt Bessie

And thats fine as its your choice.....but me ( and many like me) will use all 3 and enjoy our Christmas Dinner just as much

Of course. Did I say different?

Lucca

I would ignore jamie Oliver too but equally I wouldn’t use
Paxo
Or bisto
Or aunt Bessie

And thats fine as its your choice.....but me ( and many like me) will use all 3 and enjoy our Christmas Dinner just as much

annsixty The clip I watched had his wife and one of their children (a baby) in it as well. I think there’s probably quite a few different versions/clips of him making it, he’s been on tv for so long.

Ladyleftfieldlover Is Jamie’s gravy the best then? Is it worth the effort?

I always use Paxo as a base and then add chopped onion, chestnuts, more bread crumbs and more sage and an egg; sometimes venison sausage meat. Seems to come out OK. Cooking a turkey is child's play if you follow the timing in any decent cookbook. A cheap meat thermometer helps. No need for all these TV chefs.

Adults... Anyone that can manage to get their sorry arse to your dinner table is also capable of helping to serve up/ sort the kids out/ clear the table /wash up /dry up etc.

I'm thinking of printing that off on a very large sheet of paper and pinning it where a certain member of the family can't miss it!
😁 😁 😁

Christmas dinner is nothing but a roast dinner with a cracker.

I make Jamie Oliver’s gravy a few days ahead and freeze it. I make bread sauce ahead too, and freeze it.

Yes, it's amusing, and yes, it makes very good points.
BUT you don't need to faff about to make stock on Xmas Eve - you just have to make stock with your left-overs all year round.
And you don't need to buy herbs for stuffing if you grow them in pots, and sage & thyme last all year round.
Even easier if you have a freezer, but I've done this all my adult life, in many different situations.
Fine if you don't want to do those things, I have no great opinion on what others do. But I get mildly annoyed by those who pretend something is a dreadful faff when it doesn't have to be.

* chop up the boiled onion don’t put it in the dish whole ha!
🤣

And yes, at the end of the day, it’s a roast dinner and anyone can only eat till they're full anyway! A plate of delicious hot dinner, good quality meat, not messed with and twiddled around too much is beyond delicious. Warm the plates, serve hot gravy and you can’t go far wrong. I use Paxo stuffing and add a boiled cooked onion and an extra dessert spoonful of sage to lift the taste (thank you mother-in-law 50 years ago).

Christmas crackers on the side of the place settings, a glass of fizz and some Christmas serviettes jazz up the table anyway. Some Christmas music in the background and you’re good to go!

That was great
Did Father Ted write it?
I’ve always said that Christmas dinner is just a roast dinner with a few add ons.

I enjoyed reading that 😂.
Thank you

I always ask what everyone wants on their plates, then I can use the leftovers for bubble and squeak the next day with bacon for breakfast. Problem is there are never any roasties left to go in it !

Love it! 😂

I shall always remember cooking my first family Christmas dinner- my sil, bil and her young teenagers, with a sulky Belgian boy who was staying with them, my two little'uns, my MIL who was a great cook and VERY bossy, and my lovely but strong headed mum- and all of them telling me what to do, but totally differently. In the end I sent them off and said NO-ONE was allowed in the kitchen- and they all had to admit it was excellent!

Would never choose turkey myself, leg of lamb or well aged beef rib. But you do what you have to do.

Our kids always ate with us though, and a bit of everything.

At the end of the day, it's true - it is basically just a roast dinner. If you enjoy cooking everything from scratch, then fair enough (I cook almost everything from scratch anyway), but some folk don't have the time or the inclination to do so. If you want to cut a few corners by using ready-made stuffing or gravy granules, what's the problem? As long as everyone enjoys the meal at the end of the day, that's what really matters. No-one's going to quibble about whether granny made the bread sauce from scratch!