What's your favorite part of the Christmas dinner?

will.i.am

So for me it' a bread stuffing we make. and then the smoked ham!
What is it for ye?

The wine, and Yorkshire puddings.

Love2love

I don't normally eat Sunday dinner / carvery except for my Christmas dinner! Love Brussels sprouts with the gravy and a bit of stuffing mixed in.......god, my whole mouth watered there!

wexie

lots and lots and lots of meat, turkey, ham, bacon and sausages!!

and then.....after dinner dinner Irish coffee's and dozing off in front of the fire

SillyMangoX

For me it has to be the starter, crisp iceberg lettuce, prawns and crab meat all sloshed together with colemans seafood sauce and lemon drizzled over. Nom!! Failing that, my grannies stuffing, or the goose. And the ham too but only on Christmas eve when it's fresh out of the pot!

candy-gal1

Stuffing, with gravy!!

Custard!!

Posy

After a lot of thought I can't separate the roast potatoes from the ham. They have to just tie for first place. The stuffing and turkey are in a very close second.

This Christmas my mammy will be cooking the dinner, thank God! The stress of doing the dinner last year was awful! :eek:

tigerblob

The trimmings! The stuffing, roast potatos and roast parsnips *slavers* I like the meat but I could take or leave it compared to all the trimmings.

Aineoil

Maybe I'm getting old?

I used to love my Christmas dinner and I take my Christmas cooking very seriously

I make my own cranberry sauce, bread sauce and stuffing. I brine the turkey. I cook the ham in either coca cola or cider, I prefer coca cola for some reason. I use Darina Allen's recipe for the cranberry sauce (I add orange juice), I love Allen's recipe for the traditional stuffing. I score the ham and then put in the cloves and then glaze with honey. I make gravy with the turkey giblets.
I love brussel sprouts - score the bottom of them with a cross, cook them in butter and grate nutmeg over them.

But after all that work, the Christmas dinner 2012, tasted of nothing, despite organic bird and ham and loads of work, it tasted of nothing at all.

Christmas 2013 will be T Bone steaks!!!!!

focusvsastrata

The smoked ham!

carolinespring

The stuffing and turkey...yum

Pang

Roast potatoes hands down! Plenty of thyme and basting with oil. Nom nom!

I also love brussel sprouts smothered with cranberry sauce. Yummy!

Lamina

Stuffing! Love me some stuffing.

April O Neill

will.i.am wrote: »

So for me it' a bread stuffing we make. and then the smoked ham!
What is it for ye?

Stuffing, and cloved ham. Nom!

Gatling

Trifle followed by Irish coffee's

April O Neill

tigerblob wrote: »

The trimmings! The stuffing, roast potatos and roast parsnips *slavers* I like the meat but I could take or leave it compared to all the trimmings.

But the meat juices help along the trimmings!

Stuffing from inside the bird is far superior to stuffing cooked separately, as the juices seep in. *drools*

tommyombomb

When you get the perfect balance of turkey, mash, roasted potatoe, veg, stuffing, gravy and ham on the fork(shovel)

Stereomaniac

My favourite part has to be the awkward silence, and the utter resentment in the family's eyes.

FineFilly

Turkey and stuffing

eskimocat

Sausage meatloaf..... YUM!

SusieBlue

The spiced beef we have on Christmas Eve is delicious.


As for actual Christmas dinner it would have to be the stuffing, the potatoes, and the homemade cheesecake we have for dessert. Can't be beaten.

Christmas dinner is also the only time of year I make an effort to splash out and pick out a nice wine.

Pang

I love Buche de Noel too when there's a hint of orange added to it.

Amazing!

Geomy

When we all sit down in the sitting room afterwards and relax, talk about the Christmas's when we were kid's etc

We're a close family :-)

ChewChew

Awe that's lovely geomy


For me it's cooking it. It's just me and my mam at Christmas as dad has passed on and my sisters have their own families. My mam works Christmas Day so ill cook and when she's home we will eat.

Geomy

ChewChew wrote: »

Awe that's lovely geomy


For me it's cooking it. It's just me and my mam at Christmas as dad has passed on and my sisters have their own families. My mam works Christmas Day so ill cook and when she's home we will eat.

It's kinda nice and cosy doing the family thing isn't it. ...

Stereomaniac

Yes. I like it when we are all together. It tends to be just myself, my father and the cat......

ChewChew

I wouldn't have it any other way. On Christmas Eve, I 'move' home myself and mam then go out for dinner, go to mass and then stop in for a sneaky G&T and have a nice stroll
Home I couldn't be away from home for Christmas as long as she's around and she wants to have Christmas here. So on st Stephens day I'm flying out for 2 weeks

fussyonion

Succulent turkey and stuffing with gravy.
What am I saying...DRY turkey with stuffing and gravy.
I LOVE the dinner, even though it's not that much different from a Sunday roast.
Love that we have lovely wine to go with it and then slob out in front of the box.

ChewChew

In my house, even with my mam, we just don't do Sunday roast unless we visit one of my sisters. Do havin the big dinner is such a treat to us. It's the one thing we don't hold back on. Everything goes on that plate!!! EVERYTHING

flutegirl

ChewChew wrote: »

In my house, even with my mam, we just don't do Sunday roast unless we visit one of my sisters. Do havin the big dinner is such a treat to us. It's the one thing we don't hold back on. Everything goes on that plate!!! EVERYTHING

Yep, I love everything! I don't really do big dinners, but Christmas day it's no holds barred! The plate is not big enough to host the amount of food on it.

Pumpkinseeds

My parents don't know it yet, but this year my husband and I are having dinner on our own at our house. We'll visit them for a few drinks in the evening. Last year my husband was in the UK so we didn't see each other on Christmas day, every other year for the past 17 years we've gone to my parents or his for dinner. We've only had 1 Christmas day to ourselves. We spent it in our pyjamas and had the full Christmas dinner on the sofa, it was brilliant.

I'm a veggie and my mother doesn't do veggie cooking so I usually bring a quorn chicken curry, not very festive. This year I'll get to have roast potatoes and veggie gravy and brussels sprouts, it'll be great. Oh I love Christmas pudding too, with lashings of thick fresh whipped cream

Catphish

Aineoil wrote: »

organic bird and ham

How easy are these to find organically?

I'm half afraid to go near a butchers to ask again, after the patronising response I got the last time I asked. Lets just say I was told none of their meat was organic, that I'd be wasting my money if I did buy it, and with a border-line sneer attached to it.

If anybody else might know this, I'd appreciate the info!

Gatling wrote: »

Trifle followed by Irish coffee's

Haven't had either of these in years, might make room for both over Christmas

freshpopcorn

Catphish wrote: »

How easy are these to find organically?

Generally the supermarkets have organic turkeys in stock but they can be a little pricey.

Catphish

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Generally the supermarkets have organic turkeys in stock but they can be a little pricey.

Thanks for replying. I'm not too bothered by the cost to be honest. My nearest Dunnes has little by the way of organic food in general. There is a larger tesco nearby that will only offer organic minced beef. Chicken can be found free range only, and as for other meats there is no attempt to promise either.

I wish I could find a contact that I could purchase my meats from on a regular basis that are organically fed. I've been to a farmers market recently and got some chicken and mince from them, but its a good drive away.

I know eating organic is more expensive, but I push for it as much as I can. I grow my own but it needs supplementing with shop bought organic food because I don't have the space to feed us all successionally.

As an aside, I bought some Maris Peer seed potatoes which I will be pulling out of the ground for Christmas

freshpopcorn

Catphish wrote: »

Thanks for replying. I'm not too bothered by the cost to be honest. My nearest Dunnes has little by the way of organic food in general. There is a larger tesco nearby that will only offer organic minced beef. Chicken can be found free range only, and as for other meats there is no attempt to promise either.

I know in my local Tesco they generally have organic turkeys at Christmas, haven't seen that many in dunnes tough. You could also try Superquinn.

April O Neill

Stuffing, roast ham, roast tatties.

ardle1

Has to be, when I lay it all out on the table in dishes and call everyone in,that split second before they come through the door... Ahhhhhh all those hours all the stress, and working in between (taxi man)...and then all the wee thank you comments,you'd swear they never had a bit to ate... It was worth every minute:)

xzanti

Roasties and the stuffing.. my Father makes the best stuffing ever!!!

I can't wait for Christmas

Richard tea

Turkey with sausage meat stuffing:D

Tipsy McSwagger

My favorite part is getting a bloody seat at the dinner table

Jack Kyle

Spiced beef and brussel sprouts.

Beautiful.

Dubl07

Catphish wrote: »

How easy are these to find organically?

I'm half afraid to go near a butchers to ask again, after the patronising response I got the last time I asked. Lets just say I was told none of their meat was organic, that I'd be wasting my money if I did buy it, and with a border-line sneer attached to it.

If anybody else might know this, I'd appreciate the info!


Haven't had either of these in years, might make room for both over Christmas

Consider ethical or outdoor-reared from a recommended supplier as well as organic. To get the organic seal is beyond the patience and means of some farmers who treat their animals very well. OldFarm.ie do free range ham and pork. Various people do turkey but I don't know where you're based.