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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Christmas dinner
My mind is jumping all over the place and I'm already trying to prep for Christmas. I think I'm skipping Thanksgiving this year other then making a pumpkin pie.
So if you celebrate Christmas, what do you normally make for Christmas Eve dinner and for dinner on Christmas day? Do you do a special lunch instead of dinner?
Re: Christmas dinner
On Christmas Day I make a huge brunch (Muffins, cookies, cake, fruit salad, pancakes, etc.) and then I have an early dinner. Last year we had pork roast with cranberry sauce.
My family celebrates on the 24th and last year I made a traditional Dominican Christmas eve dinner of a roasted pork loin, rice and black beans and potato and beet root salad.
This year I'll do the same on the 24th, but on the 25th we're having a honey ham with mash and some other sides. H wants a roast beef but I can't eat undercooked meats. I'm actually really excited about Christmas this year as it'll be just H and I love the idea of spending one last holiday alone together as a family of two.
Christmas Eve is usually a toss up of what we're eating. Most of the time we really can't be bothered to make anything special, so we eat whatever MIL cooks. Last year it was tofu with steamed broccoli, bok choi, rice, crispy belly pork and roast duck.
On Christmas Day I usually make a huge breakfast of cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, sausage, blueberry pancakes and coffee. After all that, we're too full to eat lunch. Dinner is always at the PIL's. My BIL and I cook the meal. He cooks the meat - lamb roast and roast beef. This year I'm adding my honey ham and a turkey crown at MIL's request. We always have brussels sprouts, stuffing balls, steamed carrots/broccoli/cauliflower, chipolatas wrapped in bacon, chinese blood sausage, roasted potatoes, dinner rolls, and some sort of dessert. I'm making either raspberry choux buns or a chocolate cake with mocha icing this year.
Rpic- where do you get the honey ham from? That's what I was thinking of making for Christmas dinner.
I think the giant breakfast you are all talking about sounds like a good plan to avoid having to have lots of snacks and things for the whole day. My parents and brother are coming on the morning of Christmas Eve to stay until the 2nd so I'm trying to plan some kind of menu.
Christmas eve for us is usually snacks after midnight mass and then a big lunch with seafood and ham the next day. This year in Indonesia I doubt we will be going to mass, and I am seriously considering going to one of the big hotels here for what I have been told is a huge spread of food for very cheap.
My Father and sister will be visiting and the thought of cooking for everyone in my small kitchen with limited cooking supplies just doesn't thrill me.
We do fondue on Christmas Eve, then we do homemade rolls and cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, with scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit. The rolls are made into the shapes of men or women, boys or girls, and have been done in my family for like 5 generations.
Christmas dinner (around 5 usually) is pretty typical, turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, rolls, and a carrot/caper salad.
That is so awesome! I really wish my family/DH's family had some long standing traditions like those.
This post is making me look at my ham sandwich in self pity.
It depends if MIL's over for christmas or not.
If not, we do salmon belle-vue or something like that for dinner with my mum on 24th and a seafood platter in our pjs on 25th - just the two of us.
Side note - I grew up celebrating on christmas eve and was traumatized by having chinese take-away (chinese take-away!) the first time we hosted (and had MIL & BIL over) because it didn't mean anything to anyone. I have vowed this never to happen again and so (lol):
If she is, we keep the fish or seafood platter on 24th and then have a big breakfast/fry up for breakfast on 25th and turkey with roast potatoes, cranberry sauce, glazed turnips, buttered carrotts, bacon wrapped chipolatas & stuffing for dinner around 5-6ish.
It is really cool! I love that the recipe to make the rolls from scratch has been handed down, and the kids in the family always love it. We are spending Christmas in the UK this year and I may try to make them there so my kids have the tradition even this year!
Usually Christmas Eve with my family is drinks, sandwiches, and snacks. Christmas Day is a steak roast with all the usual fixings on the side. Including vegetables with cheese and rice potatoes.
Last 2 years it's been DH and I. He always had goose on Christmas Eve. Our first year together in the mountains the goose was too expensive and we didn't have time to drive to Germany to get one so we had lamb. Then steak for Christmas Day. The past year we drove to Germany to buy a goose for Eve and then we went to the IL's the next day.
I'm hoping that we'll have a goose dinner for new Year's. He loves goose so much and I feel bad that he won't have it for Christmas this year.
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Growing up: cinnamon rolls for breakfast, ham and random veg for lunch, leftovers for dinner.
PIL: pastries prob for breakfast, full works British Christmas dinner around 1pm (turkey, sprouts, stuffing, roasties, etc), and then 'tea' later one (cakes, sandwiches)
We don't have a choice unfortuantely as we're always either at one set of parents.
This isn't answering your question, but as you are due to have your baby so close to Christmas have you thought about pre-ordering Christmas dinner through M&S or Waitrose? Or maybe make sure your menu could be cooked by your family or DH? My DS (who was one month at the time) had a growth spurt on Xmas which meant I was feeding him about every hour!
To answer your question, my DH and I have a little tradition going now where we have Jamie Oliver's Fish Pie on Christmas Eve, a nice breakfast after opening gifts on Christmas Day (fruit salad, mimosas, and baked goods) and then a more traditional lunch around 3pm (Turkey or Ham). On boxing day we have left overs and snacks basically all day long. It's extra hard having Christmas here due to the lack of refridgerator space!
I really like some of the suggestions in the previous posts!
I'm considering all options. I know that everyone here will happily pitch in to do it all or help in anyway so I'm still trying to figure out what to do exactly, but have been thinking about ordering for Xmas Eve since they are arriving that morning.
We usually get together with DH's family for Christmas and what we usually have is a barbecued lunch since it is summer here at Christmastime.
Typically sausages, lamb chops and steak on the barbie, and most everything else is cold, like my MILs famous coleslaw which is made with cabbage and apples (and other stuff) and her homemade mayonnaise, a green salad, cold potatoes, etc.