Based on a "poll" out today only 41% of people in the UK will be having Turkey for Christmas dinner...apparently, Lamb beef and goose are high on the list...I understand the goose...but just wondered what you are having...its turkey here...gobble gobble...I could understand "game birds" being popular but Lamb I think of lamb as a Spring "meat"

I'm bucking all trends as I'm a vegetarian and will be having whatever scrumptious thing my sister has bought me from M&S!

We are having beef :) No-one likes turkey over here! Good job really, I wouldn't have a clue how to cook it lol!

I will be lucky to grab a cheese sandwich lol... but I will make sure its dressed up with a little pickle and sliced apple just to make it special :-)

Turkey with all the trimmings here! Although we'll be at OH's mums so no cooking for me!

(which is a good thing.. I'm the worst cook on the planet. Well, apart from my sister :-) )

normally its Turkey, but this year will be either beef or chicken, everyone gets bored with Turkey, turkey for lunch, turkey for tea, turkey sandwich the next day! A nice bit of smoked Gammon for boxing day :) my youngest son who is going to be 7 years on 28th dec, asked if we could have meatballs for christmas dinner! :) :)

It wouldn't be Christmas without turkey in this house!

My son (14) starts talking about Christmas lunch from the minute he sees the winter sprouts arrive.  He had 10 sprouts with his lunch last year and is aiming for 12 this year - he loooooves them.  We'll have turkey and ham on the go and then when it all starts to look a bit bare and dry the turkey carcass goes in the freezer before making stock for soups and risotto.

Rib of beef and a pork loin joint for us:-) We hate turkey

This will be my first meat eating xmas in 15 years, I believe my mum has ordered a nice british free range turkey :)

Trying to decide between turkey (just looove all the trimmings) or a fillet of beef from one of our Dexter steers. I've never cooked a whole fillet before - usually we have it cut up as steaks and it gets sold.  I expect my partner will have the casting vote as he is a real turkey fan - and I do like turkey sandwiches :) So might have to keep the fillet til New Year.

Turkey of course !!! We need to hang onto our British traditions !
And turkey curry on Boxing Day tea . OK - not so British !

Going to have dinner with the family. Its to be turkey. Like the trimmimgs better than the turkey.
Jean

>We need to hang onto our British traditions !

Goose - the bird that was eaten before turkeys were imported from America!

turkey and tatties and all the stuff.... followed by more turkey for the next 5 days lol.... theres only 4 of us yet we have a turkey the size of a small village... by day 3 im normally close to suicide, even the dogs get bored with it by then :-D

werent turkeys considered the poor mans goose?

We are all at my mum and dads this year...lovely....my mum likes doing everything herself...wont allow us to help prepare.
Having a capon i think this year.

Hubby and i do washing up....yuk all those dishes.

Turkey here!!   I don't think I could imagine a christmas without one to be honest - brings back a lot of childhood memories, having a turkey on Christmas Day with all the trimmings around it, in the middle of the table and my grandad carving.  I think my OH would like a goose although I dont particularly like it but as a compromise we will probably have it New Years Day instead along with a nice joint of beef (for me)

Got to be turkey here this year - I can go one year not having one but then I miss it. Would you believe I've not had one for 4 years now! 3 years ago was a very stupid idea, having a barbecue (yes a barbecue, in driving rain and gale force winds, stupid ex's idea, I ask you! it was not pleasant and neither was my mood or language when he had a toddler tantrum) then the last 2 yrs by accident not design it's been chicken....! No problem devouring a turkey here with one large dog and 4 cats to share it this year! That means my poor doggy has never watched me put the biggest bird in the world into the oven and bring it out all steamy and glistening (and lived on it for the next 5 days). That's animal abuse...lol.

whatever the mil wants to cook, not turkey as we both hate it. and fil does the washing up.

M & S free range turkey,will get rib of beef for new year.

Sheila

Turkey - although cooked by my DIL this year :) I never get tired of turkey. My children insist on having turkey properly stuffed. My OH strips the carcass of any remaining meat on Christmas Night. It all gets bagged up and put in the freezer for making curry and pilaff. The carcass gets boiled up for stock which also gets frozen. Such excellent value :) We eat beef, lamb etc the rest of the year. I cooked goose one year, but there was so much fat coming from it that it took 6 months before the oven was properly rid of it :( Goose fat is great for the roasties tho' :)

Daisy

aldi three bird roast i  tried it last year , really quite tasty no mountains of left overs either or bones and no trying to find a humungus roasting tin for the turkey at the last minute !

> Based on a "poll" out today only 41% of people in the UK will be having Turkey for Christmas dinner...

Turkey AND beef for us :) Then we'll spend the following few days living off cold meat salads!

Turkey :) :)
We get the phone call from the 'turkey man' in Oct to ask what size turkey we want.
At the moment the turkey is still running around the fields :) :)
Dad picks it up on Xmasd eve.
we have a 20lb free range turkey every year between anything from 5 - 13 of us for xmas dinner!!!!!
Lea :)

well i think after iv been slaving over a hot stove All day and barely having a chance to see any gifts given to me and missing my kids having fun with theirs cos im busy in the Kitchen Again by the time i dish up for all , im affraid all i ever fancy after my hard day in the kitchen is a good glass of wine a bag of cheese and onion crisps and a snickers bar with a good film untill i have to wash up and tidy up after everyone so if were up to me id be happy with the above thanks lol Ho blooming Ho

sorry but i dont want to be dome and glum but i cook 7 days a week 365 days a year and would like a day off sometimes but xmas to me just means MORE WORK IN THE DREADED KITCHEN  4 ME, id rather be walking my dogs , LOL EVERYONE  will have been having a little drink (after all ixt xmas) they'll all be merry and happy while i'll be sweaty and sappy lol

> will be lucky to grab a cheese sandwich lol

Glad I'm not the only one!

Once I leave work on Christmas Eve, I don't see another human until I return to work, so I can't be bothered.

One year I had bought a "put together" sideboard, and it took me about 12 hours on Christmas Day to assemble the darn thing! 

I ended up having scrambled eggs on toast!

Cor Ridgielover, fillet, can I come to yours, I won't take up much room! I also fancied the Aldie 3 bird roast but no stores near me. I used to do a similar thing stuffing birds in birds but always took ages to cook. So far tho have got a Turkey crown as only 4 for dinner. MIL asked what's that? I said I don't know it's still in the wrapping! Have to say I don't really feel up to it after having a virus for 8 weeks & given a choice & a lottery win would rather be somewhere sunny. 

  Once I leave work on Christmas Eve, I don't see another human until I return to work,  I ended up having scrambled eggs on toast!

lol now thats my kind of christmas xxx im going to ditch this lot one year and come to you Jean and i'll bring my own pepper lol

A good serving of panic.... first time my son's gf will be joining us....and I have extended the invite to daughters bf. Although he is quite new to the scene I have a feeling he is a bit special...

Hey I'm brand new here, but my boyfriend and his son are going to Austria for Christmas so I have no idea what we'll eat for Christmas dinner. The dogs will be having a lovely time and are bound to be spoilt, but I get the feeling that we are going to be enjoying a Maccy D's after a day skiing. I think I might see if there's any good places who do a traditional dinner over there.

> im going to ditch this lot one year and come to you Jean and i'll bring my own pepper lol

As long as you bring Bonios as well - you're on!!  :-)

Have to laugh, even though it's just me and the dogs, I make the effort and actually get dressed up and put some make up on.  Don't know why - they're used to seeing me covered in muddy paw marks and wearing jeans.

We are having Turkey and Venison (..Oh lardee darrr lol ;) ) for din dins this year. Two of my favourites, yummy! But I think things would be different if I had to cook it myself lol

I agree it's the trimming with the turkey, if you've grown up with 'em.... stuffing (home made, no sausagemeat), cranberry sauce, bacon, bread sauce, giblet gravy, creamed leeks, spiced red cabbage... *sigh* Lot of hassle to do it all but well worth it, even if you're on your own. Don't seem right otherwise.

This will be our first Christmas in Australia but we're still having the full Roast Turkey with all the trimmings, granted it'll be about 8pm when we eat due to the heat but it'll still be a proper Christmas lunch (with a joint of beef for the OH).

The inlaws have never had a 'proper' Christmas Lunch as they always have prawns and a BBQ - hopefully this year they'll appreciate what they've been missing!

I normally go for some cheese and onion tartlet as i really don't like roast meat, unless chicken, then i'm fussy with how the meat is turned out so tend to leave most of the dinner.

What i have suggested is what a friend does, they put names of countries into a hat and each year they pull out a country. From that they then do a whole big theme each Xmas on foods from that country, decorate a room from there and dress up themselves - LOVE that idea.. They've done Italy and Mexico in recent years..  I'm hankering for Japanese!!! I wanna dress up as a geisha girl!! :-)

Were having Duck for lunch, just the 2 of us, then a Roast of Sirloin for New Year, I would rather just have a plate of Roast spuds!!

Up Aunties who is a cook so it will be turkey, beef, pork & gammon and Im on a diet!!

Unfortunately turkey, wish we were having lamb.  I think I'm the only person in the world who doesn't like Christmas dinner and I'm sure Cruella (FILs girlfriend) revels in the fact that I sit there with little more than a roast potato or two and a tiny bit of turkey.  :(

Turkey and pork for us, however we shall not be eating at lunchtime as I am working from 1 - 5pm so it's sit down for 7pm...then we can stay at the dining table for the rest of the night and work our way through sherry,wine,port and liqures!!! (sp ??), 7 of us this year. Wonder how many will turn up at work this year? A&E is a magnet for some on Xmas day, very sad really.
Aileen

Were going to the MIL's same as last year, it will be turkey with all the trimmings, aswell as a joint of gammon and beef.
MIL, With 2 sons aged 28 and 21,  and an ex husband(they get on well lol) that all like to drink and then have a competition to see who can eat the most in the quickest time, not to mention a 2yr old that eats for england!... there will be lots of food!

Turkey and trimmings here.
We always have folk come to us for dinner, bil and wife turn up late afternoon usually when we are at the nodding off stage!
One of my sisters stays with us over the holiday period, another comes with family for the day.
We used to always have the parents too sadly they are no longer alive.
We have been lucky to have been able to share the festivities, I can only recall one without everyone here, though cant think why that came about.
Karen :)

Can't decide on Goose, Duck or Pheasant. ;-) I have all 3 in the freezer so will ask the kids (even the 31 year old one :-) ) I'll probably end up cooking all 3 and giving them the choice :-( :-D

Edited to correct mistakes :-) Blame the new laptop, I keep hitting the wrong keys ;-)

Jean and Chelzea girl can I come too please?

I love Christmas. I do all the cooking and Hubby does all the washing up.
I love a house full of people and Christmas just wouldn't be the same with out all the excited children.

There will be 18 of us for lunch this year and we are having turkey and gammon. Boxing Day we have friends and family over as well, although there is a bit more of a get stuck in and help attitude.

We normally have beef for New Year but it my daughters 21st at the beginning of Jan, so I'm planning a party instead.

I don't eat meat, so will be going for something Quorney or my fav. nut roast plus all  the usual bread sauce, cranberry sauce, sprouts (gotta have those!), roasties, roast parsnips, etc  etc. Bread sauce has to be home made and don't stint on the cream! Yum.

Lindsay
x

I always take "requests" for Christmas dinner - I get pleasure in preparing food that people like to eat!

Starter:     Prawn cocktail - made with tiger prawns, home-made marie-rose mayonnaise, chopped gherkins, celery, cucumber, apple and capers& little gem lettuce herts served in little gem lettuce outers .. served with a nice Chablis

Main course:   Roasted Kelly bronze turkey, with chestnut & pork stuffing, bacon rolls, roasted potatoes, bashed neeps (sorry, mashed swede), orange glazed carrots with sesame seeds, brussel sprouts (no xs in bases!) with crispy bacon bits & chestnuts.   Sherry gravy, bread sauce and cranberry sauce....Chablis (for those who prefer white) or nice pinot noir

Refresher:  Champagne (alright sparkling chardonnay :) ) sorbet

Christmas pudding (home made) with brandy butter and/or ice cream...got a lovely muscat beaumes des venice for those who like it

Cheese board :  stilton, extra mature cheddar, brie & smoked apple, grapes, nuts, celery....port?  remains of pinot noir?

Mince pies

Coffee & brandy/tia maria/drambuie

Alka seltzer.....

When we have no children to dinner, Christmas dinner lasts for about 3 hours....just taking our time....eventually finishing up with people playing racing reindeer/galloping frogs across the table whilst OH (plus one or two others) snoozes gently, hands clasped over tummies, chins down on chests & hats "cockle-eyed icecake" over one eye!!

> Starter:     Prawn cocktail - made with tiger prawns, home-made marie-rose mayonnaise, chopped gherkins, celery, cucumber, apple and capers& little gem lettuce herts served in little gem lettuce outers

Yum, sounds lovely. We always have a prawn cocktail starter for Christmas dinner, but it's very basic (prawns in seafood sauce on a bed of lettuce, LOL), you've inspired me to put more effort in :)

All courses sound completely scrupmtious, I bet everyone loves coming to you for Chritmas dinner :)

> sprouts (gotta have those!),

It aint Christmas dinner without sprouts! :-D
Must admit, I think I'm the only one who actually eats any though - I love 'em.

Yum yum Margot!  Yes Turkey for me - the best meal is Boxing Day when we have cold meats, salad and mash.  I am just to whacked Christmas day to enjoy it.  I remember when I was young it was a chicken!  A real treat then.

:-) sounds like an M&S advert Lokis mum!  YUM!