Christmas menu ideas 2012

I've decided to go all out this year (it's all about the food) and, going by my list, I'll be up by 4am cooking!!

Menu

Starter

• Crudities with mayonaisse
• Fresh prawns

Main

• Roast Goose
• Glazed ham
• Turnip casserole
• Braised brussell sprouts
• Roast potatoes
• Roast carrots

Cheese platter

Dessert

• croquembouche
• Boiled fruit cake with custard

I've ordered the ham and the goose. This weekend I'll start soaking the fruit and get DH to place an order for the seafood with our local shop. The wonderful thing is that the veges will all come from our garden.

The mayonaisse and seafood sauce I can make the night before (and also the custard). The choux pastry can be made a couple of days before hand and stored in an airtight container once cooked. DH is going to do the Ham in the weber and I'm really looking forward to cooking my goose! I've never had goose before, let alone cooked one!

I've been madly shopping online buying the bits and pieces I need for the the kitchen to make the cooking easier - just waiting on my platters to arrive.

Thanks to Julia Childs and her wonderful book, I have recently fallen in love with cooking and am having a torrid love affair with butter - we adore each other (I love it's taste and it loves my hips).

The next step is to check out all things Martha Stewart and get creative!

Oh lordy, got room for me? :D

I dont even know what I'm cooking for dinner tonight.

we're going out for family christmas at the local pub a week or two before christmas, so on the actual day, it will only be us - mum and her sister might rock up, they might not. i've gone all out to make Christmas super awesome for my extended family. Every year. For as long as I can remember. no matter where it was, I was always doing everything to add that touch of special, cos my brother and SIL just don't give a fig. so this year, DD is old enough to get Christmas, and i'm not catering to anyone but her, DH and I - and if mum and my aunt show up, they can fit in with us. If they don't like our menu, they can go home again!

Having said that, i dont' know WHAT that menu will be - at this stage, probably a roast. but DH loves his bbq so who knows?

Cass you are a girl after my own heart! Love it!

This year it will just be mum and dad, DH and I. I will be 37 weeks pregnant so won't be doing too much. We are going to mum and dads and we are having a whole fish grilled on the BBQ, prawns, crabs and salad. We don't want left overs because mum and dad fly out to go to Thailand on boxing day and DH goes back to work on 27th. I'm buying a paddle pool and parking my butt in it :)

Normally we have to have the IL's menu from every christmas since DH was born lol! They have their traditions and have the same thing every year. We have had xmas at our place twice now for the extended family and everyone brings one or two items from the list.

Prawns
Turkey, pork, ham
Coleslaw, cheese & carrot, asian style salad
Pudding, ice-cream cake
Lots of wine

It really annoyed me that DH refused to do anything different. I had looked at some recipes for ideas but since he wouldn't budge I gave up. Since I didn't have to cook much it turned out ok so I can't really complain too much.

This year, IL's are going away and my parents may or may not be speaking to me so I don't know what we'll be having. I think we might just do a roast chook & veges for lunch and keep it simple so we can just spend time playing with the kids.

Stop making me drool Cass!!

Im doing Xmas at mine for the first time, properly. So it'll be all the meats-roast pork & turkey, and a glazed ham, with all the sides and salads. Im also doing a sweets buffet :) Im just getting festive inspiration (see new uploded album in my link.)



Not long to go.....

There will be ten of us. DH and I, DS1, DSS, DSD, DS2, my parents, DH's father and his wife^. I'm really looking forward to it. I shall have to ply my mother with wine to keep her out of the kitchen! And, if it's stinking hot .... well, all i can say is thank goodness we have aircon!

^Do I call FIL's wife SMIL or MIL or DH's stepmother? They got married in July 2010 - after a whirlwind courtship. She is a lovely lady but it seems weird that I say to DH "your dad and stepmum". I mean, he's never lived with her. Hmm....FWIW she is grandma to DS2 but not to DSS and DSD. Goodness, it's all too confusing, I shall call her MIL and just get over it! I mean, I would hate to be referred to as and his wife. All sorted!

LOL. I would just say MIL for ease. All these steps get way too confusing and since they are family now it doesn't really matter.

Sounds like you'll have your hands full. Don't forget to delegate ;)

:

---

LOL. I would just say MIL for ease. All these steps get way too confusing and since they are family now it doesn't really matter.

Sounds like you'll have your hands full. Don't forget to delegate ;)

---

I can't delegate.... I'm anal! :rofl:

Lucky you are so organised then :)

In my house it's more like - Christmas? Isn't that like 6 months away :dunno:. :rofl:

That sounds awesome Cass!

This year we are heading to my brother's place for christmas lunch so I have no idea what's on the menu, it should be interesting :)

Some home made dips (mexican layered dip, spinach cobb loaf dip and tuna dip) with some corn chips, bread and vege sticks to dip.

Fruit platter with all of the yummy summer fruits on it (cherries, mangoes, melons...)

cheese platter

lamb and chicken on the barbie (butterflied and marinated, I haven't decided on the marinades), and probably some snags for the kids!

salads- coleslaw, potato salad, spinach and feta, crunchy noodle salad

pavlova and fruit cake with custard

We'll be putting the crab traps out every day for the week leading up to Christmas by Christmas day they will have vomited all their sand and we'll boil them to death and eat them. Glad I'm not a turkey or seafood.
Beyond killing crabs we have a no cooking rule for Christmas so it will be other cold seafood, some sashimi if it looks good at the fish co-op or we have caught a good sashimi fish, salads and we might let my sister bake some bread to eat it with. Or we might not.
Pavlova.

And an afternoon playing croquet.

I'm inventing a layered frozen icecream dessert, involving rum-soaked raisins, almonds, coffee, hmmmm what else...:think: Still inventing...

And that's it. Someone else can cook this year. I will be busy "having a colour scheme".

I don't know yet where we'll be for Xmas, or who we'll be with. There's three possibilities:
1. Parents' holiday place with me, Mum, two brothers, DH & DD.
2. Our house with all the above people.
3. Our house with just me, DH & DD.

I'd prefer option #2, because its the best of both worlds, but I don't think my Mum's keen on breaking their 6-year-long tradition. Dad's *ahem* "gone away" for a couple of years so he won't be around for once. I think everyone's better off coming to my house and taking the pressure off her to do everything. Plus, if we're at the holiday house Amelia won't get to wake up to her big Santa presents on Xmas day!

All that has nothing to do with what we're having to eat :rofl: Sorry, it's just been on my mind a lot the past few weeks.

Marydean - you'll have to share the recipe once you've made it!

3littlemonkeys - I'm thinking that's an awesome menu for New Years Day (DH is getting a BBQ off Santa)

Onyx - bahahaha!!! I'm also quite glad I'm neither turkey nor seafood. Oh and BTW we'll be playing Bocce - where did you get your croquet set from?

We use my Granny's old croquet set although we've replaced a few clubs and balls over the year. There are a few shops that sell croquet equipment online or if you dropped into the croquet club just next to the Hyatt they might be able to sell you something.

:

---

We use my Granny's old croquet set although we've replaced a few clubs and balls over the year. There are a few shops that sell croquet equipment online or if you dropped into the croquet club just next to the Hyatt they might be able to sell you something.

---

Thanks! I didn't think of the Hyatt!

Have you got your Christmas Day menu planned yet? Have you started shopping for it? Have you made the pudding yet?

I have not finalised my menu. I still don't know if we are having Christmas here or at my Mum's. All I know is it's not going to be at the IL's. I have a few things in mind, all a bit special for us, especially since last Christmas Day I was stuck at work all day. Very sad. Anyway. Darn it, distracted by Rhino, and forgot what I was going to type! :doh:

If you have a done menu, or ideas, care to share with us? I will come back later to post some of my ideas, which probably aren't all that special, but compared to the meat pie I had last year, on my own, anything will be special. I am looking forward to reading others', and also trying to get into the spirit, especially now the children know its a big thing.

We are doing BBQ prawns with lime aoli for entree. Roast pork and veggies for main. Pudding for dessert. Nothing too complex due to bub. DH will do the roast in the BBQ to help out. There will be lots of fresh fruit and nuts on the table for grazing. Still deciding if we will have ham or turkey as well.

Kind of. No and No.

We will be home all day, just us :). I have a few ideas in mind for the menu. Shopping is not started since menu is undecided. Traditional Pudding isn't really something we have.

I'm thinking banana pancakes for breakfast. DH will be working in the morning so we have to wait for him to get home so it might be a second breakfast depending on how the kids hold up.

Roast chicken with vegies for lunch - no entree. DH will cook on BBQ.
Something yummy and chocolatey and ice-creamy for dessert. Don't know what yet though. Maybe Matthew Hayden's mums macadamia chocolate pudding with ice-cream.

Fruit, nuts, cheese, chockies to snack on.
Homemade Gingerbread biscuits too because DS loves them :)

Leftovers or sandwiches or something simple for dinner.

Yep but not bought everything yet, and only the ILs like Christmas pudding so they are bringing one

We are hosting this year (finally) and I'm quite excited. DS is 3.5 and this will be his fourth Christmas and the first one he gets to spend at home!

We have a few people coming for breakfast and then more will arrive in time for lunch.

For breakfast we have ( on the BBQ) Christmas Ham, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggs. We will have a loaf fresh out of the bread maker and hash browns too

We are doing prawns for entree with Mums homemade seafood sauce

We are having Roast Pork, Beef and Chicken on the webber. Homemade apple sauce. We'll have roast potatoes, roast vege medley, mushy peas and other steamed veg, stuffed mushrooms, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire puddings and gravy. We'll also have a platter of sliced ham

For dessert I am making a chocolate ripple log and a summer berries triffle

DS and I are putting together a gingerbread train and we make little Christmas cupcakes that look like Santa hats

For nibbles I'm planning a trio of dips with flatbreads, cheese platter and some chips/nuts etc - and Christmas M&Ms :)

My Mum, uncle, me and Dad are all foodies so will all pitch in and have fun in the kitchen together (glass of wine in hand)

I love living off Christmas leftovers in the following days. It'll be food heaven!

We're having prawns with chili/lime aoili for entree, roast chicken, roast pork (done on the BBQ), potato bake, roast veggies, Yorkshire puddings and gravy for main with trifle for dessert.

I think there's only going to be 6 of us for lunch but I'm not sure, could be more.

DH's family Christmas will be at our place here on the 16th and we're having

Roast pork
Roast turkey
Ham
Roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin
Peas
Pickled gerkin things that are traditional Estonian
Egg things again Estonian
Estonian sausage roll things
Green salad (I have NO idea why, but that's what "they" do)
plum pudding with custard and cream
Mini cheesecakes - mint, cappuccino, lemon and malteser varieties

I'm doing everything but the Estonian stuff and the plum pudding - that's MIL's territory so I leave her to it

Christmas Day will be just us and my folks at our place. I'll probably get another ham because DH and the girls really like that. Otherwise we'll be having sausages on the bbq for DH and the kids, and bbq crayfish, prawns, morton bay bugs and scallops for me, mum and stepdad. We'll have some yummy salads, but don't know what yet, and I'll do some chips in the oven for the men and the kids. Dessert will be an icecream pie thing that is layered cake, icecream, fudge sauce and biscuit base. Yummmmmmm

I've ordered all the meat. Will get vegies and seafood day before. Will get nibblies etc a few days before.

We always have the same, more or less :lol: We have a late breakfast with MIL then late lunch with my mum.

Crepes with whatever topping or filling you want (usually sugar and lemon, Nutella or jam)
French toast
Banana or berry smoothy

Nibbles are cheese platters and fruit platters
Mum usually brings prawns and oysters

Lunch is DH's orange and maple glaze ham
Asian baked salmon
Grain salad
Apple and fennel salad
Potato salad
Turkey or chicken

Desert is mums amazing Pav
Watermelon, mint and balsamic salad

Usually we make punch, then split it and spike half for those wanting something stronger lol

Moderator Message »
FYI - merged threads.

Lulu ... wanna share that *icecream pie thing* recipe???

We are doing xmas for the first time this year....Miss H asked, so we said yep.

All I know is we will be having a BBQ. That is about as far as I have gotten! So I shall be reading this thread closely :D

:

---

We always have the same, more or less :lol: We have a late breakfast with MIL then late lunch with my mum.

Crepes with whatever topping or filling you want (usually sugar and lemon, Nutella or jam)
French toast
Banana or berry smoothy

---

So, I'll be at your place for brekky then it's a quick flight back home to get dinner on ...... and i'll have to fit in picking up that ice-cream pie too!

The more the merrier! I'm not doing shizz this year, I'll have either just given birth or will be overdue and grumpy, so I'll be the one on the couch demanding more crepes baha.

:

---

Lulu ... wanna share that *icecream pie thing* recipe???

---

was going to ask the same thing, yummy!

We are prob going out for lunch. I will be fresh out of hospital with a newborn. That or cold chicken, salad and prawns!

Lionsandbears; oops, I honestly didn't see the first thread! I wouldn't have made mine if I did. :doh: My bad. :redface:

:

---

I'm inventing a layered frozen icecream dessert, involving rum-soaked raisins, almonds, coffee, hmmmm what else...:think: Still inventing...
".

---

Have you finalised the recipe MD? I need ideas. We're doing separate menus for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I have a bit of soaked fruit I could make into an ice-cream thingy. Or do a summer berry type pudding.

menu so far:
Christmas Eve:
entree: ?? May just do dips and nibblies

Main: slow cooked roast lamb, gravy, mint sauce, with roast potatoes & salad

Dessert: ?? I want to do something light.

Christmas Day:
entree: Snapper and prawns with salad

Main: Turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce with roast veggies and greens

Dessert: Christmas pudding; profiteroles with chocolate Cointreau sauce

Christmas Day is low key this year so we'll be having. Creme Brulee croissant pudding for breakfast and then for lunch we'll be have coke cooked ham, potato gratin and steamed veg. Dessert will be pudding and custards. Nibbles will be chips, cheese, shortbread, pierogis (if I can make them tomorrow night)

Boxing Day will be the big feast. Ham and cheese croissants for champagne breakfast. Turkey, duck fat potatoes, anchovy peas, sweet potato casserole, beans, dinner rolls, trifle etc. and nibbles will be the same as day before.

Ill also have worked 8 days straight before hand and will be back to work on the 27th after two days of cooking. But hey that's what this is all about right?

Christmas eve is low key. It's my birthday and I don't intend to spend it cooking. Christmas day we're having turducken, pigs in blankets, goose fat potatoes, sprouts, broccoli, carrots, cranberry sauce and gravy mmmm. Cherry Christmas pudding, brandy snaps and cream for desert. I love Christmas dinner :)

We've changed the menu for Christmas Eve, as it's supposed to be hot. We're going to have cheese and nibblies, then a BBQ, followed by berry and ricotta parfait. I've already made the berry sauce and about to make the ricotta sauce. I've also made the chocolate sauce for the profiteroles on Xmas day. I added a big splurge of Cointreu and it tastes great :) I'm umming and ahhing about stuffing them with orange custard or something else. I think orange custard would be great with the sauce.

the only downer is we don't have parfait glasses or spoons. I really don't want to have to go back out to the shops, so I'll just have to improvise.

You could try champagne or wine glasses instead.

Well, I'm doing turkey (the Jamie Oliver one with mandarines inside it), roast veg, ham, green beans with almonds, cauli and cheese, and lemon meringue ice cream.

:

---

You could try champagne or wine glasses instead.

---

I put it in red wine glasses and they looked fantastic. layers of berries and ricotta. So yummy too.

I left researching cooking the turkey a bit late. I'm using Pioneer Woman's recipes. So I ended up making a brine to soak it in overnight. Then I decided to make some corn bread to use for stuffing. It's delicious on its own, but I'll mix it up with herbs and chicken stock tomorrow. I should probably make the pancake mixture tonight for tomorrow morning but I'm too tired.