What about the OTHER meals?

Family arrives on Christmas Eve morning, so we have the ham for lunch, with nice breads and salads. DBH will do roast beef in the evening, because soninlaw is a carnivorous plain eater, but ours will be accompanied by something spicy veg-wise, while he will have a slab of meat and roasted potatoes and be happy. He does complicate our meals.

Smoked salmon, scrambled egg on toast for breakfast on xmas day, this year followed by very traditional turkey.

Boxing day will be sausages for SiL, croissants and pains au chocolat or toast for late breakfast, the final meal will be the leftovers from the beef, ham, and turkey with added prawns and stuff.

DD is presented with a box of leftovers to take home so that she doesn't have to worry about finding a meal when they get in.

Duck breasts for us Xmas Eve but he have often gone out for a pasta. Traditional Xmas day turkey dinner with more or les the same again Boxing Day then leftovers until they run out and usually another big roast on New Years Day after taking down the decs and cleaning the house but this year its drinks at a friends house. I will do the venison I bought on Sunday 3d January, anything left over the goes in the bin and then back on the diet.

We get all our vegetables prepared and ready. We are vegetarian so would already have prepared the Turkey substitute. Get up on Christmas morn - Have scrambled eggs and then make sandwiches and a flask. We have lived in the Lake District for the past 6 years and have made a new tradition of being out on the fells for the day. Then back home to put everything in the oven to sit down early evening. Boxing day is nibbles day !

No idea- as sil is the Head Chef so will just help as instructed and say Thank You, as often as needed. Then off ot DD2 and she is a brillaint cook, so same again... then soup, lots of soup.

Thank you for your contributions and suggestions. It just seemed a good idea to open a discussion which would not be contentious and where we might share ideas or recipes or something which even after all the years, might be a inspiration.

Christmas Eve will be kedgeree. Christmas day breakfast is always sausages, lunch will be a buffet of foie gras, snails, smoked salmon and salad. Dinner will be capon, ham, mixed roast vegetables and spinach, followed by a three chocolate mouse from our local prize-winning patisserie.
Boxing Day will probably be curry.

I am catering for me and him on Christmas day and my daughter and family are coming for our Christmas proper after the weekend. My big concern is what prepare ahead meal to feed them when they arrive the day before we will do my big Christmas dinner.

(It would be helpful if she let me know exactly when they are coming.) A text message needed.

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Just had a high level diplomatic incident with DH as he is convinced that there is no need for another supermarket visit this week. As all he does is eat the food I plan, buy, cook and serve I have told him, in very diplomatic terms of course, that it really would be best to leave that decision to me. He doesn't agree with that of course. Steam is coming out of my ears. Grrrr.

I just have my mother on Christmas day so its pointless cooking loads.
I just have a sort of extended Sunday lunch and alcohol free wine. On boxing day for breakfast I love a leftover sausage roll with a soft fried egg, followed by a mince pie. This year DD, partner and DGD will be popping in at some point just for a coffee and snack so again I wont be cooking much.

My plan for today was vegetarian lasagne for lunch and vegetarian curry for dinner. That will fall flat as DS No 3 came home from Berlin unexpectedly last night and cooked himself a huge portion of home made noodles. There is enough left over for today as well.

However, the original question was about what we are cooking not for Christmas but on the other days. Even the delicious-sounding breakfast of a sausage roll and an egg sounds too much for a tummy full of Christmas fare. I'm sticking to vegetables and the lighter pasta dishes, or even missing out on meals altogether and just having a couple of crackers with cheese.

When I was with exdh, I always made a trifle on Christmas Eve (I don't bother now, Mr P doesn't like puddings and it's too much faff for one!).

For me, Boxing day breakfast was always a bowl of said trifle, although I did get some funny looks from the others as they sat down to scrambled eggs on toast

Gagagran I would probably not be quite so diplomatic. I had a big shop up this morning but I have not finished yet. There is very last minute stuff that I cannot really buy in advance.

Its always the yummy stuff you need to buy last minute, the cream, trifle, soft fruit, smoked salmon etc.
This year ive not got around to making a cake so its a bought one but ive found a recipe and will try making one for later in the week.
I like Christmas cake for boxing day tea with squashy trifle. I know I should be having a nice crisp salad but its only once a year. I have been known to dip pringles into trifle.

Nellie it's now been agreed that we will go very early on Christmas Eve. I am happy to go alone but himself likes to drive me there and he is quite useful for packing and carrying the bags. (I wasn't really diplomatic at all. In fact I was quite shouty)

Gagagran!

ethel.... I buy several cartons of double cream at a time and put them into the freezer. When needed, leave them out for a few hours to defrost and they whip up perfectly.

Tomorrow afternoon we have DS, DDIL and DGS arriving to stay for 6 days. I was thinking of making a pot of vegetable soup in the morning, using shin, to have at dinner time with crusty bread and cheese. DH suggests we have the really good butcher burgers with the best local baps ever... but they are likely to have had something like this on the ferry coming over. Omelettes are an option. I don't want to make the soup/broth and have it hanging about unused - guess it could always be frozen if needs be.

In my head I know to just play it by ear - but I do like to be organized and ahead of myself.

Thing is - they only eat when hungry, wish I could be like that.

It is difficult to manage as I live alone, I do freeze things but everthing comes in huge sizes so a lot of my stuff gets thrown out. Ive told DD she is welcome on boxing day but she must wait for Dpartner to get out of bed and decide what he wants to do on the day. So we cant make arrangements, I cant see the point of cooking and they not arrive, DD would phone to say what they are doing and one year I dashed to asda on boxing day to get exactly what they wanted for tea.

It must be so much easier for larger families where there is lots of food needed anyway so that if a family member drops in there is enough.

A woman I know leaves the kitchen table set all boxing day and has the chip pan on continually so her family and GC can drop in anytime, she keeps lots of tins of pek or ham and when her family arrives she puts a handful of chips into the pan and opens another tin and butters the bread. It sounds easy doing that but I hate meat from a tin and have never made home made chips since my late DH died. I would rather make a large pan of soup.

We had lamb casserole yesterday as our local co op had lamb steaks in its reduced due to sell by date section. I also got a marked down tiramisu that was dated 22 Jan but the assistant hadn't seen the month!
Today we have chilli as I have half a packet of mince in the freezer.
Might take a walk to Aldi and get some steak for tomorrow to have followed by tiramisu.

I am going to have an egg salad,have hard boiled my eggs this morning.....last night jacket potatoes with tuna and sweetcorn and salad,have two portions of beef casserole left from sunday which needs to be eaten by today veg and mash potato feeds resident teenager and working OH.....I just do not fancy food this time of year,maybe spag bol tomorrow night as I have garlic bread to use as no room in the freezer,or maybe salmon,and the garlic bread can fit in the place the salmon come out of ,the more I have to think of it the less I want to eat it,especially when you think how often we have to handle it before it gets on our plates,from shop to plate eeeerrgh..

Is anyone having a Sunday Roast today?
A lot of local pubs and restaurants are serving them.
We are eating lightly today and will be avoiding them!

We will be having chops today as a change from Turkey before having Turkey curry tomorrow. On Tuesday we will be out and about so will go for pizza.

My tablet won't write Turkey with a small t.

Out and about a bit later when rain stops, for a long walk ( in muddy trainers.) Will make a turkey curry this evening.