Christmas lunch alone, what food would you choose?

Probably make my version of hot sour soup crispy duck and banana fritters for dessert.
I share my good wishes too for those alone at Christmas.

King prawn cocktail followed by beef stroganoff and sealed off with chocolate eclaire (or two!) accompanied by Hagen Daas Pralines & cream. Oh boy.......

Oh, grandetanteJE65. I do hope your Christmas Day will be peaceful. Just you and the cats. I hope I remember to think of you, and all those alone at Christmas. 😊

I shall be spending Christmas alone this year, my choice, as I have three separate invitations, but as DH died on November 1st I am convinced I will be better off on my own, at liberty to feel sad if I want, than putting on party manners with others.

So I shall look for a small portion of goose I can roast, as I love goose, by DH didn't on Christmas Eve , which is when we really celebrate Christmas, and I have just received a British Christmas pudding by post, which I shall have on Christmas Day and Boxing day. I haven't had as much as a bite of one since my father died nearly twenty years ago, as no Dane I have ever met would willingly eat even the smallest portion, or mince pies either. And DH was certainly not an exception to that rule.

So I shall bake mince pies for myself too.

And I shall have lovely, hot, runny custard (another abomination to the average Dane) with my Christmas pud.

No Christmas tree this year - I love them, and DH loved the way I decorated ours, so no, not this year. I would cry a pool of tears like Alice if I tried. But one of my many Nativity scenes is going up, probably more than one and a German Weihnachtspyramide.

And I shall buy the cats their absolute favourite food, and we shall try to enjoy ourselves, though I rather suspect we will lie in a heap w ith me at the bottom, weeping. But then we will pick ourselves up, and soldier on.

Toasted cheese sandwich with salad please. Fruit salad with cream for pud. and a good cup of coffee with a choc or two.

Or cauliflower cheese.

Or a pork chop with apple sauce, mashed potato and cabbage.

Oh dear - too many favourite things!

Like BigBertha1 I would pace myself, munching through the day as I really dislike that 'I'm too full' feeling.

RosiesMaw

First Christmas of the pandemic I was “bubbled” with D 1 and family so my Christmas en famille was assured.
Only GS1 tested positive 6 days before Christmas so that was that.
We were not permitted to leave our tiers as I remember or drive any distance so the other 2 D’s in London and their little ones were out of the equation too .
Misery. And I admit I cried.
The only consolation was that I didn’t have to leave my lovely Hattie in kennels and we could hunker down with Netflix.
But actually being on my own was somehow made worse by my very kind neighbour sending her husband round with a tray of a ginormous plated meal, pud and a glass of champagne!
So to answer the question, I would have all the things I like best - and NOT a turkey dinner!
Steak, perhaps or lobster, certainly smoked salmon and about three creme brûlées! Loads of cheese, nibbles and canapés and all of it by the fire while feeding titbits to the dog.
Sounds quite bearable now!

I agree with you about the kind, and appreciate gesture somehow making it worse!
When I was newly married for my first Christmas far from home my husband was on shift all day.
We had decided to have Christmas dinner on the 27th but I did feel very homesick on my own all day. My lovely friend sent me over some Christmas pudding with brandy sauce andthats when I cried into it while watching Dirty Den give Angie divorce papers over the Christmas dinner. I fairly wallowed in self-indulgent misery.
I’ve never really been able to cook just for me so I’d probably just resort to toast, peanut butter and hot chocolate ( but that camembert sounds very good!

ooo nice question. I would have the beef wellington as well with dauphinoise potatoes and some long stem broccoli. Pudding which I would a few hours later I think would be Christmas pudding and cream I love it.

Gin….do it! Your offspring will be relieved and so will you.

I would have a whole crab to myself with a bowl of my salad ( radicchio from the garden, tomatoes, grilled pepper, avocado, fennel, olives, fetta cheese and cucumber) and some home made mayo with crusty bread. If room after this a M&S Christmas pud for one with a sprig of holly and a dash of brandy.

Gosh why do we not have that this year there is no reason not to? I wonder if I can get DH to agree? We are undecided where to spend the festive season as it involves lots of travel and upheaval if we go to offspring and our old beloved dog hates the car and like us prefers his own bed!

I have spent at least 8 Christmases on my own and love it. I buy an upmarket selection of cooked fish from Waitrose, supplied specially for Christmas and I have that with fresh bread and dry white wine. I never have starters or desserts and I eat that watching Coronation Street. There is enough for the next evening so no cooking or faff.

M&S was selling similar for around £80 whereas I found it for nearer £20.

If I cannot find that I will have leg of duck with trimmings cooked in my air fryer.

Either an M & S turkey dinner for one or more probably, a good quality chicken to roast, as I enjoy it cold or stir fried afterwards. I would freeze some for later meals.
Veg would be carrots and broccoli.

Mature Cheddar cheese sandwich and a mug of strong Yorkshire tea for me!

Lamb with mint sauce and roasted vegetables. Crème brûlée for pudding, plus ‘After Eights ‘

pizza and tiramasu. plus chocolates and wine of course.

I would have a picnic at the seaside with my dog!

As much as I love a full roast dinner, a single lamb chop with some beans and maybe some mashed potatoes would be my meal of choice if I was on my own and wanted to push the boat out. But quite honestly, a boiled egg and a slice of toast would be enough.

I would have something which didn’t require cooking or washing up. An Indian takeaway would be nice, bought the previous day and reheated (they’re always tastier next day!).

I would be totally hedonistic and buy a good quality ready-prepared Christmas meal. (Main course only.) Then have some lovely "extras" for the day, such as chocs of my choice and other sweet treats. Oh, and some nice local cheeses!

I had a few solo Christmases before I moved to the retirement flat, where Christmas lunch was communal - that brought it's own angsts!

I always made our traditionally family lunch, downscaled for one, it made me feel connected somehow. "Still making the effort, I suppose" in a way that lunch with relative strangers last year didn't.

However, I love shysal's menu - I think I'll plan that in for myself over the festive period!!

Several Christmases ago, all the family except me went down with a bug, DH included.

The fresh (fortunately) turkey was put in the freezer. (We only knew on Christmas morning that everyone was ill and couldn’t eat anything).

With DH in bed, drinking nothing stronger than Lucozade, my Christmas meal was bacon and eggs.

I really enjoyed it! Didn’t miss all the Christmas faff at all, but sorry the others were poorly, of course.

I would climb a mountain in the Lakes and have a picnic. Then home for a soak in a hot bath with a glass of white wine.

First Christmas of the pandemic I was “bubbled” with D 1 and family so my Christmas en famille was assured.
Only GS1 tested positive 6 days before Christmas so that was that.
We were not permitted to leave our tiers as I remember or drive any distance so the other 2 D’s in London and their little ones were out of the equation too .
Misery. And I admit I cried.
The only consolation was that I didn’t have to leave my lovely Hattie in kennels and we could hunker down with Netflix.
But actually being on my own was somehow made worse by my very kind neighbour sending her husband round with a tray of a ginormous plated meal, pud and a glass of champagne!
So to answer the question, I would have all the things I like best - and NOT a turkey dinner!
Steak, perhaps or lobster, certainly smoked salmon and about three creme brûlées! Loads of cheese, nibbles and canapés and all of it by the fire while feeding titbits to the dog.
Sounds quite bearable now!

Lobster I think, with a cheese sauce and fresh salad followed by traditional brandy laden Christmas pud and custard. Washed down with a Pinot Grigio. Then a fresh ground coffee with a couple of those chocolate Lindt balls.

Oh, I forgot the wine and the G&T to start.

For me it would be a fillet steak with shop bought dauphinois potatoes and microwave veg or a duck breast with the same veg.
I never have a starter or a pud.