Christmas dinner jam - what are you cooking, bringing and drinking?

J

jbj

Poor old Geordie's array...
We're hosting for the first time in about 5 or 6 years.

Expecting 8 including us so nothing too arduous and I can't wait to go to town in the new kitchen.

The plan is:

Starter
curried lentil soup (using my own home made stock)
No knead bread / rolls

Main
Ginger beer and tangerine based ham. This will be the first non-turkey dinner in my 40 years on this planet. I did a dry run on Saturday and Lola managed to get at it and demolish the full thing before I got it into the oven! It smelled great even after boiling so I can't wait

Probably go for an apple based stuffing maybe with black pudding too.

Seasonal sous vide carrots and parsnips

Chipolatas

Goose fat roast potatoes

Depending on timings, what he have left to cook on and if I can be arsed after a few wines I might incorporate some non traditional sides my sister has done the past few years. Nut roast, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire puds. I might do a haggis too just because I like it.

Dessert is usually Mrs jbjs forte but I want to keep it simple if possible - my shout is homemade choc chip gelato (which i can make next week and forget about) and cookies or brownies. She'll probably go for something much more convoluted and messy.


Drink wise half are teetotal or very close so I'll let Mrs jbj deal with mocktails. Men will be on the lager, I'll switch up to prosecco at some point, probably Bailey's with my dad and then single malt later on once everyone has gone.

We'll have decent gin and spiced rum on the side. Red wine if anyone wants some (hopefully not, that's my steak stash!) and my mil likes a rose wine so we'll have some of that on tap.

Alot of planning, shopping and prep ahead but I can't wait. We don't have kids, likely won't at this point so it's nice to take the load off and treat everyone else.

This will be the first time my 94 year old gran has been inside the new house. It's far from finished but I'm really proud to show her the place. I am slightly apprehensive that she's never met Lola and is terrified of German Shepherds!
 
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One attendee has a Big Idea for the main that they are insisting on, so I'm just bringing some kind of a side salad. However, with the time off from work, I am going to attempt my first beer brew, after years of off -and-on wine and cider making.
 
My lady friend is cooking a Christmas dinner for the first time. Ever. So I’ll be hovering to fill in the cracks. I’ve cooked many large meals over the years and I don’t mind doing all of it because I don’t get in my way and know when things should start. Means I’m very chill in the kitchen and don’t have emergencies or last minute hiccups. So we’ll see how this flies. Lol
 
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Haven't thought about it much yet. It will just be the three of us (Mrs. Roach, Mom Roach and I) but I will still try to whomp up something "special."

Maybe just some prime steaks on the grill and a couple nice sides.
 
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Christmas Eve is fondue at the in-laws' house (cheese, then chocolate), but we'll be doing the actual making of the goo.
Christmas Day is braciole and cioppino at our house with assorted flatbreads and salad.
 
Chicken Man said:
One attendee has a Big Idea for the main that they are insisting on, so I'm just bringing some kind of a side salad. However, with the time off from work, I am going to attempt my first beer brew, after years of off -and-on wine and cider making.
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I've had some very drunken Christmas Eves but waking up, fully naked, face down in the living room floor with In Dulce Jubilo blaring on repeat in my flat in Saudi after a night on the home-brewed wine takes the biscuit. They would leave me in charge of booze for the annual roving compound feast or whatever they called it.

Quick dip in the outdoor pool and I was right and ready to take my tomato soup :shrug: (nowhere near a Christmas dish and it was still about 30c that day!) offering to the weird International Christmas dinner thing all the Western compound families had.

One of my favourite most profound memories of being out there was locking the front door of the rec once they'd all gone and spending a couple of hours sharing my wine, listening to stories and looking at photos with the SE Asian compound staff who were worked to the bone and never got home to see their families.
 
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Middle child coming home and feeding us. Asian but, I don't remember what.

Also, wife has been petitioning me to make bread pudding again.
 
micwalt said:
Christmas Eve is fondue at the in-laws' house (cheese, then chocolate), but we'll be doing the actual making of the goo.
Christmas Day is braciole and cioppino at our house with assorted flatbreads and salad.
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Fondue is a great idea! Our fondue set has been idle for a while, maybe it’s time to crank it up.
 
Christmas Eve we’re having ham, pierogies, and roasted broccoli/cauliflower

Christmas morning is my mom’s sticky buns (yeah yeah) with coffee, then watch the little monkeys shred and flog their way through a mountain of wrapping paper, then brunch, assembly, batteries, eventually naps. Brunch is cheesy hash brown casserole, French toast, eggs, and leftover ham.

After naps it’s off to our friends house for a nice roast with mashed potatoes, veggies, pie etc. prolly have a few cocktails.
 
My family has vegetarian & gluten-free people, so I let them do the cooking, and I bring drinks.

A few litres of Coke Zero, and multiple bottles of sparkling juice from the local winery (St. Julien's). It's 100% juice, not that 40% stuff that Welch's uses.

Also I bought 2 trays of baklava to bring :)
 
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