Christmas menus and recipes

I thought people might like to share what they're serving up for Christmas dinner, and any favourite recipes.

We have a small family group of 18 this year (it's often more like 30 ), and this is the plan:

Entree
Fresh prawns
Smoked salmon roulade (my Mum's specialty)

Main course
Roast turkey with cranberry & walnut stuffing
Roast pork - with crackling, of course.
Honey smoked ham - this is a home made ham, hubby smoked it on Sunday
Roast potatoes
Warm pumpkin & green bean salad
Coleslaw
Garden salad
Plus gravy, apple sauce, cranberry sauce etc....

Desserts
Good old plum pud with brandy sauce
Mini pavlovas (the kids love these)
Something with white chocolate and berries that my sister is making
Lisanne's Mars Bar cheescake

And I'm making a chocolate/coffee log to serve with coffee.

For those showing up for dinner, I'll be dishing up whatever leftovers we have, plus a couple of BBQ chooks, some fresh bread rolls and a mango salad. Then there'll be a fruit platter and a thrown-together peach and raspberry trifle. I found the recipe in this month's BBC Australian Good Food magazine.

Boxing Day will be spent in a food coma.

I'm not making my traditional Christmas dessert this year, thought I'd try something new, but I highly recommend this one - Raspberry & Frangelico Tiramisu cake

We only do cold lunch / tea here.

Lunch is oysters - natural / mornay / kilpatrick.

Then prawn cocktails followed by cold roast pork / ham off the bone / cold roast turkey along with salads and my MIL's yummy coleslaw. Breadrolls.

Don't tend to have dessert at lunch - maybe some of MIL's gorgeous fruit cake.

Dinner is pretty much the same with more choices for dessert - trifle, lemon meringue pie and pav.

Too hot normally to have too much to eat here.

Ohhhh yum kek & kyton, we need a drooling emoticon

We always have lunch here and have anywhere from 10-20 people, this year will be 10 adults and our two boys. I do all the food myself (being the control freak that I am )

Our menu is:

Roast pork
Roast Turkey
Roast Lamb done on the Weber
Roast taties & pumpkin
Green beans
pasta salad
Baby spinach & sweet potato salad
Seafood salad

Choc ripple cake covered in strawbs, raspberries & blueberries
Plum Pudding & custard

and fruit mince pies, macadamia shortbreads and chocs to have with coffee/tea

No dinner here, if anyone is hungry usually leftover roast meat in a roll with salad goes down ok.

I can't wait, I look forward to Chrissy lunch every year

I'm going to have the following and probably spread it all out between lunch and dinner

Entree:
Prawn cocktail
Oysters kilpatrick (with some chilli!)

Main:
Turkey
scalloped spuds (mmmmm yummy!!!!)
roast pumpkin
Baked tomatoes and onion thingy in a ramekin

Dessert:
Pudding with custard!

Somewhere in there will probably be cheese and chocolates and whatever else is in the cupboard along with plenty of alcohol!

Yum everyone

Me:-

Champagne

Pork Meatballs
Very very yummy mexican dip

Champagne

Roast Pork with mustard apricot relish
champagne
Honey & Rosemary marinated butterfly leg of lamb - BBQ
champagne
Cold Ham (decided not to cook one)
champagne
Roast chickens (for those children who at 23 still hate meat)
champagne
Chinese Cabbage & Noodle salad (everyone in the world knows this one)
Chick pea & mango salad with mustard dressing
Paella
Greek Salad
Stuffed potatoes
champagne

Pavlova
Pudding with brandy sauce
*hic* champagne

Well, of COURSE, there'll be champagne....

Xmas Eve:
Nibblies (usual stuff)
Seafood Paella/Sliced Ham/Sliced Roast Beef/Sliced Pork/BBQ chicken pieces/Fresh prawns/Pasta Salad/Coleslaw/Tossed salad (with 50 ingredients)
Chocolate Mud cake/ Pudding/ Mini Pavs/ Custard/ Icecream

Xmas Day:
As Above, all over again...

Boxing Day:
We have a HUGE lunch at my dad's with all the salads/marinated fried chicken/3 different Malay curries/fried noodles/fried rice/boiled rice/prawns/sausages (for the kids)/some elaborate and decadent dessert that my cousin the pastry chef creates/icecream and whatever else the flowing through guests bring. It's very multicutural with an Asian twist. I wait ALL year for this magnificent feast, it's a true delight. Maybe UNtraditional to most but to my family it is very traditional and happens every year. My eyes are ALWAYS bigger than my belly.

I take my hat off to you guys
Chrissy eve dinner for us is the biggy.
Menu later.

Seeing as we are best cyberfriends......am I invited to the BD one

Mine is more due to split families Onc, not my idea of fun having a Trifecta of meals, but it is a good excuse to stuff yourself stupid.....

You would LOVE it SuH! Hey, that BD is a revolving door, sometimes I go and say "and do I know you? are you related to me?..who cares, let's eat another round...." it's bit like that so you would fit right in, a cast of thousands...you are always welcome food to DIE for.

my kinda day, sounds like a LOT of fun

TheMax not nice tempting a fat pregnant hungry woman with such a gorgeous spread.put my hand up If SuH needs a driver I put my hand up for the job

You won't be driving anywhere Kybaby, you are about to drop a load can you still fit behind the wheel any movement at the station luv???

THat's ok one more tiny mouth to feed will be easy for us...

We start with a big BBQ breakfast at my in laws
Bacon and Eggs
Hash Browns
Tomatoes
Blueberry pancakes with maple syrup
Croissants and Toast
Champers, Juice, Tea and Coffee

Then we miss lunch as we are far to full - the kids usually want something to eat so they get ham sandwiches, and we have an antipasto platter out to nibble on.

Then an early dinner at my parents
Prawns
Lobster
Roast Pork
Roast Veges
Spinach Salad
Eggplant pie (DH favourite)
Champers, red and white to keep the Chrissy cheer!

This years dessert will be layered Choc mousse with berries and the usual christmas pudding

Then we go to SIL Boxing Day and eat all the left overs - usually cold meats and salads, and my MIL makes me a summer berry pudding - my favourite!

Can't wait!

Hey, bel in your spinach salad do you use English Spinach or the usual every day one

Baby spinach is what we use - but I suppose it's not a traditional spinach salad, we just call it that.

Hmmmm let me try and remember.....

Baby spinach
Oven baked Tomatoes - usually Roma's
Asparagus
Spanish Onion
Shaved parmesan
sometimes avocado depending if I feel like it!
Pine nuts
Then the dressing is Olive Oil, Lemon juice, salt, pepper, and basil leaves

I am making one with spinach in it too, but didn't know which one to choose. Yours sounds yummy

Definitely use baby spinach! I'm not a big lettuce fan and will often use baby spinach instead for salads